The role of feedback in the development of managers

Abstract

The landscape in which modern organisations operate is rapidly changing and requires managerial agility. This necessitates a frequent review of how managers are developed. The aim of this article is to examine the role of workplace feedback in employee development. This will be achieved by developing a contemporary and comprehensive definition of feedback and specifying the elements of feedback that are associated with managerial development. Employing a qualitative, non-systematic literature review approach, journal articles and textbooks published after 2015, with feedback as their primary theme, were systematically selected and analysed for their content as well as the seminal works they referred to. The analysed literature suggests that feedback forms part of a dynamic communication and learning process. Development-driven feedback is information presented to recipients regarding their behaviour and/or performance in executing work tasks, as assessed by supervisors, subordinates, peers, coworkers, or the recipients themselves, with the intent to enhance work relationships and job performance. The elements central to structuring feedback were identified as purpose, content, source, frequency, timing, and delivery. These elements are customised to meet workplace performance requirements, also taking individual skill sets and personalised needs into account. A broad base of academic literature was captured and integrated to reach a comprehensive understanding of feedback as a development intervention. It was concluded that, although complex, literature on feedback can be consolidated to present both an inclusive definition of the concept and the elements associated with it.