HR leaders are trusted with the responsibility of nurturing a positive and productive work environment.
However, no matter how well you strive to lead, negative employee feedback is inevitable.
Instead of dreading these moments, we can choose to see them as opportunities for growth and improvement.
When handled with empathy and a genuine willingness to listen, negative feedback can pave the way for stronger relationships and a happier team.
Employee feedback is the backbone of a healthy workplace.
Good or bad – feedback should always be treated as a tool to help move an organisation forward.
When feedback isn’t nurtured, communication breaks down, trust erodes, and employees end up feeling unheard or undervalued.
On the flip side, creating a positive feedback culture helps everyone grow – it encourages open conversations, strengthens team relationships, and shows employees that their ideas and concerns matter.
When people feel comfortable sharing and receiving feedback, it creates a happier, more engaged, and productive work environment where everyone can thrive.
When it comes to responding to negative employee feedback at work every situation will be different, and sometimes emotional.
These tips will help you address the situation in a mindful and emotionally intelligent way, while finding the best solution for all involved.
Pay close attention to your employee’s concerns, whether it’s in person, written feedback or anonymously submitted.
Show that you genuinely care about their perspective by actively listening.
There’s absolutely no need to rush to react – take a deep breath and remind yourself that there’s a solution to everything.
Responding with a level-head demonstrates emotional intelligence and helps de-escalate any tense situations.
We’ve heard it time and time again – feedback is a gift! So, remind yourself to treat feedback as a treasure and thank the employee for sharing their thoughts and feelings. Let them know you appreciate their openness, which will encourage honest communication again in the future.
A big part of active listening and constructive communication is validating emotions.
Let them know you understand how they feel and that their experience and emotions are important.
This point seems obvious enough – but often it’s in our nature to have a knee-jerk reaction to unpleasant situations.
Take a deep breath and do your best to stop yourself from being defensive or making excuses. Instead, focus on understanding the issues at hand.
If the feedback is unclear or ambiguous, ask clarifying questions to ensure you grasp the full context.
If you scroll to the bottom of this article, we’ve given you questions to ask in a feedback follow-up pulse survey.
This is big.
You’ll need to accept responsibility for any mistakes or shortcomings on your part or that of the organisation.
Accountability goes an incredibly long way in building trust and rapport with employees, and they will be able to spot it from a mile away if the organisation is being insincere.
Outline the steps you will take to address the concerns raised and share this action plan with the affected employees.
Be specific about the actions you’ll implement and the timeline for their resolution.
If appropriate, seek the employee’s input on how to improve the situation. Involving employees is decision-making is an empowering approach and signals to teams that their input is valued.
Let employees know that their feedback is valuable and welcome at any time. What’s also really important is, after addressing the issues, check in with the employee to ensure the changes have had a positive impact. This shows you are invested in their wellbeing and are open to hearing any further feedback they might have about how the situation was handled.
When responding to negative feedback, asking follow-up questions is going to help you gather more context and work collaboratively towards resolving the issues have that risen.
We recommend using pulse survey software to help structure and collect your team’s follow-up feedback – but you could also ask these questions via other forums too.
Here are our top follow-up questions to ask when responding to negative employee feedback:
Remember, the goal of asking these follow-up questions is to actively listen, show empathy, and collaborate with the employee in finding solutions.
As leaders you should approach these conversations with an open mind and a sincere desire to address the concerns raised.
At Stribe we help teams become healthier and happier.
Starting out her early career as a journalist, Jade Madeley is an accomplished content writer with 8+ years’ experience across business, personal finance, SaaS, human resources and employee engagement. Working with Stribe, she crafts insightful content that brings complex HR topics to life and drives meaningful action.
