How to give good positive feedback? English phrases to encourage your team
Many senior managers schedule regular catch-ups with their employees. For them, this is an essential moment that they reserve in their calendars. These meetings can be used for various purposes: catching up on administrative matters, discussing ongoing problems that need to be resolved, considering whether management intervention is required, or simply having an informal conversation about work in general.Most importantly, however, these moments are also the perfect opportunity to let an employee know how satisfied you are with the work they are doing and why. As a manager, giving appropriate feedback to your team is an essential part of its success.
Feedback is one of the best ways for a person to improve themselves while simultaneously improving their immediate environment.
Nowadays, there is a strong emphasis on employee improvement and development. It is rare today to find someone in the corporate world who does not have a performance management form, performance improvement plan, or some other tool used by the company to measure an individual’s results. Often, these documents are based on the gaps between the employee’s current situation and their ideal performance.
This is a positive practice that every organization should have. The pursuit of continuous self-improvement is fundamental to our evolution as human beings and to any organization. As Mme du Deffand wrote: “Let us strive to improve ourselves, because we cannot remain still; we progress or we regress.”
Feedback is one of the best ways for a person to improve their immediate environment. It enables people to motivate themselves to achieve greater things and also to unconsciously adopt behaviours that lead to positive results. To achieve this, it is essential to provide employees with positive feedback while also highlighting areas for improvement.
According to some research, positive feedback has been shown to be more effective in motivating people to pursue a goal than negative feedback because it increases expectations of achieving the goal and the individual’s perception of their own effectiveness. In short, the confidence people gain from words of encouragement makes them believe that their goal is more achievable.
As a result, they persist more in trying to achieve it.
Furthermore,according to other sources, criticism can lead to feelings of being undervalued, which negatively affects morale and productivity. Positive evaluations, on the other hand, are suggested to encourage engagement and improve performance.
Do All Cultures Feel the Same Way About Positive Feedback?
There are some cultures in which it is not customary to frequently give employees words of encouragement. In Germany, for example, praise is given only in very exceptional cases. The view is that a decent level of performance is simply part of a person’s job.
Similarly, in Japan, it is not customary to give positive comments to subordinates. Kopp suggests that this is related to Japan’s constant pursuit of perfection and the fact that people do not praise something that is not perfect. It may also be related to the idea that praise can inflate the recipient’s ego and therefore
Or perhaps it is linked to the fear of homegoroshi, the practice of giving lavish, indirect compliments that are intended to sound sarcastic.
In contrast, if you are a manager in countries such as the United States or Canada, positive comments are strongly encouraged and certainly welcome. Nevertheless, in Western countries, the idea that praise can be insincere is also present.
For this reason, there are different theories about how feedback should be structured so that it is properly focused and has a significant impact on the organization, rather than disappearing into the black hole of empty “good jobs” and “fantastic work.”
The STAR model is one such structure that helps the person giving feedback provide objectively “good” and credible feedback. This is particularly appropriate because, in English, when you tell someone that they are a star, you are telling them that they have done something really well.
In short, the STAR approach produces feedback that describes a specific SITUATION or TASK, includes details about the ACTION taken, and describes the impact or RESULTS of that action.
Now that we know how to structure our positive feedback, you are probably wondering which English words or expressions you can use to create effective feedback.
We have compiled a list of English expressions that you can use to let your employees know about the excellent work they are doing. We will also use these expressions in a few example sentences, keeping in mind, of course, the essential formula for making any type of feedback meaningful — STAR!
English Expressions for Effective Positive Feedback
J'ai été très impressionné par votre présentation lors de notre réunion mensuelle de vente. Elle était très concise et vous avez utilisé les diapositives pour faire passer votre message efficacement. Tout le monde dans la salle a vraiment apprécié.
It was amazing how you were able to get a yes from the customer within 20 minutes. That account will bring in a substantial chunk of revenue for us this quarter.
C'était incroyable de voir comment vous pouviez obtenir un oui du client en 20 minutes. Ce client va nous rapporter une part substantielle de nos revenus ce trimestre.
I am very pleased with how you are supporting the junior staff members. I know how much time you spent helping them learn the operating system; they’re catching on very quickly thanks to you. Please keep doing what you’re doing.
Je suis très heureux de la façon dont vous soutenez les jeunes membres du personnel. Je sais combien de temps vous avez passé à aider à leur apprendre le système d'exploitation ; ils apprennent très vite grâce à vous. Continuez à faire ce que vous faites.
I appreciate that you were an active participant in this morning’s meeting. You had some great insights about the project that I think will help us to avoid any further delays. Thank you.
J'apprécie que vous ayez participé activement à la réunion de ce matin. Vous avez eu des idées très intéressantes sur le projet qui, je pense, nous aideront à éviter tout nouveau retard. Je vous remercie.
In my opinion, your reporting is top notch / stellar / outstanding. I just received the summary from the recent trade-show in Hamburg and I felt like I was there myself. I especially liked how you included a short description about all of the key companies that visited the stand. That significantly helped to validate our target market.
À mon avis, vos reportages sont excellents / exemplaires / remarquables. Je viens de recevoir le résumé du récent salon de Hambourg et j'ai eu l'impression d'y être moi-même. J'ai particulièrement apprécié la façon dont vous avez inclus une brève description de toutes les entreprises clés qui ont visité le stand. Cela a beaucoup aidé à valider notre marché cible.
I wanted to let you know that your observation on the market trends was extremely valuable for the organization. Thanks to your analysis, management finally made a decision regarding the merger.
Je voulais vous faire savoir que votre observation sur les tendances du marché a été extrêmement précieuse pour l'organisation. Grâce à votre analyse, la direction a finalement pris une décision concernant la fusion.
You’re really mastering the SAP system. I don’t know many people who are able to access information as quickly as you do. For example, when we needed the details of that order urgently on Monday, you were able to get it to us within a matter of minutes. That really avoided a major issue with the customer. Would you be willing to become an official power user? I know you would be highly appreciated by the entire team.
Vous maîtrisez vraiment le système SAP. Je ne connais pas beaucoup de gens qui sont capables d'accéder à l'information aussi rapidement que vous. Par exemple, lorsque nous avons eu besoin des détails de cette commande en urgence lundi, vous avez pu nous les fournir en quelques minutes. Cela a vraiment permis d'éviter un problème majeur avec le client. Seriez-vous prêt à devenir un utilisateur officiel intensif ? Je sais que vous seriez très apprécié par toute l'équipe.
It was great how you handled that angry customer. Not only did you manage to calm him down within just a few minutes, but, he extended his membership by another year! We’re really lucky to have you on the team.
C'était génial de voir comment vous avez géré ce client en colère. Non seulement vous avez réussi à le calmer en quelques minutes, mais il a prolongé son adhésion d'une année supplémentaire ! Nous avons vraiment de la chance de vous avoir dans l'équipe. I’d like to commend you for the effort you’ve put into the Jackson account. It’s really been paying off. I heard that the key buyer has signed a purchase contract to double their volume next year. Congratulations!
J'aimerais vous féliciter pour les efforts que vous avez déployés sur le compte Jackson. Cela a vraiment porté ses fruits. J'ai entendu dire que le principal acheteur a signé un contrat d'achat pour doubler son volume l'année prochaine. Félicitations !
I’m really thankful for the way you stepped in as team leader while I was away. Everyone knew what their roles were and I came back to a smooth organization. All of the invoices were paid on time, you successfully reorganized the schedule when Chris called in sick, and you made the right decision in reimbursing that customer regarding his complaint. I’m confident that the next time I leave, the office will be in very capable hands.
Je suis vraiment reconnaissant de la façon dont vous êtes intervenu en tant que chef d'équipe pendant mon absence. Tout le monde savait quel était son rôle et je suis revenu à une organisation harmonieuse. Toutes les factures ont été payées à temps, vous avez réussi à réorganiser le planning lorsque Chris s'est fait porter malade, et vous avez pris la bonne décision en remboursant ce client pour sa plainte. Je suis convaincu que la prochaine fois que je partirai, le bureau sera entre de bonnes mains.
John, do you have a moment? It’s important that I tell you just how pleased I am with your performance this month. Thanks to the additional 100 units that you’ve sold, our team will be above the quarterly budget by 5%! Outstanding work. As a token of appreciation, I’ve added a bonus to June’s salary.
John, vous avez un moment ? Il est important que je vous dise à quel point je suis heureux de votre performance ce mois-ci. Grâce aux 100 unités supplémentaires que vous avez vendues, notre équipe dépassera de 5 % le budget trimestriel ! Un travail remarquable. En guise de remerciement, j'ai ajouté un bonus au salaire de juin.
Keep your feedback fresh! Use these synonyms instead of the word “great”.
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