The process of feedback, within organizations, encompasses not only the strategies employed by managers to provide feedback but also the behaviors exhibited by employees in their pursuit of such feedback. The academic discourse has primarily focused on understanding feedback as a critical process for employees. Consequently, an exploration of the motivations that drive employees to seek feedback reveals an opportunity to address this issue from a variety of perspectives.
Feedback-seeking behavior has been conceptualized as a management practice and philosophy, a form of proactive employee behavior, and a valuable managerial resource. In this regard, feedback-seeking behavior is defined as conscious devotion of efforts toward determining the correctness and adequacy of behaviors for attaining valued and states. This implies that the motivation behind employees seeking feedback is to correct and enhance their personal and professional goals.
Consequently, employees’ engagement in feedback-seeking behavior is systematically related to two critical dimensions: weighing the costs and evaluating the value of feedback when deciding to pursue it in relation to goal attainment. Research indicates that an individual's attitude toward seeking feedback establishes a foundation for more positive outcomes. For instance, job satisfaction, performance, organizational citizenship behavior, and reduced turnover are sequential outcomes associated with feedback-seeking behavior. In this context, individual performance is deemed to be a significant motivator driving employees to seek feedback.
Continuing this line of reasoning, performance-related motives are systematically linked to a fundamental desire for acquiring valuable information to effectively complete internal tasks, ultimately leading to improved performance. This necessitates gathering information about employees' roles as a proactive behavior within organizational settings. Therefore, seeking feedback to enhance performance indicates that the seeker aims to cultivate a constructive self-image with clear objectives, thereby increasing the likelihood of favorable outcomes in jobs requiring high levels of commitment and responsibility.
Moreover, another pertinent issue related to feedback seeking is goal attainment. Research emphasizes individual’s goals as a powerful aspect of personality, suggesting that each individual's attitude toward seeking feedback is linked to meeting their established goals. Theories of goal performance and commitment suggest that individuals with a strong dedication to their goals are more likely to seek feedback frequently to enhance their task performance compared to those with lower goal dedication. Seeking feedback enables individuals to adjust and respond effectively, thereby validating the process of goal performance and, in various circumstances, modifying goal orientation which enhances task performance. Thus, goal performance serves as a driving impetus for seeking feedback, as well as shaping the approach supervisors take in attributing motives to such behavior, which reflects the task performance.
Additionally, while seeking feedback has been extensively discussed in relation to goal performance, the concept of uncertainty also plays a significant role in this regard. It can be said that individuals seek feedback to mitigate uncertainty in the pursuit of their goals. Feedback theorists emphasize that employees often experience uncertainty about how to navigate workplace dynamics and seek to enhance their confidence. Uncertainty subsequently influences employees’ efforts in determining the extent of feedback to seek. In addition, personality traits such as self-esteem and extraversion have been closely examined to ascertain employees’ impact on feedback-seeking behavior aimed at reducing uncertainty. This emphasizes the value that employees ascribe to feedback, which, in turn, enhances their propensity to seek it. Nevertheless, the coin has two sides. In contrast to the arguments presented thus far, some researchers have found insufficient evidence to align uncertainty as a motivating factor for seeking feedback. Certain studies suggest that heightened uncertainty may actually deter individuals from seeking feedback due to the increased risk of experiencing humiliation in front of superiors. This ambiguous situation has prompts us to emphasize the necessity for further investigation into the relationship between uncertainty and feedback-seeking behavior.
Beyond the aforementioned factors, another area that should be drawn attention to is the role ambiguity, which is directly linked to employees’ motivation to engage in persistent feedback-seeking behavior. This enables employees to nurture feelings of personal control concerning their task performance and roles within organizations. Feedback-seeking becomes a coping mechanism that employees use to fill in the gaps caused by role ambiguity, helping them regain control over their job and enabling them to perform better despite the unclear boundaries of their roles. In this regard, role ambiguity may initially appear as a challenge, but it often catalyzes employees to engage in feedback-seeking behaviors that have long-term benefits. Through feedback, employees gain clarity, reduce uncertainty, build supportive relationships, align their goals with organizational objectives, develop skills, and foster a greater sense of engagement and belonging. By embracing feedback-seeking in response to role ambiguity, employees can transform an unclear role into an opportunity for personal and professional growth, ultimately benefiting both themselves and the organization.
In summary, from an organizational perspective, feedback-seeking behavior can have a positive ripple effect throughout the workplace. Employees who actively seek feedback often encourage a culture of open communication and continuous improvement, inspiring others to do the same. This behavior prompts a growth-oriented environment where employees feel empowered to take risks, learn from mistakes, and embrace challenges, all of which contribute to the organization's overall success. Additionally, managers benefit from working with employees who regularly seek feedback, as it makes it easier to track progress, address any issues early on, and maintain a collaborative relationship based on trust and mutual respect.
