There is a secret weapon in the “giving helpful feedback” strategy. And that is to have built the trust among the people in your organization so that they know that they are not spoken to just when there has been a problem, but that they are recognized and rewarded for jobs well done. I call this infusing a culture of feedback into your business or organization. A feedback culture.

That culture exists when people throughout the organization regularly provide feedback, both positive and helpful. It is not just the boss doing this. It cuts across all job titles, silos, and organizational structures. Peers give feedback to peers. Bosses give feedback to other bosses. And peers may even give the boss an attagirl or attaboy, or helpful suggestion.

Two to One

The ratio we like to recommend as a target is a two to one ratio, positive feedback to helpful feedback.

Catching people doing something right is contagious. The more it happens, the more receptive people will be to correcting feedback. Plain and simple.

The challenge in this uber busy world is to get to the positive feedback. Many people have great intentions of sharing a pat on the back, but just don’t get to it because of challenges and problems that surface. You can be on the path to a toxic environment, if you don’t catch it in time. When you enter that downward spiral, the organization slips into the less than desired state of giving more correcting feedback than positive appreciation or recognition.

So take a moment to consider your positive to correcting feedback ratio. 1:1 is good. 2:1 is awesome. 1:2 is “needs to improve. And 0:1 is unacceptable.

How do you rate?