HR leaders have been advised to "reward" feedback from employees after a new report found a growing trust gap in the workplace due to a broken culture of feedback.

Findings from Radical Candor unveiled a trust gap in workplaces due to cycles of ineffective feedback, silence, and a lack of people and leadership development.

"The trust gap will close when leaders invest in teaching their managers to solicit and reward criticism, to give specific, sincere praise, and to give kind, clear criticism that helps employees succeed," said Kim Scott, author of Radical Candor, in a statement.

"Better, more candid conversations result in the kind of communication and accountability that executives want from their organisations."

Problems with feedback culture

The advice comes as Radical Candor's new report unveiled a found various problems with the feedback culture in workplaces.

According to the report, executives want honest communication across the organisation, but employees aren't giving it to them.

Nearly half of executives (48%) said they observe people staying silent when there are issues at work, an observation more observed by employees (61%), managers (63%), and HR teams (67%).

Executives believe this silence stems from the lack of accountability and management skills, but employees cite the fear of retaliation.

Nearly half of employees (45%) cited psychological safety and trust as their top reason why they're not providing feedback.

"Their open text pointed to mass layoffs, broken promises, micro-managing, and constant restructuring as the primary drivers of their distrust, hence their reluctance to give feedback," the report read.

According to HR leaders, a factor behind the silence is the lack of direct and respectful feedback. Most respondents (62%) also said feedback is too vague and doesn't address the real issues.

Manager's role in feedback culture

Another factor contributing to ineffective feedback at work is the lack of capability and confidence from managers, according to the report.

More than half of employees in the report said they rarely or never get feedback from their managers, while HR leaders don't think managers have the feedback skills they need.

The report said the issue does not stem from managers not caring about feedback, but because they were never taught how to give and get feedback.

"They also don't get opportunities to practice getting and giving feedback well, so they are learning the hard way - hard for them and for their employees," the report read.

Read the full article here.