Employee Feedback Techniques
A fully-developed Canvas course.
Problem and Solution
The Society for Human Resource Management states that people often become managers because they did a great job as individual employees. However, just because they were good at their old job doesn't mean they'll automatically be successful at managing people. Many new managers find it hard to adjust. Some attempt to befriend their subordinates, resulting in poor enforcement of company policy and business goal achievement. Others may take the opposite approach, exhibiting arrogance and authoritarianism without the leadership skills to back up their methods.
Some organizations may see this issue as a reason to hire only experienced managers. Still, their lack of knowledge of the company and proven performance in its authentic work also results in a company loss. New managers need training in leadership, interpersonal, and communication skills to sustain the option for employees to move up into managerial roles. An essential skill within all these areas is providing effective feedback to employees.
One way to help is to create a training program that focuses on giving good feedback. It's easier to teach someone how to be a manager than to make them understand everything about the company. This helps everyone. Employees feel more motivated because they know they have a chance to move up. The company saves money because it doesn't have to hire new managers from outside, and it gets managers who know the company well.
My Process
Syllabus
I applied Learner Experience Design theory and the Framework for Designing Online Learning to design the instruction and activities.
After choosing the format for this course, I started designing the course syllabus. This included the course description, objectives written in learner-friendly language, a topical outline, a list of the assignments and quizzes, and resources to access and succeed in the course.
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Development
I segemented the course into three modules. Each module was formatted uniformly to maintain consistancy across the entire course. Modules start with content delivery, then a discussion question, practice assignment, and end with a quiz. I used the built-in development features in Canvas to make each component. Outside Canvas, I created two instructional videos for the course using Campasia and Adobe Illustrator.
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Takeaways
During this project, I enjoyed using an instructional framework that was new to me, since it helped me pull back my focus for a more holistic view of course design. This was a different approach than I was used to, but I appreciated the push to design a course based on the learner with much less emphasis on the content. It’s really challenging to design a course for a subject you aren’t familiar with, so this was good practice for situations like that in the future. Revisiting learner experience design (LXD) was another excellent way to keep the learner in focus during course design. I chose to incorporate narratives throughout the entire course, in assignments, discussions, and even assessments. They should help learners connect the lessons to their work life and ground the content in reality.