Leveraging Feedback Orientation in the Workplace: Directions for Research and Practice

Abstract

Feedback orientation is a multidimensional individual difference that involves seeing feedback as valuable, feeling accountable and capable to act on feedback, and being cognizant of feedback information in one’s social environment. Fostering and maintaining a positive feedback orientation is essential for employees to benefit from performance management processes, but relatively little research has explored this variable. In this chapter, we summarize existing findings concerning feedback orientation and chart important directions for future research and practice. We identify particular needs to study how feedback orientation develops over time, relates to leadership dynamics, operates in different cultural contexts, and shapes employee development in distributed work contexts. We conclude by offering recommendations for individual managers and organizational decision-makers based on trends that emerged in our literature review.