This article originally published in 2010 references an earlier survey.

A study by Leadership IQ shows that employees are dissatisfied with the quality of communication and performance feedback that they receive from their managers. This dissatisfaction increased with the Great Recession. Workers surveyed in the United States and Canada reported five interesting findings:

• 67% of employees report that they receive insufficient positive feedback from their managers.
• 51% of employees feel that they get insufficient constructive criticism from their bosses.
• 53% of employees report that any positive feedback that they do receive from their managers is too generic to help them improve their performance (for example, “good job”, “great presentation”, etc.).
• 65% of employees report that criticism from their managers is too general to help them improve their performance.
• 79% of employees report that they do not have a clear sense of how their managers view their performance.

The message for managers is that employees want the chance to develop their skills and improve their performance, particularly during these insecure times.  Employees desire feedback that is constructive, specific, and motivating.  Employees desire this feedback both when they have done well and when they need to improve. If done correctly, performance feedback can be a source of motivation for employees.