It’s interesting to think about the impact of growing up as a Baby Boomer has on how they may think about feedback in 2023. After all, they are often very experienced and have had years to develop their feedback-offering and receiving skills. I was curious so I conducted my own research in February 2023, here’s what I found:
66.7% of Baby Boomers believe they offer enough feedback in their workplace.
Over 70% of Baby Boomers felt comfortable or confident offering feedback in the workplace.
4.8% felt clumsy offering feedback in the workplace.
When it comes to feeling comfortable offering feedback, they reported they felt the most comfortable offering:
42.9% believe they are receiving enough feedback in their workplace.
Over 90% said they were receptive or resilient to feedback.
9.5% said they were reluctant to receive feedback.
In a nutshell, most Baby Boomers believe they offer enough feedback and are comfortable offering and receiving it. While it is interesting to take a step back and make generalizations about Baby Boomers, I still believe it is important to have an individual feedback conversation with every one of your direct reports (regardless of their age) so you can tailor the feedback conversations you have with them.
You might like to share this newsletter with them as a conversation starter for your ‘Warm Up’ conversation - the first part of the Feedback Fitness Framework.