Looking back into history, the concept of Constructive Feedback originated from the industrial revolution period in the late 18th century. It was then that managers and supervisors began to understand the need for effective communication, reciprocal exchange of ideas, and constructive feedback for their employees’ performance enhancement.
By the 20th century, as humanistic psychology gained ground, with psychologists like Abraham Maslow and Carl Rogers highlighting the importance of positive reinforcement, organizations began to embrace and institutionalize feedback. The advent of performance appraisals in the mid-1940s marked a core milestone in the formalization of providing constructive feedback.
Also, the rise of ongoing feedback culture in companies today can be significantly attributed to psychological safety, a major breakthrough made by Google in 2012. Their two-year study titled ‘Project Aristotle’ discovered that the top-performing teams were those that felt safe to take risks and be vulnerable in front of each other.
Furthermore, World Recognition Day, instituted in 1995, is now marked as an internationally recognized event that celebrates, among other things, the power of feedback and recognition. It has changed its intentionality and celebration ways over the years, from a mere acknowledgment to now becoming an empowering tool of motivation and engagement within workplaces.
In a nutshell, the appreciation of constructive feedback has journeyed from being an addendum to its prime necessity in the corporate world. It is now seen less as criticism and more as a tool for learning and growth. This evolution has certainly cast the spotlight on the immense value of feedback within organizations, facilitating individuals’ and teams’ improvement and enriching workplace relationships. Today, constructive feedback isn’t just about pushing for better but uplifting each other towards a better version of themselves.