"One way of increasing employee loyalty to the company and supporting them in their further training is to organise constructive feedback" (Genkova & Gassel, 2024)

The task of managers is to ensure that the company's goals are achieved. To do this, employees must be motivated and perform reliably. However, not everything always runs smoothly: mistakes happen, and occasionally conflicts or problems arise that affect the quality of work, jeopardise the achievement of goals or impair the working atmosphere in the team.

Holding a critique meeting helps to clarify such issues and resolve conflicts. This is a confidential discussion between the line manager and employee in which misbehaviour, performance problems or a stressful working relationship are addressed.

What are the goals of appraisal interviews?

Criticism interviews have several objectives - depending on the occasion, different aspects are in the foreground:

• Encourage self-reflection in the employee
• Understanding the employee's point of view
• Initiate a change in behaviour
• Communicating expectations and standards clearly
• Improve performance and quality of work
• Strengthen the working atmosphere and cooperation
• Avoid future mistakes
• Provide employees with targeted support (develop skills, update knowledge)
• Achieve company goals more effectively

A critique meeting is always useful when an issue can no longer be resolved with a brief comment, but is repeated, has an impact on others or clearly fails to meet the agreed standards. Typical occasions are

• Repeated errors or quality deficiencies
• Drop in performance or failure to meet targets
• Unreliability in day-to-day work
• Problems in team behaviour
• Disregard for rules and agreements
• Unprofessional behaviour towards customers or partners
• Complaints from colleagues or customers

What is the right place for a critique meeting?

It is best to hold a critique meeting in a neutral place where you are undisturbed. For example, a quiet meeting room is ideal for a one-to-one discussion. Make sure that you are not interrupted during the conversation. Mute your phone and do not allow any disturbances from messages or people cutting in. Also endeavour to ensure that the seating situation is as close to eye level as possible. This will avoid unnecessary pressure and promote an equal exchange.

When is the right time to hold a critique meeting?

The ideal time to hold a critique meeting is as soon as a problem becomes apparent or after a recent incident. If you wait too long, criticism will quickly come across as pent-up anger. However, it is important that you do not act in the heat of the moment. If you react too spontaneously, the risk of an inappropriate tone increases. Also plan enough time and avoid unfavourable moments such as just before the end of the working day, between appointments or directly after a stressful situation. The best time is when you can specifically name the issue, are calm inside and have room for a solution and clear agreements.

The best way to conduct a criticism dialogue is to structure it clearly: In this way, you remain objective, give your counterpart orientation and lead the conversation to a result that really helps. The following seven phases have proven themselves in practice.

3rd phase: Thestatement

Give your counterpart space to describe their own point of view. Use open questions and active listening to clarify any ambiguities and make sure you understand your colleague's point of view. In this way, you can identify whether the causes lie in a lack of information, overload, misunderstandings or actually in behaviour.

Phase 4: Evaluating the situation

When you have a discussion about criticism, you should categorise what has been said together: Which points have been confirmed, which misunderstandings have been clarified and what is not acceptable from the company's point of view? Formulate your expectations clearly and bindingly.

7th Phase: Follow-up & review

Without follow-up, conflict discussions often remain ineffective. Therefore, check within the agreed period whether the measures are taking effect and whether the change is visible. Provide feedback—both when progress is made (acknowledge) and when there is no improvement (clarify again, define next steps). Continuity ensures that the feedback discussion actually leads to lasting change.

If you are conducting a conflict discussion, a good introduction is more than just a friendly greeting. It is appreciative, clear and solution-orientated. However, avoid overly long prefaces and get to the point quickly. These formulations will help you:

• "Thank you for your time. I would like to address an issue today that is important to me so that we can work together again in a stable and clear way."
• "I'm having this conversation because it's important to me that we clearly clarify expectations and procedures - and find a solution together."
• "I would like to talk to you about an incident and understand how you saw the situation. I would then like to agree on how things should work in future."
• "I've noticed something in the last few days that I'd like to discuss with you as soon as possible. It's not about accusations, but about clarity and improvement."
• "I really appreciate your work and that's why I want to address this issue openly: There is a point that cannot continue like this."

Discussing criticism is not pleasant, but it is an important part of good leadership. It is crucial that you do not express criticism spontaneously or in the heat of the moment, but take a structured and solution-orientated approach. If you name examples, give your counterpart space to comment and make clear agreements at the end, you are more likely to achieve insight - without damaging motivation or the basis of the collaboration.

You will achieve the greatest effect if you consistently follow up after a conflict discussion: Binding goals, a follow-up and honest feedback on progress ensure that behaviour improves sustainably and future mistakes are avoided.