The Giver's Perspective: Advancing Feedback Research with a New Focus.

Individuals often rely on other people, typically other members of their organization, for performance feedback. Unsurprisingly, decades of organizational research have been dedicated to understanding the determinants of effective feedback exchange. Yet, not much attention has been given to when, how, and why feedback givers may provide varying types of feedback that may be deemed as more or less helpful. Without understanding this crucial piece of the feedback exchange process ' feedback giving ' it would be impossible to promote effective feedback exchange. This symposium is designed to advance our understanding of feedback exchange from the giver's perspective by bringing together leading scholars examining various factors that affect feedback giving. By considering characteristics of the feedback giver, feedback recipient, and the feedback giving situation, this symposium is intended to provide a holistic view about the dynamics of feedback giving. Our presentations touch upon both a wide range of approaches of exploring the phenomenon of feedback giving, from empirical description to proposing and testing novel interventions. The presentations were also selected to exhibit the breadth of methodologies that are being applied to explore feedback giving. The papers include findings from surveys, archival field data, lab experiments, and field experiments. Together, these presentations propose theories and offer practical implications that will advance the collective understanding of this important workplace challenge. The program begins by considering how and why feedback givers provide input that may be considered as less helpful by their recipients. The next two presentations offer potential solutions for the various shortcomings of feedback identified earlier in the session. The symposium will conclude with an integrated discussion by Sue Ashford, who will comment on the papers, explore how they relate, and share her perspective on feedback giving. Kind or Candid? A Bias toward Kindness Goals in Feedback to Poorly Performing Women Presenter: Lily E. Jampol; London Business School The Detrimental Effects of High-Status Mentors: Formal Mentors' Relative Status and Mentee Turnover Presenter: Paul Isaac Green; U. of Texas, McCombs Presenter: Ting Zhang; Harvard Business School Presenter: Bradley R. Staats; U. of North Carolina, Chapel Hill Presenter: Francesca Gino; Harvard U. Think or Feel before Delivering Feedback?: Perspective Taking & Empathy Result in Different Feedback Presenter: Kian Siong Tey; INSEAD Presenter: Elizabeth Baily Wolf; INSEAD Presenter: Roderick Ingmar Swaab; INSEAD Presenter: Michael Schaerer; Singapore Management U. Asking for Advice (vs. Feedback) Yields More Critical, Specific, and Actionable Input Presenter: Jaewon Yoon; Harvard Business School Presenter: Hayley Blunden; Harvard Business School Presenter: Ariella Kristal; Harvard Business School Presenter: Ashley Whillans; Harvard Business School [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]