Sands Academy Elevate Series Presents Effective Feedback Workshop

In keeping with Las Vegas Sands commitment to providing Team Members with an outstanding work environment and extensive training and other opportunities to advance, Sands Academy hosted property managers and supervisors for a workshop about Effective Feedback.  Conducted by Stephanie McHugh, Senior Manager of Talent Development, the workshop focused on positive and negative feedback for Team Members. 

“You should bring as much feedback as you can,” McHugh said.  “Our team (Talent and Organizational Development) is committed to helping Team Members grow.  Learning, developing or having their ‘Aha’ moment excites us.  It means we have created learning opportunities that resonate with them.  We try to make this relevant to all Team Members at our properties.”

McHugh posed the question ‘When is feedback needed?’ to the group of supervisors in attendance.  She emphasized the need to provide positive feedback when someone does a good job and when someone needs improvement.  Most people get less feedback than they want and there should never be any surprises in the formal review.  Feedback should be clear throughout the year so there are no surprises. 

“Teams need specific feedback to better themselves,” she said.  “Be specific when giving your feedback, give instances of when they did something right and also when they did something wrong.  They need to know where they stand within their role and their team.”

McHugh then went through the SBI Model, which stands for Situation, Behavior and Impact.  As a manager, you must be able to describe the situation specifically, describe the observable behavior, not assuming what the other person was thinking, and finally describe the reaction to the behavior.  She also emphasized the importance of staying neutral when giving your feedback.  Non-verbal communication makes up 55% of what you are trying to convey, with tone of voice at 38%, and the actual feedback just at 7%. 

“Interpretation of your actions is a big issue when delivering feedback to your team,” McHugh said.  “You need to be mindful of your body language before confronting the Team Member.  You don’t want to be perceived as negative or hostile.  Also, you need to present your feedback in a private, relevant, specific and documented manner.  This helps you as a manager, but also speaks volumes to a Team Member.”    

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