Dealing with Negative Feedback from Students or Trainees

I work somewhat in the corporate American environment. When I say "somewhat," it's not because I'm confused about what I do. My company was acquired by a large corporation two years ago. While I still work for the smaller business unit, the effects of the corporate takeover are starting to enter into our day-to-day lives.

My background and experience spans many fields even in the short time I have been a career woman. I work in technical writing, editing, instructional design, teaching, training, creative writing, freelance writing, and public speaking.

Currently, my job title is trainer/instructional designer, although I haven't actually been in the classroom much since I started the job. More of what my focus has been is evaluating our current 4-week training program and our trainers' skills and level of performance. One of the biggest struggles I have had with this environment has been the trainers' and managers' reception to negative feedback of any kind, even though we strive to present only constructive feedback.

Most of the time, the negative reactions tend to stem from a feeling of inadequacy and hurt feelings. It is worse when others are allowed to see just what the students/trainees are saying, which is what happens in the environment I'm working in. I have worked with our trainers to explain why an evaluation tool is important and I have offered suggestions for dealing with negative feedback in a constructive manner.

Listed below are some of the common reasons (or excuses) I have heard for why our people respond negatively when presented with negative feedback from their trainees and students.

"It's not their area of expertise, so how are they justified in evaluating me as a teacher/trainer?"
For one of our trainers, this is the most common retaliation against needing to make performance changes based on the feedback provided by our trainees. While teaching and training may not be the area of expertise for your students/trainees, they can certainly tell if you are talking too fast, too quiet, not providing enough examples and hands on practice, etc - this is the same thing as if you sat through a really boring presentation, didn't learn anything from it, and then complained about it. You may not know more about the subject matter than the presenter, but you certainly know if you didn't get what you needed from that person's presentation materials and delivery style.

I have worked with our trainers to get them to understand that, while their trainees may not be public speakers or trainers themselves, they do know what they need and how they need it delivered to them. That's not to say that the trainers should listen to every negative comment thrown out there; this suggestion is just for common themes that show up and that could be improved with even minor changes.

"If the trainees are performing at a high level, should it really matter what they think of us or the format of the class?"
Yes. Just because someone understands the concepts in the classroom or is great at memorizing facts, it doesn't mean s/he feels comfortable with his or her role yet. By acting this way as a teacher or trainer, you're just building a wall between you and the trainees. It makes the trainees feel uncomfortable when asking questions because they feel like they're just expected to already understand everything.

"I'm sure it was so-and-so who isn't performing well and doesn't like me personally that wrote that."
If your evaluations are given anonymously, you should have no way of telling who said what, and assuming is not acceptable (you know what they say about the word "assume"). This situation can pose problems. If one person out of seven gives a poor evaluation, it could be that they just don't like a situation or trainer. This is when you need to evaluate the comments, not the rating scale. If the feedback is not specific enough, work on revising your evaluation tool. Require comments more than the "I like the class" or "Chapter 2 was confusing." You can do this by asking very specific questions that have to be answered with specific comments. For example:

Q: Were you given enough time for hands on practice during this week's sessions? If not, which sections do you still have questions about?

A: This week did seem a little bit rushed with one trainer. I did not feel like I got enough practice with the UB form.

From this response, the trainers will know to revisit the UB form, and as subject matter experts (SMEs), they may also know that others may be struggling with this topic and additional medical forms.

If you are a teacher or trainer or work with people who are, consider these common reasons/excuses for being upset by negative feedback. Remember, if it's constructive, it is only shared to lead to improvements and benefits for everyone involved. If the feedback is more catty or vague, it may just be that you have a few students or trainees who are just buttheads.