Independent work

Feedback information for self-control
The second prerequisite for employee’ responsibility is feedback information on his own performance. Responsibility requires self-control. This in turn needs continuous information on performance against standards. There has been a great deal of interest lately in the application of ‘behaviour modification’ to work. In particular, there has been great interest in the approach worked out recently in one of the organization, which found that the employees on all the levels manage their own performance if only they are informed immediately what their performance actually is. In fact, this has been known for many years for which there are several examples available all over the world.
It is known that people can control and correct performance if given the information, even though neither they nor the supplier of information really understand what has to be done or how. This applies also to those processes which are, by definition, ‘uncontrollable’, such as a great many processes in the human body. Few work processes are inaccessible to analysis and in a good many processes people do not exactly know the process. However, the employee himself, given the information, can control his own work and output.
This approach applies even to such advanced knowledge work as research. Feedback in research does not mean a daily report. Rather it means sitting down with the research scientists several times a year and providing information which are the things of significance which the research group has contributed to the organization during the last half a year to a year, and also the impacts earlier research work has had on the organizational performance during the last half a year to a year.
The information which the employee needs is to satisfy the requirements of effective information. It is to be timely, relevant, operational, and to focus on the job. Above all, it is to be his tool. Its purpose is to be self-control rather than control of others, let alone manipulation.
The real strength of feedback information is clearly that the information is the tool of the employee for measuring and directing himself. The employee does not need praise or reproach to know how he is doing. He knows.