5 Positive Feedback Examples to Give to Your Employees 

You can use these positive feedback examples to evaluate your employees’ good work. If you are a manager, don’t be afraid of giving feedback – employees want more of it. This is because employees believe feedback can help them work better. 

Moreover, everybody can benefit from positive feedback. Superiors can exercise their feedback practice, while employees will feel ensured that they are going in the right direction. 

📌 In this article, you will find positive feedback examples you can use in your own company. But first, get these editable employee evaluation forms to keep your feedback consistent. 

Positive Employee Feedback Examples 

As mentioned before, giving positive employee feedback means being focused on your employees’ strengths, but not avoiding advising on how to improve. However, you should give positive feedback much more than redirecting and constructive one so your employees know that they are doing a good job. 

In other words, adapt these positive feedback examples to your specific situation and start giving great feedback. Your employees will surely appreciate your great mentorship. 

Positive feedback example #1 

Situation: Employee has accomplished a goal 

“I noticed that you have reached your quarterly sales goals last week. Congratulations! You have accomplished a major goal, and I was sure you will. I noticed how hard you have been working on closing the last few deals. You have really improved your negotiation skills, and the fact you went an extra mile for [x customer] and got them that guarantee from our Legal department… Just wow! It really showed off how hard you’re willing to go for our customers. This is an attitude that perfectly reflects our company statement. Great work!” 

Positive feedback example #2 

Situation: Employee has helped a coworker 

“Last week, you wholeheartedly helped [x employee] work through a lot of paperwork for [x customer]. Not only did you take on the work you did not have to, but you also did a great job of it. I believe that you have showed us all how teamwork and support look like. I am grateful to have such a great colleague in my team, and that you embody our company’s values. Thank you for helping out!” 

Positive feedback example #3 

Situation: Employee has been working overtime 

“Hey, I notice that you have been working overtime on [x project] for the last couple of weeks. It is great to see such dedication and energy from you! The [x project] is proving to be really complicated, so the extra hours you put in will surely add to its quality. You work really hard, and I want you to know that it shows! We all really appreciate your input. Just don’t burn out and let me know if there is something I can help you with!” 

Positive feedback example #4 

Situation: Employee had a good idea 

“In the meeting last week, you proposed a couple of changes in [x project]. I thought these ideas were fantastic! They would really help our customers get to the information about [x product] sooner, and our customer service would be able to help our customers faster. The idea you proposed was so out-of-the-box, and yet so simple! I really hope we get to collaborate on future projects because I believe we can really improve [y product] too. Kudos for your amazing innovative mind!” 

Positive feedback example #5 

Situation: Employee went an extra mile 

“Last week, you handed me the report on our marketing activities for the last 6 months with suggestions for improvement. I thought I was going to look to just another report. Well, I was wrong. Your report highlighted the areas we excelled in and areas we could improve in. The suggestions for improvement you mentioned were not only bold, they were also smart and innovative. The proactivity you showed is something I believe should be seen on all levels of our company structure. Honestly, you went way beyond your duties with this report. Let’s talk about the changes you want to make next week – I really want your proposals to be used to get us ahead. Thank you for going an extra mile.”

Positive Feedback Examples: Editable Letters and Quotes

Through positive feedback, employers are actually recognizing and appreciating their employees’ work. This is also why companies implement employee recognition programs, aiming to encourage the culture of appreciation in their companies.

As you will learn in the sections below, positive feedback has a myriad of benefits for employees and employers alike. This is why you should apply these positive feedback examples as often as you can.

Moreover, you can download our employee appreciation letters and employee appreciation quotes to serve you as positive feedback examples.

How to Use These Positive Feedback Examples  

These positive feedback examples are here to illustrate the appraising language you should be using when giving positive feedback. Use these positive feedback examples to boost your employees’ morale and support their hard work. 

Furthermore, if you will be using these positive feedback examples, you will get better at communicating with your employees. When you will have to give some constructive feedback, you will already have an established relationship with your employees. They will know how much you appreciate their work and will take your feedback as redirective suggestion. 

📌 If you want to excel in giving feedback, don’t stop at these positive feedback examples and get our 15 tips for giving meaningful and constructive feedback to your employees. 

Best Practices for Giving Positive Feedback to Your Employees  

There are certain tips and tricks on giving positive feedback that really work. Enhancing your feedback giving practice will make you a better manager and enhance your leadership skills, too. 

Your employees deserve to be ensured of their good qualities and behaviors. Help your business thrive by following these best practices for giving positive feedback to your employees. 

1. Give feedback continuously 

Continuous employee feedback is important: 43% of highly-engaged employees receive feedback at least once a week. It is crucial that you make a habit of it – you will improve your relationship with your employees and steer their efforts in the right direction. Besides, employees want more feedback. According to research, 60% of employees want feedback on daily or weekly basis. 

2. Allow peer-to-peer feedback 

Today, 73% of organizations allow peer-to-peer feedback. This is no surprise since it has many benefits. Specifically, it encourages culture of open communication and support among coworkers.  

📌 That’s why many organizations today implement feedback solutions. They allow smooth, quick peer-to-peer feedback that becomes an integral part of office practice. Take a look how our feedback platform FeedBck can help you give feedback as work happens. 

3. Be specific in your feedback 

You want to reinforce your employees’ good habits and actions – so tell your coworkers exactly what they did was positive. When feedback is generic and could apply to more than one person in the office – do not give it. Be specific, personal and genuine when praising your employees’ work. 

4. Make feedback less formal 

80% of Gen Y said they prefer on-the-spot recognition over formal reviews. It does not always have to be a formal, in-depth employee evaluation. From the positive feedback examples above, you can see that feedback can be short and informal. 

Of course, you should have a thorough performance review every now and then. Still, it will be easier for you to collect your daily or weekly feedback to make a comprehensive annual review. 

5. Explain the bigger picture 

When giving employee feedback, you should try connecting your employees’ good work to success of your organization overall. You can see in the positive feedback examples mentioned before how employees’ action is important because it directly supports company’s mission. 

6. Recognize and reward your employees’ effort 

Although positive feedback is rewarding itself – do not stop there! Employee recognition drives retention, engagement, and employee productivity too. 

If your company does not have a developed recognition practice, take a look at how our Recognition and Reward platform JobPts can help you develop an employee recognition program perfectly suited for your company.

Use these positive feedback examples to drive positive company culture

It is no secret: you are probably trying to improve overall company culture by encouraging employees to give each other more positive feedback. This is, obviously, not an easy task.

Company culture is complex and hard to measure. However, having low retention rates and employees on the verge of burnout surely signal a poor culture.

If your goal is to improve culture, these positive feedback examples will not suffice. They can be applied only if all aspects of total rewards strategy fall in the right place. That means you first have to ensure that your employees are happy with their compensation and benefits; and second, that employee perks package you offer is competitive.

After that, you can start investigating what is disturbing the company culture you are aiming for. As this is one of the most common HR Challenges, do not expect for it to be resolved easily: instead, survey your employees, find out their grievances, take action on these issues, and later on – work on your employee recognition strategy. You can use these positive feedback examples as how-to models for educating your employees.

Why Giving Positive Feedback is Important to Your Organization 

There are numerous reasons why giving positive feedback is important for your company’s success. However, the number one reason is that employees are asking for it! An astounding 65% of employees want more feedback to get a better sense of their performance. 

That being said, giving positive feedback does not mean that you should never mention to your employees what they could be doing better. Instead, giving positive feedback focuses on reinforcing your employees’ good habits and creating a culture of appreciation.  

You must also constructively explain to your employees how they can improve in some aspects of their work – but let the positive feedback prevail! 

Take a look at why positive employee feedback pays off. 

Positive feedback drives retention 

According to research, companies in which positive employee feedback is given regularly report 14.9% lower turnover rates in comparison to companies with no implemented feedback practice. This is why encouraging positive feedback is very often a part of companies’ employee retention strategy.

Employee turnover is costly. Total costs associated with turnover range from 90% to 200% of annual employees’ salary! Therefore, try implementing regular employee feedback practice in your company as well as recognizing your employees hard work.

Positive feedback boosts employee engagement 

Many companies want to increase employee engagement. Why? It’s not just another HR buzzword – employee disengagement is costing US companies $500 billion annually. 

That is why it is crucial to incentivize your employees’ engagement with feedback. Research shows that 67% of employees are fully engaged in their work when managers give them positive feedback. 

Feedback is one of the moments that matter – but this one matters all along the employee journey. It has power to engage and motivate, and in the end, can boost employee performance significantly.

Positive feedback enables higher productivity 

Your employees’ productivity relies on many components. For example, 78% of employees say being appreciated motivates them at their job. Furthermore, employees are more productive when they get reassured that they are doing a good job. 

Besides, by regularly giving and receiving feedback, your employees know what to concentrate their efforts on. They will be more focused on projects that need most of their attention and spend their time more effectively overall. 

Positive feedback facilitates employees’ growth 

It is only logical: employees want to know how to perform better in order to have better results, learn more and land that promotion sooner. This is especially true for younger generations: Millennials want 50% more feedback than other employees. 

Positive feedback increases job satisfaction 

It should not be a surprise that receiving positive feedback makes 68% of employees feel fulfilled in their jobs. When employees receive positive feedback, they feel appreciated and recognized for their input. Overall, employees feel respected for what they do when they get positive feedback – which makes their job satisfaction and happiness higher. 

Receiving positive feedback contributes to better employee experience 

Employee experience accounts for everything an employee encounters in a workplace. If employees lack positive feedback and only get criticized, this will reflect poorly on their experience with your company. 

Negative feedback has a demotivating effect and will quickly create a toxic work culture in which it is impossible to thrive. 

📌 Get to know best employee experience platforms and find out how they can help you achieve your KPIs.

Positive feedback creates better company culture 

According to 89% of HR leaders, feedback and regular check-ins enhance organizational culture. Besides, positive feedback makes employees’ relationships more open, and communication more effective. In fact, it is one of the pillars when creating a strong workplace culture.

📌 See how this company managed to drive culture of mentorship by implementing an employee feedback platform FeedBck.