How to give written feedback to an employee in clear and professional business English?

A good feedback is one that motivates the employee. The goal is for every feedback, whether celebrating success or offering criticism, to increase the employee’s drive moving forward. That being said, giving feedback is not a natural task for everyone, which is why I’ve written this guide for you. 
Here are 3 simple steps to help you leverage the written feedback you provide to an employee.

• By email
• In a weekly meeting
• In an annual review
• As a response to a project
  
  
• When critiquing an employee’s work or behavior, it can sometimes be challenging for both the manager and the employee receiving the feedback. The goal is not to cause more harm than good.When should you avoid giving feedback?
  • When the feedback does not lead to any actionable outcome.
  • When you are emotionally charged.
• In any case, whether you want to maintain a certain behavior or request its improvement, there is a way to do it in writing and in a positive manner.It’s essential to give feedback promptly—within a week of the event, and certainly not wait until the annual review.Be specific—give real examples and avoid generalizations. This will help the employee better understand your message.Ask yourself beforehand, “What do I want to achieve with this feedback?” and speak from there. Then, give the employee clear, measurable, and achievable goals that drive the action you want to see in the future.
  
  For example:

You’ve only met two out of six of your project deadlines this year. This leads to projects going over budget and interferes with our ability to schedule contractors correctly.

Emphasize the importance of your feedback by highlighting the positive impact of what the employee did, or the negative effect.

*Be empathetic – show respect, support, and compassion toward the employee.

*Allow them to ask questions.

*use "I" more than "you"

for example:

 “I’ve noticed that the weekly metrics have been coming in late”

or

“I was hoping to see a more polished presentation of our team’s goals.”

or

 When I’ve asked about my sales objectives recently, I don’t feel I’ve received clear answers about what I should aim for.

* Compliment behavior you want to encourage.

for examples:

 thank you for being open-minded and persistent in our stand-up today.

or:

Keep up the excellent work!

or:

You’ve been a strong and timely communicator and diligent, detail-oriented project manager. Your team praises you (see attached document), and your collaborative efforts don’t go unnoticed!

*Talk about the challenges that exist, if any.

for example:

 If you’ve had any issues come up, please let me know as soon as possible so I can help you get back on track.

or:

Next, let’s focus on reorganizing our last two sprints to meet the deadline.

It is very important to conclude the feedback with a sense that you are supporting the employee.

for example:

 I’m here for you if you need to talk things out or have other questions or concerns.

Of course, as with all business writing, it is important to avoid unnecessary punctuation marks like (!!!) or (???) and the use of emojis.

In conclusion, writing quality feedback in fluent business English includes the rules I've outlined here, and they are highly applicable.

Good luck,
Nofar