Employees Accept Negative Feedback More Readily From Managers They Trust

Managers often give feedback to employees to help them change and improve their job performance. Today’s best managers know that employees may be resistant to change when they don’t have a good relationship with their manager. Employees tend to accept negative feedback when it comes from a person that they like, they trust, and who they think has good intentions. However, when employees don’t have a good relationship with their manager, they tend to resist change if the manager tries to force change or threatens them with punishment if they don’t change.

Source: Furst, S. A., & Cable, D. 2008. Employee resistance to organizational change: Managerial influence tactics and leader-member exchange. Journal of Applied Psychology, 93, 453-462.