While delivering constructive criticism is a necessary and difficult part of a supervisor's job, there are ways to do it without alienating employees, and while still providing them with ways to be successful, according to Art Markman, a psychology professor and author, writing in Fast Company.

Many types of criticism fail at one or more of these objectives, wrote Markman, a professor of psychology at the University of Texas at Austin, and the author of three books. For example, a strategy in which the supervisor sandwiches a criticism in between a couple of—often half-hearted—compliments can fall flat. He also notes that:

"If you just tell someone that they tried hard and their effort was noticed, you highlight that you don’t think they are currently capable of achieving difficult things;

If you tell them that they need to do better, you are giving them a goal without any instruction—the work equivalent of throwing someone in the deep end of the pool and hoping they will swim; and

If you do the task for the employee or give it to someone else, you leave them with the sense that you have no confidence in what they can accomplish."

Citing his colleague David Yeager, the author of  10 to 25: The Science of Motivating Young People, Markman suggests that a more effective strategy entails adopting a “mentor mindset,” in which the supervisor expresses empathy with the difficulties someone has with a task, but at the same time emphasizes the need for high standards for the employee and pushes that person to improve.

This strategy can be accomplished in a number of ways.

One strategy involves a supervisor telling the employee that he or she is going to explore ways to improve the employee's performance by providing useful guidance, rather than prefacing  criticism with a compliment, Markman writes. Then, before the supervisor discusses his or her view of what happened, the supervisor will ask the employee for his or her opinion.

“Not only does this make your employee a partner in the critique, but it starts to provide them with an internal dialogue they can have with themselves in the future so that they can begin to improve their own performance,” Markman writes.

When a deficiency is identified, a supervisor should emphasize collaboration by asking what support the employ needs to improve, showing understanding that everyone needs to learn new skills, and developing a plan to enable the employee to get the assistance and training he or she needs.

This approach demonstrates to employees that the supervisor cares enough about their development to spend the time to work with them. It also communicates that the supervisor has high expectations for the employees that the supervisor believes they can meet. This interaction with the direct reports will help the supervisor feel better because the “criticism is given in a context of being helpful, rather than in a context of tearing someone down,” Markman wrote.

“Once you master a mentor mindset for criticism, you can toss the [strategy of bookending a critique in two compliments] in the trash,” he notes in conclusion.