Is Your Feedback Helping Performance, Or Holding It Back?

Feedback has long been viewed as one of the cornerstones of effective leadership and performance management. Most organisations invest significant time and effort in developing feedback cultures, training managers to have better conversations and implementing processes designed to improve performance.

But what if the feedback we give isn’t actually helping people perform better? What if, in some cases, it’s getting in the way?

I was recently reflecting on this question after attending a session exploring CRF’s latest report, Feedback and Work Performance, authored by Rob Briner. The report takes an evidence-based look at what research tells us about performance feedback and challenges some of the assumptions many of us make about its value.

One of the most interesting observations is that feedback is not inherently beneficial simply because it is given. In reality, feedback can have little impact, or even a negative impact, on performance if it is inaccurate, poorly understood, irrelevant, delivered at the wrong time or disconnected from the work and outcomes it is intended to improve.

That may seem surprising given how much attention organisations place on feedback. Yet when we think about our own experiences, it makes sense. Not all feedback is equally useful. Some helps us see something we hadn’t noticed before and take meaningful action. Some leaves us confused, frustrated or uncertain about what to do next.

Getting the Fundamentals Right

The report reinforces the importance of focusing on the fundamentals rather than assuming that more feedback automatically leads to better performance.

For feedback to be genuinely useful, several conditions need to be in place:

• A clear goal or outcome that people are working towards.
• A shared understanding of what success looks like.
• Clarity around the behaviours that support or hinder progress.
• Sufficient knowledge of those behaviours to provide accurate observations.
• Confidence that the feedback will be understood and interpreted in the way it is intended.

In other words, effective feedback starts long before the conversation itself.

Without clarity about goals, expectations and performance standards, feedback can easily become subjective, inconsistent or disconnected from what matters most.

Credibility also plays a significant role. If leaders do not have a strong understanding of an individual’s work, behaviours or context, it becomes difficult to make accurate connections between actions, outcomes and performance. In those situations, feedback risks being perceived as opinion rather than insight.

Are We Confusing Feedback With Performance Management?

Another interesting theme from the report is the distinction between feedback and many of the activities organisations commonly label as feedback.

Performance ratings, annual appraisals and 360-degree feedback processes can all provide valuable information. However, they do not automatically constitute effective performance feedback.

The more important question is whether they help an individual understand their progress towards an outcome and identify what they might do differently to improve future performance.

A rating alone rarely achieves that.

Similarly, a detailed appraisal document does not necessarily improve performance unless it generates insight, understanding and meaningful action.

This distinction feels increasingly important at a time when many organisations are reviewing their performance management approaches. Too often, there is a risk that processes become the focus while performance improvement becomes secondary.

Quality Over Quantity

For me, one of the broader lessons is that effective performance management is not necessarily about having more feedback conversations or introducing increasingly sophisticated systems.

It is about improving the quality, relevance and usefulness of the information people receive.

The most valuable feedback helps someone answer three simple questions:

• How am I doing against the outcome I’m trying to achieve?
• What is helping or getting in the way of progress?
• What should I do differently next?

When feedback provides clear answers to those questions, it becomes a powerful driver of learning and performance.

When it doesn’t, it can quickly become another organisational process that consumes time without creating meaningful value.

What Does This Mean for Leaders?

For leaders, the implication is clear. The goal is not simply to give more feedback. The goal is to provide better feedback.

That requires a combination of observation, clarity, curiosity and credibility. It requires leaders to understand the context, focus on outcomes and create conversations that help people learn rather than simply evaluate.

It also reinforces the importance of the work many organisations are doing to strengthen coaching capability and leadership communication skills.

At The Oxford Group, we see this reflected in programmes focused on coaching, performance conversations and leadership development, including 5 Conversations®. The most effective leaders are rarely those who deliver the most feedback. They are the leaders who create meaningful conversations that help people understand their performance, strengthen relationships and take constructive next steps.

A Question Worth Asking

The report also raises an important organisational challenge.

Do our performance management systems genuinely help people receive high-quality, actionable feedback?

Or have they become overly bureaucratic, process-driven and disconnected from performance itself?

It’s a question worth reflecting on.

Because feedback is not automatically valuable simply because it is delivered. Its value comes from what it enables people to understand, change and improve.

Ultimately, the real test of feedback is not whether it was given. The real test is whether it helped someone make better sense of their performance and take a constructive next step.

How confident are you that the feedback practices in your organisation are doing that?

Start a conversation with our team to explore what effective feedback could look like in your organisation.