Ask an HR Expert
Q. It’s performance review season. We’ve updated our forms, rating scales, and templates multiple times, but the team keeps saying the reviews seem performative. Are there best practices we should be incorporating to make them more useful?
A: The problem likely isn’t the form. It’s the feedback.
Every year, companies refresh their performance review documents: new competencies, sleeker templates, better design. But no amount of formatting can fix the real issue — most managers haven’t been trained to give clear, actionable feedback.
Here’s what that looks like in practice.
🗣️ A vague compliment sandwich.
A manager sits down and says, “You’re doing such a good job. If there’s anything to work on, maybe communication? But otherwise, keep it up.”
A manager sits down and says, “You’re doing such a good job. If there’s anything to work on, maybe communication? But otherwise, keep it up.”
💬 Missing specifics.
What does “communication” mean here? Are they too quiet in meetings? Do their emails lack clarity? Are they overly blunt, too passive, or inconsistent in tone? If a manager can’t pinpoint what they’re seeing, with examples, the feedback is impossible to act on.
What does “communication” mean here? Are they too quiet in meetings? Do their emails lack clarity? Are they overly blunt, too passive, or inconsistent in tone? If a manager can’t pinpoint what they’re seeing, with examples, the feedback is impossible to act on.
🎯 “Why?”
Even when a manager names a behavior, they also need to connect it to impact. How does it affect the role, the team, or outcomes? Does it slow down decisions? Create confusion? Undermine trust? Without that link, the employee won’t understand why it matters.
Even when a manager names a behavior, they also need to connect it to impact. How does it affect the role, the team, or outcomes? Does it slow down decisions? Create confusion? Undermine trust? Without that link, the employee won’t understand why it matters.
It’s like telling someone to “be healthier.” Technically good advice, but are we talking about sleep, nutrition, or maybe not running ten miles on an empty stomach? (Definitely not speaking from experience.)
Vague advice doesn’t drive change.
The takeaway: People can’t read minds.
If you want someone to improve, show them what success looks like, clearly, concretely, and more than once a year. Performance review season might not fix everything, but it’s a good place to start.
If you’re trying to raise the bar on performance conversations, here’s where to focus:
- Train managers on how to give feedback. Give them scripts, examples, and practice. Focus on specificity, impact, and follow-through. Provide coaching sessions or calibration sessions ahead of time to prepare.
- Make expectations visible. Use rubrics and define roles. If people don’t know what “good” looks like, they can’t aim for it and managers can’t evaluate it.
- Normalize feedback outside the review cycle. Quarterly check-ins, postmortems, and peer feedback loops all help reduce pressure and improve quality.
- Audit the conversations, not just the forms. Ask employees: Did you leave your review knowing what to keep doing, stop doing, and aim for next? If not, the process isn’t working.
TL;DR: want help building a better feedback culture? Start with training, not templates.
Do you need HR support? Boly:Welch HR Consulting can help your team go farther with budget-friendly human resources consulting, tailored for your success.
