Managers! Are You Giving the Wrong Feedback?

Managers! Are You Giving the Wrong Feedback? Do you find you’re having the same conversation – again and again?

Like when an employee’s work contains more errors than expected. You’ve explained the standard, offered guidance, and even had a “constructive” chat about the need for improvement. 

They nod.  

They say, “I understand.” 

They may even say, “I’ll work on it.” 

But the next week… the same issue shows up. And then again, the following week – despite a second conversation 

It’s frustrating, right?  

But here’s the real question: Are you giving the right feedback? 

When performance doesn’t improve, many managers simply double down on feedback—repeating the same conversation in the same way. These conversations often only focus on the latest incident: the next error, the next missed deadline, or the next client complaint. 

What gets missed is a shift in focus—from the isolated incident to the emerging pattern of behaviour. 

That’s the real issue. 

When feedback only addresses individual incidents, it fails to tackle the bigger picture. To help someone truly improve, you need to start naming and addressing the pattern and the emerging behaviour. Some common examples of this include: 

• The employee nods and says they understand yet commits to do nothing differently in each feedback session and there is no observed change. Could this be that they really don’t agree with your feedback and are in conflict with you and avoiding confrontation?  

• The employee nods and says they understand and will try to focus on it yet there is no committed action taking and again no change to outcomes.  It seems her accountability and ownership could be the barrier 

• The team member agrees to work on it and genuinely is seen to be taking actions to improve the outcome yet still not quite achieving. It could be that is more complex than a simple fix as confidence, knowledge, skills, resources and others can also contribute.  

Having the right feedback conversation is one of the most common performance traps we see leaders fall into. And it’s just one of several strategies we’ll explore in our upcoming free webinar: “Turning Around Underperformance – 3 Key Strategies”. 

Whether you manage one person or lead a full team, giving the right kind of feedback — at the right level — is a leadership muscle that separates good managers from great ones. 

Join us for insights you can use immediately.