Why some companies are ditching 'feedback'

Proponents of the term "feedforward" say that "feedback" often leaves employees feeling defeated and mired in their past actions rather than thinking about their next steps, while "feedforward" encourages a focus on the future.

"The old assumptions of feedback, and all that word conjures up, I think puts a chill on performance," said Joe Hirsch, a corporate speaker. "Feedforward is about this forward-looking view of people, performance, and potential."

"Feedback conversations, as they commonly exist today, activate a social-threat response in the brain interfering with the ability to think clearly, and raising heart rates," said Theresa Adams, senior HR knowledge adviser at SHRM.

In addition to getting rid of the word "feedback," some companies are also replacing "reviews" with "connect" sessions, or  coaching, self-reflection, and opportunity discussions, Bruell and Ellis report.

In 2020, AstraZeneca reformed its review process in an effort to retain talent, according to Marc Howells, the company's VP of talent and development. Instead of doing annual reviews, AstraZeneca is doing quarterly check-ins and has replaced feedback and performance management with "feedforward" and "performance development."

"As soon as someone says, I want to give you feedback, people go into a defensive reception," Howells said.

Meanwhile, Microsoft encourages managers to use the word "perspectives" rather than traditional feedback. Reviews have also been renamed "connect" conversations, and Microsoft has stopped including anonymous comments from peers in employee reviews in favor of naming the commenters.

In addition, employees have received training on how to receive feedback at some companies, including at Booking.com, according to Paulo Pisano, the company's chief people officer.

Booking.com has created a series of videos for employees where executives provide examples of situations where they had a "learning moment" that came as a result of feedback and perspectives from others, Pisano said.

Some of the change is driven by the entrance of Gen Z into the workforce — a generation that's more open and focused on mental health and anxiety than generations before, according to Megan Gerhardt, a management professor at Miami University.

Gerhardt recommends that managers are transparent on the purpose of their feedback, how often they will provide it, and how employees should respond to it. If employees don't take feedback well, it's possible they won't fully understand what's being said, or they may leave.

Some don't want to let go of feedback just yet

Some employees feel getting rid of feedback is too far, and others feel the effort is "at best, an empty rebranding exercise," Bruell and Ellis report. "At worst, it deprives swaths of workers of the tough love they feel is essential to grow as a professional."

Jennifer Solomon-Baum, a former marketing director at Microsoft, said she understands why her company decided to change its feedback approach, but the decision to get rid of anonymous peer feedback has backfired.

After the change, "we didn't get the richness of constructive criticism," Solomon-Baum said. "It became a praise festival."

Feedback is a good thing, provided it isn't used to criticize an employee in a mean or public way Solomon-Baum added. "There's the art of giving feedback," she said. "We need to reclaim and redefine what it is."

Trisha Dearborn, chief people officer at Bustle Digital Group, said rebranding words like feedback could lead to positive results, but warned against relying on too many "buzzy words," which could lead to employees not taking feedback seriously.

"When it's serious feedback, you want to make sure people take it to heart," she said. (Bruell/Ellis, Wall Street Journal, 9/12)

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