Continuous Feedback: When Too Much of A Good Thing Can Be Bad

Continuous feedback is a good thing, right?

Its benefits are manifold.

• Feedback help people get on the right track
• It helps people improve themselves and the quality of their work
• It points out problem areas or issues
• It engenders loyalty among employees

Anybody who’s a part of the HR industry and worth their salt, recommends giving frequent and continuous feedback. (So do we at Engagedly, by the way.) This is because continuous feedback plays an important role in employee performance management.

Also Read: Importance Of Continuous Feedback In the Post COVID Era

But lately, we have been wondering, if there is an optimal feedback frequency. Obviously, when you give feedback, you want it to actually work. You want the receiver to take that feedback into account. However, there are a few factors that can prevent your feedback from being good, and move your feedback from the ‘valid and good’ category to the ‘useless and impractical’ category.

And those factors have to do with how frequently you give feedback.

I Give Feedback Every Day –  Whoa. This is not a good approach. Unless the work hinges on being reviewed every day, giving feedback every day is only going to confuse a person and slow down the pace of work tremendously. You have to be especially careful with the employees that have stress-related disorders since frequent meetings for feedback can trigger different reactions, that’s one thing you should avoid. Therefore,  try to give feedback when it’s absolutely necessary to do so.

I Give Feedback Rarely – Definitely not a good approach at all. At least the first one shows that you care ( it is still damaging, however). This one displays a marked lack of interest in the employee’s work and is extremely demoralizing for the employee. And it most certainly doesn’t make you a cool boss or cool manager.

I Give Feedback As And When Necessary – This is what we at Engagedly deem the best approach. Giving feedback as and when is necessary means that more often than not, the feedback you give is valuable and timely. And as a result, it is more effective! So you could decide, whether you want to give feedback once a month or every few weeks. Or you could decide you can give feedback every time a task is done.  

Therefore, with a good framework in your organization, the process of continuous feedback will result in improved performance of your employees

Aaron Adams

Aaron Adams is the VP of Professional Services for Engagedly, where he develops and implements strategic talent solutions that help support and drive the organization’s talent and business strategies. He holds a Master’s Degree in Industrial-Organizational Psychology from Wayne State University and has worked as a Right Management consultant and an OD consultant for a Fortune 20 Company. Currently, he leads Engagedly Teams responsible for onboarding, training, and consulting services.