Dreading the annual review? Unsurprising when feedback is the hard part. 

The performance review season is coming and as always, it comes with a familiar checklist; new forms, ratings scales and multiple meetings. All of it has its place, but none of it decides whether the conversation in the room actually works... 

That is decided by a skill that most performance management processes assume people already have perfected: giving - and receiving - feedback. 

It’s more important than you think

Many managers approach feedback without ever being taught how to do it. CMI’s 2023 research shows that 82% of managers take on management responsibilities without any formal training or experience. And this is often showcased in the performance management process where managers need to have difficult conversations whilst improving performance and inspiring productivity.  

And all of that has an impact on retention; Gallup found that 31% of employees have left a job over a bad relationship with their manager, and 50% who rate their manager as ineffective plan to leave their role within the year. (Gallup 2023) And with hiring and onboarding processes costing 3x the salary of lost personnel (Recruitment & Employment Confederation report [REC] 2025), the costs are significant.

Giving feedback is a core skill not a nice-to-have

Most managers know what giving good feedback looks like, but ‘knowing’ and being able to give it under pressure with the desired outcome, is very different. It can be very easy for managers to file feedback under the ‘nice-to-have’ parts of performance management. But feedback isn’t a nice-to-have, it’s the core skill that the entire process depends on. The rating scales, meetings and reviews are only as accurate as what actually gets said between the manager and employee. If the conversation is softened, skipped or the hard parts avoided, , the development plan built on top of it will not be effective. 

That’s what makes the annual review process specifically so unforgiving to this gap in skill. Unlike an offhand comment with a colleague, a review is the one point in the year where feedback is more important than ever. It’s something that feeds the ratings, the plan and delivers the performance expectations for the year. It inspires change and growth and nips questionable behaviours and poor decision-making in the bud. 

Understanding how people receive feedback is a skill too

It’s not only about delivering feedback, a manager also needs to understand how feedback can be received. This helps them  tailor their state, tone, body language and communication style for the best outcome, and it’s something that can be developed way before the actual feedback is given. It’s important for managers to remember that the same message doesn’t land the same way with everyone. For example, one person may want the headline first and the details later, whereas another may need time to process before they respond, or more guidance to fully get on board. The ability to read the person you are giving feedback to, is part of what makes feedback usable, rather than something to defend against or ignore. Get that wrong in the annual review process specifically, and even the most accurately worded feedback can go to waste. 

Another great tip is for managers to ask questions with real curiosity in seeking their own feedback. For example, a manager who welcomes the hard answers, without getting defensive themselves, can create the psychological safety that lets the other person actively engage in the conversation. Simply asking for “any feedback?” limits this interaction and removes the opportunity for shared growth. 

Feedback is a loop, and even though an annual review process is largely steered towards giving feedback; a manager who is open to receiving it can build trust and increase engagement and action in the feedback the employee receives. 

Practise, practise, practise.

If managers know what good feedback looks like, why do so many still deliver it badly? We believe that this is not  a knowledge problem, but a practice one.

People get better at difficult conversations the way they get better at anything; through trying and failing, trying again  and learning from it, in a safe environment. This beats being presented with a training deck or e-learning module describing what ‘good’ looks like every day of the week. And that’s the principle behind DoThinkDo’s approach generally; we change behaviours by doing, practising somewhere safe and being coached with live feedback in moments that matter. 

This is why our new Forum Theatre offering can really help; designed to allow real-time, experiential feedback conversations in a safe space, managers shape how they are played out, experiment with questions and responses and demonstrate how both the giving and receiving of feedback are critical in reducing risk of attrition and improving people and business performance. 

Giving and Receiving Feedback is perfect for review season

DoThinkDo’s new Giving and Receiving Feedback Programme was created ahead of the performance management review season; it was built to practise both halves of the conversation for managers and individual contributors. 

If annual reviews are coming up in the new year, get ahead of the game, and ask yourself a different question: Not whether your tools and processes are right, but whether your managers, and your people, have had the chance to practise the conversations that will guide and improve performance for the rest of the year.

Get in touch with the DoThinkDo team today to find out more about our exciting new programme and our Forum Theatre offering here.