Performance reviews play a critical role in developing your talent and growing your business. But recent data from Gallup on employee engagement points to a record low, with companies’ performance review processes being a big reason why. Management can put too much of an emphasis on the “review” portion, and not enough on the “performance.” And better performance is what you’re really looking for.

While a performance review necessarily involves feedback, there’s another technique that is even more focused on improving your team’s performance: feedforward. To be clear: Feedforward is not an alternative to feedback. It is a forward-looking management technique intended to promote more successful behaviors from both employees and managers.

For this reason, companies should consider using the feedforward technique in conjunction with performance reviews but also separate from them. Just as good performance reviews include goal-setting, which is necessarily forward-looking, feedforward management can instill the behaviors that will help each person achieve common goals every day on the job.

Let’s delve deeper into the nuances of feedforward vs. feedback:

What Is Feedforward?

The feedforward technique was popularized by Marshall Goldsmith, an executive management consultant, and sprang from his experience coaching “successful people.” He recognized that people more readily accepted direction from others when it was forward-looking, framed in a positive way, and focused on specific behaviors, not personality or style.

For example: “Be ready to discuss the client’s biggest financial challenge in the meeting” would be a good feedforward prompt. This is preferable to “Don’t forget to review the client’s account before the meeting,” (which is negative and non-specific) and definitely better than “Sometimes you seem unprepared for client meetings” (which is negative, non-specific, and backwards looking.)

This highlights another difference between feedforward vs. feedback. Feedforward conversations can happen at any time, not necessarily on a schedule. In the example above, the feedforward guidance could be appropriate before or after the meeting. It would be actionable in either case, and more productive than negative feedback.

The feedforward approach can drive the desired change – if change is required – but it can also refine otherwise positive behaviors. While feedback, especially in the context of a performance review, tends to be about fixing problems, feedforward is about making the future better even if things are pretty good already.  

Feedforward vs. Feedback: The Right Tool at the Right Time

Feedforward is often mistaken for feedback with a positive spin. But feedforward conversations can be held at any time between any two people, whether it’s a supervisor and their report or two peers. On the other hand, feedback doesn’t always have to be negative, but feedback is more often motivated by problems or shortcomings and is generally a conversation only a manager should have with their report.

Feedforward is also not always preferable to feedback. Sometimes it’s necessary for people to understand when their words or actions are negatively perceived, which is a necessary step in looking for positive alternatives. The performance review process was developed to provide a framework in which such negative issues can be addressed in as comfortable a way as possible.

Unlike the conditions for feedforward, the topics to be addressed by feedback may be negative, are necessarily backwards looking, and may not be specific. People may not have the right training or required social skills to perform their duties in the way the company expects. Only by airing the issues and clarifying expectations can the affected worker understand the changes that need to be made.

Ideally, the company is prepared to help the employee make the desired improvements. In that case, the uncomfortable feedback can be followed by a feedforward recommendation like receiving additional training or talking to the company’s Employee Assistance Program. It’s specific, it’s positive, and it’s actionable.

Most importantly, it’s likelier to get the company the desired business outcome.  

Implementing Feedforward and Feedback with Your Performance Reviews

Feedforward and feedback are two different approaches with a common goal: the best possible employee performance. For this reason, performance reviews are a critical occasion to leverage them both.

As the name says, a review is a look backwards. This is important to isolate what’s working and what is not. It’s also valuable for an employee to hear their manager articulate these things. By understanding how their supervisor sees their work compared to their own view, an employee can better calibrate their efforts, develop new skills, seek new knowledge, and shed old habits.

As illustrated earlier, the supervisor can attach feedforward action items to an assessment of past performance. Likewise, an employee can make a feedforward request to their supervisor, like “Can you recommend the best additional training?” Feedforward dialogs help foster a culture of open communication at all levels.

By making feedforward an explicit part of a company’s continuous improvement, occasional feedforward comments during the course of everyday work can tie back to goals stated in the performance review. If you’re using performance management software (and you should!), the feedforward counsel can be included in the review as a reference for additional coaching throughout the year.

Retain Your Best Talent with Strategic Performance Management

Even if you use Talent Management software to administer your employees, you will benefit from the added functionality of a purpose-built Performance Management platform. Rather than just attaching notes from a review conversation to an employee’s record, the right software can turn those conversations into forward momentum for the company.

The best software connects individual employee performance to corporate goals, aligning the company from top to bottom. Feedforward recommendations become part of a continuous improvement dynamic that fuels both business growth and a healthier corporate culture.

As one of the nation’s leading HR services and technology companies, VensureHR infuses its performance management solutions with extensive employee and manager experience across a range of industries. To turn your employees’ performance management into better business performance, contact VensureHR for a consultation.