For anyone not familiar, the “feedback sandwich” is a description of a way to give employee feedback. It’s shorthand for the practice of giving negative or constructive feedback by wrapping it with positive compliments (the bread that contains the meat)
Some people are critical of this practice, suggesting that it’s dubious, manufactures, and distracts from the true meaning of the conversation – the criticism or negative feedback.
The problem we have is that it’s not in our DNA as humans to take time out to focus on the positive. Early humans scanned the Serengeti for enemies trying to have us for dinner. We would not take time out to comment on the beautiful song of the nearby bird. This is not to say we haven’t learned – and that every one of has carries a kind message for our co-workers. However, in times of duress and pressure, we revert to our human nature, which is to look for threats and risk – and we tend to jump straight to addressing the threat, which is why I believe the feedback sandwich is a good practice.
That said, as with all good food, it’s best served over time. Parenting advice the world over recommends “catch your children doing something good” – and comment on it or reward them, unsolicited. The same is true for employees – when they do something right, say something. The problem we have goes back to our time living in caves – we are scanning for threats – and so time slips by, we miss the opportunity to comment on goodness, and when something goes wrong, we are in urgent need of providing critical or negative feedback.
To the employee, this feels like the manager only sees the negative, which may not be true, the manager saw the positive, but just didn’t take the time to call it out.
Which brings us back to the feedback sandwich as a recommended antidote. As Sam Levenson said “In One Era and Out the Other”, “For attractive lips, speak words of kindness. For lovely eyes, seek out the good in people.”
Managers and HR professionals need to go out of their way to call out positive work because it’s not a natural human tendency. If and when we forget, the feedback sandwich is a good practice to make sure we stay balanced and constructive feedback is taken with the right measure.
Ross Smith, FRSA Modern Workplace Engineering - Supportability Ross is a Fellow of the Royal Society of the Arts and blogger. Author of The Practical Guide to Defect Prevention and holds seven patents. He is currently a Ph.D. Scholar, part of University College Dublin's SmartLab program, researching the impact of AI, robotics, and automation on worker displacement. He has worked at Microsoft for over 28 years and is a member of the Leadership Council for the Anita Borg Institute, co-chair for Grace Hopper Organizational Transformation track. He is a co-leader of ABI Local in Seattle, and part of the gender partner LT and ”male ally” panel discussions at the IEEE Women in Technology and National Center for Women in Technology (NCWIT) Summit and TechCrunch. Work with iUrbanTeen and Native Americans at Microsoft. He is a member of the board of Spreeha, working to break the cycle of poverty. Developed 42projects to promote cultural change, develop organizational trust and improve the lives of the managed. To help develop the next generation’s interest in STEAM (STEM+Arts), he works with Skype in the Classroom program and events like iUrbanTeen day at Microsoft. He was invited to the White House for discussion on women in STEM. Keynote speaker for the ARTBA’s Transovation 2014-2016. The work of his teams has been mentioned in Forbes, The Economist, the Wall Street Journal, PSFK, the American Journal of Play, Harvard Business Review, and the London School of Business. He has presented at SXSW, MIT Solve, Grace Hopper, Serious Play, Games for Change, and several other large conferences. His academic research papers are published on ResearchGate. He is a blogger for SHRM has worked on Skype Translator. He is an avid reader and loves to travel.
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