Who can use this feature?
Available on:
All Culture Amp subscriptions that include Performance review cycles.
In performance review cycles, sharing feedback is crucial for employee growth and development. Both managers and administrators need a clear process for deciding which feedback can be shared and when it should be shared. This guide will walk you through both the rationale behind sharing feedback and the practical steps for enabling and managing the process.
Why Share Feedback?
The Importance of Feedback Attribution
One of the most important elements of performance reviews is attributed feedback. Attributed feedback means that the reviewer's identity is attached to the feedback they provide. While anonymous feedback may seem useful, in high-stakes situations, such as performance reviews, it's essential for individuals to seek clarification on the feedback they receive. Attribution helps eliminate bias, encourages more thoughtful responses, and promotes a culture of feedback within the organization.
Why Attribution Matters:
Better Clarification: With attributed feedback, employees can follow up and seek clarity on specific feedback points.
Reduces Bias: Reviewers are more likely to provide balanced and constructive feedback when their name is attached to it.
Fosters a Growth Mindset: Feedback that is attributed helps answer the growth-oriented question: “What can I do to improve?”
Qualitative vs. Categorical Feedback
Understanding which types of feedback should be shared with employees is key to creating a supportive and productive performance review environment. There are two main types of feedback to consider:
Qualitative Feedback:
This type of feedback is descriptive and can be directly shared. It helps employees learn, grow, and develop.
Examples of Qualitative Feedback to Share:
“How has this person progressed over the past six months?”
“What’s one thing this person could improve upon or receive coaching on?”
Categorical/Rating Feedback:
Rating feedback (e.g., performance scores) or feedback that categorizes employees can be more problematic if shared directly. It may trigger defensive responses and limit the employee’s ability to process constructive feedback.
Examples of Feedback to Discuss Outside the Platform:
“How would you evaluate this person's overall performance?”
“This person is ready for promotion today.”
By sharing qualitative feedback and withholding categorical ratings, you create a more constructive environment that encourages learning and growth rather than a fixed mindset.
How Does the Feedback Sharing Process Work?
Choose Questions: Performance administrators need to select which questions can be shared before the performance cycle goes live.
Enable Sharing: Admins must turn on the sharing feature to allow feedback or manager reviews to be shared.
Separate or Combined Sharing: Peer and upward feedback can be shared either separately from manager reviews or all together.
Sharing Access: Once sharing is enabled, Managers, Performance admins, and HR partners can share the feedback.
Manager Notifications: Managers will see a task list notification when sharing is enabled, but they won't receive system-generated alerts.
1. Admins Choose Which Questions Will Be Shared
The first step in the feedback-sharing process is for Performance administrators to decide which questions will be sharable with employees. Admins can select which peer and upward feedback questions can be shared during the performance cycle creation process.
Admins must enable the sharing feature for feedback to be visible to employees.
Admins control the visibility of both peer and upward feedback and manager reviews.
Visibility Setting for Feedback
Once reviewers are invited to provide feedback, each question will have a visibility tag. The tag indicates whether the response will be shared with the employee or not. Reviewers will also see whether their feedback is attributed.
If the feedback is marked as “May be shared,” it will be visible to the employee if the feedback is shared.
Visibility Tags: Hovering over the tag will show the individual more detail on how the question is attributed.
2. Admins Enable Sharing
Once the feedback has been gathered and typically after the calibration session has occurred, admins enable the sharing process:
Feedback can be shared individually or in bulk, depending on the admin's preference.
Tip: Check out the Admin Guide: Tracking and Managing a Performance Review Cycle to learn more.
4. Perform admin, HRBP or Managers Share Feedback
Once sharing is enabled, Perform admin, HRBP and also managers gain the ability to share any feedback with their direct reports that has been marked as shareable. This is typically done after calibration sessions, ensuring reviews are fair and edits are made before feedback is shared.
Sharing Options:
Managers can choose to share feedback individually for each direct report or use the bulk share option to send feedback to all direct reports at once.
Performance administrators and Performance HR business partners can share peer and upward feedback on behalf of managers – both individually and in bulk.
Notifications: After feedback is shared, employees will receive notifications (via email, Slack, MS Teams, or in-app) directing them to their feedback.
Tip: Refer to the Manager’s Guide to Performance Reviews for an overview of the Managers experience.
Best Practices for Sharing Feedback
When sharing feedback, it’s important to follow a few best practices to ensure it is constructive and beneficial for the employee:
Wait for Calibration: Ensure that feedback is shared after any calibration sessions, so it’s fair and aligned with company-wide performance standards.
Focus on Development: Prioritize qualitative feedback that encourages growth and improvement.
Ensure Attribution: Make sure feedback is attributed to its reviewer. Attributed feedback is more likely to be balanced and thoughtfully delivered.
Use Clear and Actionable Language: Feedback should be clear, specific, and provide actionable insights that the employee can work on.
FAQs
Can feedback be shared anonymously?
No, feedback cannot be shared anonymously. This is to encourage attributed feedback, which fosters more thoughtful and balanced responses.
What happens if someone provides inappropriate feedback?
In the rare case that inappropriate feedback is submitted, Performance administrators or HR business partners can delete it. Once deleted, the feedback will no longer be available anywhere in the platform.
Can managers choose to only share certain feedback?
No, managers cannot selectively remove feedback. The only way to remove feedback after it has been submitted is for Performance administrators or HR business partners to delete it.
Can admins or HRBPs share feedback on behalf of managers?
Yes, admins and HRBPs can share both peer feedback and manager reviews on behalf of managers. They can do so individually or in bulk.
What happens if a user completes feedback after feedback has already been shared?
If a reviewer completes feedback after previously shared feedback has been distributed, the subject’s sharing status will update to reflect the new feedback. Admins or managers can then choose to share this additional feedback.
💬 Need help? Just reply with "Ask a Person" in a support conversation to speak with a Product Support Specialist.