Feedback Autopsy

A developer ships flawed code in April. Nobody says anything. December’s annual review mentions “attention to detail.” The developer stares at the page. They cannot remember the incident.

That is not feedback. That is an autopsy: a post-mortem on events that can no longer be changed.

Deloitte’s 2024 Human Capital Trends: organisations with continuous feedback loops saw 14% higher engagement than those using annual cycles. The reason is simple. Feedback works when the context is fresh and the behaviour can still be adjusted.

Annual reviews are comfortable for the reviewer. They are useless for the reviewed.

High-trust teams give feedback like breathing: constant, necessary, never saved for a year-end conversation.