50+ Employee Feedback Statistics to Make You Rethink Performance Reviews

1:1 performance reviews are often the first thing that springs to mind when considering "employee feedback." This one-way feedback is typically delivered annually or bi-annually by a line manager or supervisor and can influence salary increases or performance-related bonuses.

But not only are Netflix, Accenture, Deloitte, Adobe, and Microsoft scrapping this archaic style of review system, they're also encouraging employees from all levels to offer their own meaningful feedback about their peers. 

Developing an open feedback culture is vital for company and employee growth. Learning what's working (and what isn't) helps employees identify development opportunities and take the next step in their careers. It also allows companies to look in the mirror and assess how they can be more supportive of their employees. 

So, instead of using traditional reviews, a 360 feedback system combines rich and actionable input from a variety of peers within your organization. Here, we've handpicked 50+ employee feedback statistics to support you in finding the best way to gather and provide feedback across your company. 

❓ What's the importance of employee feedback? 

The beauty of 360 reviews is they're a two-way street. As well as conducting performance reviews for employees, managers also receive valuable input from their direct reports about their leadership strengths and behavior. Comments are anonymous, so there's no chance of the feedback being traced back to the reviewer. 

This gives everyone in the organization a chance to speak up, which is essential because: 

• Employees are 4.6 times more likely to perform better if they feel their voice is heard. - Salesforce
  

Employee feedback isn't restricted to performance evaluations either. At its core, feedback is a type of communication used to take the temperature of your workers to create a more productive and harmonious company culture. 

Gather thoughts and ideas frequently from feedback surveys to enhance training opportunities, boost profitability, improve employee retention, and reduce absenteeism. 

Plus, feedback is the basis for any meaningful people development system: After all, how would you create a development plan that matters without knowing where you stand?

✈️ What's the role of feedback during recruitment and onboarding? 

As early as recruitment and onboarding, entry-level employees can offer valuable insights about their experience, and managers and HR leads must make a great impression. We know that any negative employee experience during onboarding can destroy the candidate-employer relationship. When this happens: 

• New hires are 2x as likely to seek new jobs in the future. (Digitate) 
  

Companies can improve outcomes and retention by requesting feedback during onboarding. Especially when they prove they're proactive and willing to listen to their new candidates. 

• But only 26% of new employees remember their recruiters asking for feedback during the candidate journey and hiring process. (The Talent Board) 
  

• When employers request feedback, new hires are 91% more likely to commit to the employer relationship, which is key to reducing 90-day turnover. (The Talent Board) 
  

• Any team members who were asked to provide feedback before their start date were 79% more likely to refer others to the company. (The Talent Board) 
  

• 72% of employees believe 1:1 time with a direct manager is the most critical point in their onboarding journey. (Enboarder) 

👋  What's the link between feedback and turnover? 

During the Great Resignation, even new hires aren't sticking around. 

• 52% of respondents who have been in their role for three months or less are actively trying to leave. (Fortune) 
  

• This number increases to 59% for those who have been in their role for three to six months. (Fortune) 
  

Employers must do everything they can to retain their talent to avoid the 100-150% salary cost of recruiting for a technical role or the 213% salary cost of replacing a C-suite executive. Understanding the glaring link between employee feedback and staff turnover is critical because: 

• 34% of employees say their managers don't listen when they voice their opinions, which would be a factor in leaving their jobs. (Globe Newswire) 
  

• 24% of workers would consider leaving their jobs if they have managers who provide insufficient performance feedback. (Globe Newswire) 
  

• Only 29.1% of actively disengaged employees predict they'll be at the same organization two years from now. (Bonusly)
  

The good news? 

• Companies that invest in frequent employee feedback boast 14.9% lower turnover rates than organizations where employees don't receive relevant feedback. (Gallup)
  

• 93% of Niagara Casino employees are now likely to stay in their roles following improvements to their employee feedback and recognition program. (O.C Tanner) 

🚀 How are feedback and engagement related? 

So, why does the link between engagement and feedback matter? Employee engagement statistics tell us that employees who receive great feedback are highly engaged and are more likely to perform well. At the same time, employees also feel more engaged when they provide their own feedback and believe their employer is listening to them.

When this works well: 

• Companies that use engagement surveys to seek feedback from their employees and act on it have 80% engagement rates compared to 40% when companies fall short in this area. (Qualtrics) 
  

• 68% of employees who receive accurate and consistent feedback feel fulfilled in their jobs. (Clutch) 
  

• 84% of employees with high engagement levels feel their efforts were recognized the last time they performed well. (Bonusly) 
  

• 94.7% of highly engaged employees also feel their employer takes their feedback seriously. (Bonusly) 
  

• 88.5% of highly engaged employees can imagine they'll be working for the same employers in two years' time. (Bonusly) 
  

But when companies don't get this right? 

• A significant 85% of employees are either not engaged or are actively disengaged at work. (Gallup) 
  

• When disengagement strikes, 30.9% of workers don't believe their employer takes their feedback seriously. (Bonusly) 

👬 How does the delivery of feedback impact employees? 

Feedback quality is also essential, with some putting job-seeking plans into action after an employee performance review. Although feedback won't always be positive, avoid delivering negative feedback poorly - so that it sends your workforce heading for the exit. 

• 4 out of 5 employees seek new roles externally due to negative feelings following managerial feedback. (Gallup) 
  

• Only 10.4% of employees felt engaged after receiving negative feedback on the job. (Gallup) 
  

When researchers asked employees how they would prefer to receive feedback: 

• 37% would like to be praised and recognized for their good work in public (O.C Tanner) 

📈 How can companies benefit from 360 feedback? 

During March and April each year, Netflix holds 360-degree reviews where employees are encouraged to send feedback to anyone in the company, from interns to the CEO. 

To provide feedback, reviewers use the Stop, Start, Continue method. Essentially, they suggest what the feedback recipient should stop doing, start doing and continue doing. 

Another example? 

Google has also benefitted from switching to peer-based reviews. Peers, senior managers, and junior coworkers at Google are invited to participate in evaluations, with all feedback carrying the same weight. The collated information is discussed during regular meetings, annual performance summaries, and professional development reviews. After simplifying their scale and survey questions, they noticed: 

• An improvement of 25% less time preparing feedback. (HBR) 
• An increase from 49% to 75% of employees found the feedback system useful. (HBR) 

🌱 How does feedback impact performance and development? 

Learning and development are inextricably linked to feedback. A traditional review aims to provide constructive guidance to support an employee in their performance at work. 

Rachel Wright, founder of Celbretti puts her business success and development down to feedback from a performance review. She explains, 

‍"I believe that feedback and performance reviews have the potential to hold us accountable and help us grow. Are they comfortable? No. Do I always like or agree with the feedback I get? No. Still, I think that calling out poor performance is healthy and an important part of building a high-performance culture."

An effective review will embrace both positive feedback and constructive criticism to improve performance. 

• 69% of employees claim they would work harder if their efforts were actively recognized through feedback. (Zippia) 
  

The 360 feedback also allows lower-level employees to provide integral feedback about managerial development and performance. And this approach is becoming more popular. 

• 27% of L&D pros now use employee surveys to collate feedback and employee satisfaction scores. This is up from 16% in 2020. (LinkedIn 2021 Workplace Learning Report) 

⏱ What's the ideal frequency of feedback? 

Traditional performance reviews occur annually or biannually. But employees are motivated when feedback is delivered more frequently, and the results of regular reviews speak for themselves. 

• 60% of employees would like to receive feedback daily or weekly. (HR Dive) 
  

• 43% of employees who identify as being highly engaged receive feedback at least once a week. (Forbes) 
  

But what's the magic number - how often do employees actually want to receive feedback? It's more than once a year!

• 80% of employees would prefer to receive relevant feedback in the moment rather than waiting for their annual performance review. (HR Dive) 
  

Let's flip this now and look at how regularly companies request feedback from their employees to improve managerial performance? Hint: it's not enough!

• 41.8% are soliciting feedback from employees annually or even less frequently. (Bonusly) 
  

• And only 12.9% are requesting feedback from employees on a weekly basis. (Bonusly) 
  

Regular employee feedback is an area many companies should invest more in, given that: 

• 89% of HR leaders agree that continuous peer feedback and check-ins produce successful outcomes. (Forbes) 
  

• Regular check-ins with employees increase the likelihood of discovering burnout symptoms quickly and prevent them from escalating. (Forbes)
  

And they don't need to last long either. 

• 67% of Gen Z employees want feedback sessions with their manager to be five minutes or less. (Inc) 

📊 How do different demographics respond to feedback? 

Not all demographics react to feedback in the same way.

Research unveils that employees of different age groups have preferences about how frequently they wish to receive feedback. 

• 72% of workers under the age of 30 show a strong preference for receiving feedback daily or weekly. (Zippia) 
  

• The same percentage of millennials confirm their job is more fulfilling when they receive this consistent feedback. (Zippia) 
  

• 80% of Gen Y employees prefer to be praised on the spot rather than in a review setting. (LinkedIn) 
  

• 28% of millennials would prefer a quarterly review. (Tiny Pulse)
  

• 38% of millennials want to receive feedback annually. (Tiny Pulse)
  

• 58% of baby boomers are happy with a traditional approach, opting for an annual review. (Tiny Pulse) 
  

• 66% of Gen Z want to receive feedback at least every few weeks to stay at their job. (Inc) 
  

• 40% of Gen Z employees want regular check-ins with their boss every day. (Inc) 

❌ Where has company feedback been going wrong? 

For too long, feedback culture has been a one-way street, with employees being judged by their superiors with little room for employees to return the favor.

Where companies claim they're open to receiving feedback from all levels of the organization, employees need to believe in the system. As far as delivering their own anonymous feedback, they must be aware that such an approach exists. Workers also need faith that their ideas, thoughts, and opinions will be listened to and that they can contribute to positive change. 

Some problems with company feedback are: 

• When recognition is given, it is delivered incorrectly a third of the time. (O.C Tanner) 
  

• Only 8% of companies believe their performance management process is highly effective in driving business value (Deloitte) 
  

• Only 2% of companies consider that their current performance management process delivers "exceptional value." (Mercer) 
  

• Less than 3% place their feedback practices in the "excellent" category. (Mercer)
  

• Only 32% of employees feel they receive regular feedback from their peers (O.C Tanner) 
  

For companies to prove they're fully invested in creating a feedback culture, timeliness is also an issue. 

• 58% of employers don't consider their current performance review process an effective use of their time. (Deloitte) 
  

• Managers struggle to complete performance reviews on time, with 50% of employee evaluations overdue by at least 1 month. (SHRM) 

🔄 Employee feedback statistics don't lie: it's time to switch to 360 reviews 

The evidence presented by these employee feedback statistics is overwhelming: manager-led annual performance reviews aren't enough. Employees don't like them, and HR leaders don't consider them effective. But companies are seeing fantastic progress by embracing feedback alternatives such as 360 reviews.

By giving everyone the chance to speak up and feel heard, organizations are experiencing greater productivity, high employee engagement, and better retention rates. 

➡️ Introduce meaningful feedback into your organization by using Zavvy's 360 tool, which can be customized for your specific needs. Contact us today to speak to our experts. 

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Sources: 

Salesforce - How Engaged Employees Are the Path to Success 

Digitate - Super CIO - What the CIO Sees That Other People Don't  

The Talent Board - The 2021 Candidate Experience (CandE) Global Research Reports

Fortune - Most New Hires Start Job Searching Again Within Three Months, Survey Finds 

Gallup - The Secret of Higher Performance 

Qualtrics - 2020 Global Employee Experience Trends

Bonusly - Employee Engagement and Modern Workplace Report

O.C Tanner - Global Culture Report 

Gallup - Dismal Employee Engagement Is a Sign of Global Mismanagement  

Gallup - Why Employees Are Fed Up With Feedback 

Harvard Business Review - Are Peer Reviews the Future of Performance Evaluations? 

Zippia - 20 Essential Employee Feedback Statistics 

Tiny Pulse - The Fascinating Difference in Performance Reviews Between Generations

LinkedIn - 2021 Workplace Learning Report 

Deloitte - The Evolving Employer-Employee Relationship  

HR Dive - Why HR Can't Expect Continous Learning Without Regular Feedback 

Clutch - Over 30% of Millennials Unhappy with Their Job and Plan to Quit Within Six Months

Forbes - Feedback: You Need to Lead It 

Forbes - 10 Timely Statistics About The Connection Between Employee Engagement and Wellness 

LinkedIn - 5 Employee Stats That You Need to See 

Inc - This is How Generation Z Employees Want Feedback 

Mercer - 2019 Global Performance Management Survey 

SHRM - Performance Management That Makes a Difference: An Evidence-Based Approach

Globe Newswire - Yoh Survey: Lack of Respect, Broken Promises, and Overworking Employees Are Top Issues with Managers That Would Make Employed Americans Consider New Jobs