Fast Feedback Trumps Annual Reviews

When nThrive was formed in early 2016 – a joining of three distinct and well-known companies – one of the organization’s early and critically important tasks was to quickly learn employees’ strengths and weaknesses, and identify the best way to provide positive and constructive feedback that would help lead the newly unified company into its next phase.

How Joel Hackney Successfully Implements Fast Feedback

As the CEO of nThrive, Joel Hackney sets the tone for how feedback is delivered and used to drive the business forward. Joel recognizes the challenges inherent in delivering feedback, but encourages managers to provide real-time feedback as much as possible to ensure employees can make more immediate adjustments to their work

Whether it’s the fast-pace of day-to-day work, or an aversion to conflicts that prevents employees from participating in real-time feedback, it is possibly one of the most critical components to the company’s growth overall. Optimizing performance of each team member is critical to the business’ success.

Just as nThrive clients want real-time data and analytics on their business, so too does nThrive need real-time metrics on employee performance. Annual performance reviews are costly, time consuming, stressful, and often only reflect on the most recent months instead of a whole year of work. In our instant gratification society, waiting a full year for feedback on performance is not only ungratifying, it fails to enable employees to learn and grow in the timeliest and efficient way possible and, ultimately, produce a better end result.

Achieving a culture that promotes fast feedback, or quick notes to help others improve, both from the top down and bottom up, is a major goal for Joel as he leads the newly unified nThrive.