Providing Employees with Frequent Feedback

Cathie Leimbach • March 5, 2024

When employees receive regular feedback on their performance, their productivity and morale, as well as the organization’s retention and bottom line, improve. Once leaders have set and communicated clear expectations and monitored employee progress and results, it is important to let them know how well they are performing.


When you catch employees doing something right, tell them so they know which tasks they are doing correctly. Their stress level falls because they know they are on the right track. This gives them more confidence in their work.

When you see that an employee is not meeting expectations, it is important to have a conversation with them, identify the bottleneck, and determine a corrective action. Employees may lack appropriate equipment and tools, not fully understand expectations, or need more training.


Nobody likes negative feedback, so few people underperform intentionally. Many are afraid of being fired if they approach their manager to ask for help.  Studies show that most employees are very thankful for negative feedback if it is followed by a plan to correct their performance, helping them be successful. So, it is important that leaders have the courage to address underperformance in a calm manner which helps the team member become a valued employee.



The frequency of praise and corrective feedback varies with the employee’s competence and confidence. When an individual is new to a task, it is appropriate to provide feedback every few minutes initially, dropping back to hourly, and then daily. As people become more familiar with a task, positive and corrective feedback can become less frequent. However, to build and maintain an engaged and productive workforce, it is important that managers acknowledge even highly competent individuals at least weekly. 

Three Small Shifts That Change Everything

By Cathie Leimbach • March 24, 2026
You don’t need to make big changes in your leadership practices to get better results. Often, it’s small shifts in everyday leadership conversations that quietly change how work gets done. Here are three that work: 1. Make priorities clear Start meetings by stating current priorities. That creates focus right away and helps conversations stay on topic. 2. Ask instead of solve Instead of answering an employee’s questions, ask, “What are your suggestions?” Such questions encourage employee thinking and stronger follow-through. 3. Hold short monthly one-on-one check-ins Meeting with each employee one-on-one allows the regular review of goals, progress, and obstacles. These short conversations surface issues early and keep everyone aligned. These small habits keep teams steady and focused. Your challenge this month: Pick one shift and try it. Notice what changes in clarity, buy-in, or accountability. Sometimes the difference between teams that struggle and teams that move smoothly comes down to a few simple leadership conversations happening consistently. 👉 Join our 60-minute Leadership Conversation on March 30th at 3:00 PM to see how small shifts in everyday leadership conversations can quickly improve clarity, ownership, and results.

From Performance Problems to Possibilities

By Cathie Leimbach • March 17, 2026
Most leaders can list what’s wrong fast: missed deadlines, uneven effort, or teams that seem capable of more. The bigger shift happens when leaders stop asking, “What’s broken?” and start asking, “What’s possible if we lead differently?” Limits like time, budget, and pressure are common. The resulting overwhelm is reduced when leaders get clear about what really matters. Strong leaders respond to these limits by focusing on priorities, simplifying decisions, and actively guiding their teams. Often, the shift begins with better leadership conversations. The right conversations clarify expectations, surface issues early, and help people take ownership before small problems grow into bigger ones. When leaders create space for clear, honest dialogue, teams stop guessing and start moving forward. Performance improves when leaders: Get clear instead of assuming Address issues early through direct conversations Set priorities people can follow Notice and praise progress, don’t comment only on mistakes These small, steady choices create momentum. We often hear questions like: “How do we stop reacting?” “What if our team is capable but inconsistent?” “How do we improve without burning people out?” Those questions point to opportunities for growth. Don’t think of them as failure. 👉 Where might your team be guessing instead of knowing? Identify one gap—and use your next conversation to close it.