Feedback at work, what types are there and how is it best to carry them out?

19 of May, 2025

Providing good feedback at work will open the doors to success. No matter how autonomous our teams are, it’s important to highlight their achievements and point out what’s wrong.

Developing effective internal communication at work allows us to improve the work climate and trust between staff and management.

What is feedback at work?

If anyone still does not know what feedback is, it is the information about a task or process that we give to the executor. The result of performance evaluation.

It includes tips or comments on the work performed, and may include different metrics to support this evaluation.

The objective of feedback at work is none other than to provide information to improve the employee’s performance. With this, we also aim to ensure that the set goals are achieved.

However, we find different types of feedback, and if we want it to contribute, the right feedback at work must be provided.

Types of feedback

To offer the right feedback to our staff, you must know the different options.

We can identify up to 6 types of feedback at work, each with its characteristics, pros, and cons. Let’s get to know them:

Positive feedback: this is the most powerful. It highlights the strengths and positive actions of any employee in their work productivity. It helps to enhance these strengths and improve the motivation of the employee.
Negative feedback: it focuses on the aspects to improve in the worker’s performance. They have not met expectations. To offer this, the situation causing this non-compliance must be analyzed.
Concrete feedback: it focuses on very specific details, activities, or tasks. It is the most descriptive, which facilitates the correction of specific faults.
Constructive feedback: it aims to evaluate the differences between expected behavior and the obtained one. It helps us correct these deviations to achieve appropriate behavior.
General feedback: it is a global evaluation, without dwelling on separate or specific aspects of the employee. It is a fairly common feedback for work teams.
Negative feedback for behavior: it is a variant of negative feedback that occurs when customers are not treated correctly. It can also result from complaints from colleagues. In many cases, it is counterproductive.

Positive feedback vs negative feedback

When we talk about the types of feedback at work, it is interesting to differentiate between positive and negative feedback.

When we talk about positive feedback, the exchange of information between the employee and their supervisor helps to achieve goals. It rewards effort or success, enabling the employee to conquer the goals.

On the other hand, negative feedback implies that one of the parties is not satisfied with what is exposed.

The worker or their supervisor disagree, and often include criticisms or comments that are useless. Poor feedback can cause the project or task to never be completed.

Keep in mind that positive feedback will not include orders or demands, but proposals, advice or guidelines for improvement.

On the other hand, negative feedback does include them; and these are one of the reasons that will prevent us from reaching an agreement.

How to provide feedback to employees

One of the best pieces of advice when providing feedback at work is to do so constructively.

Human resources feedback cannot be limited to highlighting what we do not like. Especially with new generations. To make it easier, you can follow these steps:

Identification of the problem. You must be clear about the issue on which you are going to provide feedback.
Analysis of the problem. We analyze it in depth, in order to have objective data and HR reports that allow us to explain the situation and seek a solution.
Empower the worker. We will provide the necessary tools for them to analyze why things are happening and seek a solution.
Discussion and solutions. Different proposals are analyzed jointly in search of the best solution for both parties. Consensus is key.
Action plan. We will indicate the new objectives for a later evaluation.
Monitoring. Finally, we will follow up on what has been agreed to check if it is fulfilled and the expected is achieved.

As you can see, bidirectional feedback at work is essential. Among other things, it allows us to reinforce the worker’s commitment to the company or improve productivity.

It is also a way to identify opportunities and achieve a more global vision of the organization.

Example of feedback to an employee

If you think about the day-to-day life of your company, you will surely find an example of feedback at work.

For example, mentoring programs provide feedback while training employees. Training programs also fulfill this mission.

The results of the performance evaluation are another example of feedback to an employee. We have analyzed their performance over a period based on indicators, and it is time to inform of the result.

Strong points should be highlighted and aspects to improve should be indicated.

A clear example of positive feedback to an employee is awards and recognitions for a job well done. Although it is expected, we cannot ignore the achievement of objectives.

Recognition will make workers feel valued, and they will even strive more.

When to provide feedback at work

Finally, the frequency of feedback at work must be discussed. There is no standard moment or periodicity, but neither should we let too much time pass.

The ideal is to offer regular feedback to our workers. Highlight positive actions and try to correct what can be improved.

There is a certain tendency to consider that there is no need to highlight well-done work. But as we have seen, it never hurts to applaud the performance of our teams to maintain motivation.

Continuous feedback will always be more efficient than concentrating everything in a single meeting.

If you want to know more about feedback at work and how HR software helps you to offer it, don’t miss the related content on the Sesame HR blog.

HR professional with experience in building strong 𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬 among HR leaders. As the founder of the 𝐇𝐑 𝐂𝐥𝐮𝐛 and 𝐇𝐑 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲, I leverage my 15+ years of experience to enhance the professional landscape for HR leaders.

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tiagosantos

HR Content Specialist