{
  "title": "Feedback: why some comments improve performance and others degrade it",
  "url": "https://www.shr.swiss/blog/feedback-interventions-effets-recherche-en",
  "language": "en",
  "datePublished": "2026-10-12",
  "publisher": {
    "name": "SHR — Swiss Human Resources",
    "url": "https://www.shr.swiss",
    "address": "Esplanade de Pont-Rouge 9A, 1212 Lancy, Suisse"
  },
  "summary": "Feedback is presented as an obvious tool for progress. A landmark meta-analysis nonetheless shows that one third of feedback interventions lower performance.",
  "section": "Research",
  "topic": "The Art of Feedback",
  "place": {
    "name": "Lausanne",
    "region": "Vaud",
    "country": "CH"
  },
  "keyPoints": [
    {
      "heading": "A counter-intuitive result",
      "point": "Avraham Kluger and Angelo DeNisi (1996, Psychological Bulletin) synthesised decades of experiments on feedback interventions: in about one third of cases, feedback reduced performance instead of improving it."
    },
    {
      "heading": "The explanatory mechanism",
      "point": "In their theory, feedback works when it addresses the task and the gaps to close; it becomes counterproductive when it shifts attention to the person — trait judgements, social comparisons, flattery or global criticism."
    },
    {
      "heading": "The limits",
      "point": "Many synthesised experiments are old and laboratory-based, often with simple tasks."
    },
    {
      "heading": "What follows for management",
      "point": "The question is not “should we give feedback?” but “what does it focus on?”."
    },
    {
      "heading": "A practical implication, verifiable in Lausanne",
      "point": "Before a review, write the remark in one sentence starting with a behaviour (“in Tuesday's meeting, you…”) rather than a trait (“you are someone who…”)."
    }
  ],
  "sources": [
    {
      "authors": "DeNisi",
      "year": "1996",
      "source": "Psychological Bulletin"
    }
  ],
  "wordCount": 244,
  "image": "https://www.shr.swiss/img/blog-Training-The-Art-Of-Feedback-Lausanne-feedback-interventions-effets-recherche-en.jpg?v=4",
  "translations": {
    "fr": "https://www.shr.swiss/blog/feedback-interventions-effets-recherche",
    "en": "https://www.shr.swiss/blog/feedback-interventions-effets-recherche-en",
    "de": "https://www.shr.swiss/blog/feedback-interventions-effets-recherche-de",
    "it": "https://www.shr.swiss/blog/feedback-interventions-effets-recherche-it"
  },
  "relatedPages": {
    "programme": "https://www.shr.swiss/formation-art-du-feedback-lausanne",
    "city": "https://www.shr.swiss/formations-ville/lausanne",
    "blog": "https://www.shr.swiss/blog"
  },
  "citationPolicy": "Citation autorisée avec mention « SHR — Swiss Human Resources » et lien vers l'article."
}