‘Feedback’ Is Now Too Harsh. The New Word Is Feedforward

livemint.com:

Employers around the country have good news for workers who dread chats about their performance: Feedback is on the way out. Many companies, executive coaches and HR professionals are looking to erase the anxiety-inducing word from the corporate lexicon, and some are urging it be replaced by what they see as a gentler, more constructive word: “feedforward." Feedback too often leaves workers feeling defeated, weighed down by past actions instead of considering the next steps ahead, but “feedforward" encourages improvement and development, its proponents say.

“The old assumptions of feedback, and all that word conjures up, I think puts a chill on performance," says Joe Hirsch, a corporate speaker and author of a book on how to fix feedback. “Feedforward is about this forward-looking view of people, performance and potential." The canceling of feedback has its share of skeptics.

It comes as younger generations—who can prefer a more positive, nurturing environment—are accounting for a larger share of the workforce, and companies increasingly focus on performance and efficiency following a pause on reviews during the pandemic. “Feedback conversations, as they commonly exist today, activate a social-threat response in the brain interfering with the ability to think clearly, and raising heart rates," says Theresa Adams, senior HR knowledge adviser at human-resources trade association SHRM.

Companies are also banishing another negatively charged term: “review," which they are replacing with “connect" sessions, coaching, self-reflection and opportunity discussions. Pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca changed its review process in 2020 in an effort to help retain talent, according to Marc Howells, VP of talent and development.