Giving great feedback is often harder than receiving it, yet it remains the most powerful tool in your leadership toolkit. In 2026, the best feedback examples are no longer about annual judgement days; they are about real-time, evidence-based conversations that help your people self-actualise and grow within your unique company culture.
Most of us dread the word feedback because we associate it with criticism or awkward performance reviews. We've all been there – sitting in a sterile meeting room while a manager lists things we did months ago that we can barely remember. This disconnect creates a work environment where people feel judged rather than supported, leading to disengagement and high turnover. At Compono, we believe work should be personal, and that starts with how we talk to each other about performance.
The problem isn't just the delivery; it's the lack of data and context. Without clear insights into how someone naturally works best, feedback becomes subjective and prone to bias. We often try to force people into roles that don't match their work personality, then wonder why they aren't meeting expectations. By using the best feedback examples, you can shift the focus from what someone has done wrong to how they can reach their full potential.
Effective feedback acts as the glue that holds high-performing teams together. It aligns individual behaviour with your business objectives, ensuring everyone is pulling in the same direction. When you get this right, you create a culture of continuous improvement where feedback is seen as a gift, not a threat. We've spent years researching organisational design to help you bridge this gap between current performance and future success.
Positive feedback is often neglected because we assume people know they are doing a good job. However, specific praise is essential for reinforcing the behaviours you want to see more of in your organisation. Instead of a generic "well done," try to be precise about the impact of their actions. This helps employees understand exactly what they did right and encourages them to repeat that success.
For example, if a team member handled a difficult client with grace, you might say: "I noticed how you stayed calm and empathetic during that call with the client this morning. By listening to their concerns before offering a solution, you maintained our reputation for excellent customer service. It was a great example of being customer-focused rather than just internal-effectiveness driven." This is one of the best feedback examples because it links the action to a specific cultural value.
Another example for a creative project might be: "Your out-of-the-box thinking on the new marketing campaign really pushed our boundaries. I loved how you questioned the status quo to find a more responsive way to reach our audience. It really energised the team." By recognising these traits, you are helping your people understand their own work personality and how it contributes to the collective goal.
Constructive feedback should always be forward-looking. Its purpose isn't to dwell on past mistakes but to provide a roadmap for future growth. The best feedback examples follow a simple structure: observe the behaviour, explain the impact, and suggest a better approach. This keeps the conversation objective and reduces the likelihood of the recipient becoming defensive.
Consider a situation where someone is consistently late with reports. Instead of saying "you're always late," try: "I've noticed the last two weekly reports arrived on Tuesday instead of Friday. This delay meant the leadership team couldn't review the data before our Monday strategy meeting, which made us more reactive than planned. Going forward, could we organise a mid-week check-in to ensure you have everything you need to hit the Friday deadline?"
If you need to address a team dynamic issue, you might say: "I noticed you dominated the discussion in today's brainstorming session. While your enthusiasm is great, it overshadowed some of the quieter voices in the room, and we might have missed some individualist perspectives. In our next meeting, I'd love for you to help me facilitate by asking others for their thoughts before sharing your own." This helps the individual understand how their enthusiasm might be a blind spot in a team setting.
At Compono, we've developed tools to help you identify these natural work preferences. By understanding an individual's dominant work personality – whether they are a 'Doer' or an 'Auditor' – you can tailor your feedback to suit how they process information. This concept is central to the Compono module, which helps you design teams for high performance by tapping into intrinsic motivations.
Feedback for growth is about helping your employees self-actualise. In 2026, people want more than just a paycheck; they want a sense of purpose and a clear career path. The best feedback examples in this category focus on long-term potential and skill-building. You want to act as a career coach, guiding them toward the master transition from where they are to where they want to be.
If an employee expressed interest in leadership, you could provide feedback like this: "You've shown great skill in organising our internal workflows lately. To help you prepare for a senior role, I'd like to see you take more of an advisor role in our next project. This will give you a chance to practice guiding others and promoting team harmony, which are key leadership traits."
For someone who needs to improve their analytical skills, try: "You have a natural knack for selling the dream and motivating others. To broaden your impact, I'd encourage you to spend more time evaluating the data behind your proposals. Grounding your visionary ideas in logical frameworks will make your influence even more persuasive to the executive team." This approach recognises their strengths while providing a clear area for development.
To make these conversations even easier, you can use Compono to invite every employee to complete a work personality assessment. It takes only a few minutes and provides you with a blueprint of their major characteristics and potential blind spots. Business leaders use these insights to significantly enhance the coaching process with unmatched intelligence.
The best feedback examples are useless if they are delivered in a vacuum. To make feedback stick, you need to embed it into your organisational culture. This means moving away from hierarchical control and toward delegated control, where everyone feels empowered to give and receive feedback across all levels. It’s about creating a safe space where questioning is encouraged and cooperation is the norm.
Regular pulse surveys and culture assessments can help you track how your feedback initiatives are landing. If you find that team morale is low or turnover intention is high, it might be a sign that your feedback loops are broken. We can help you find out how your business works by mapping your culture across 12 scientifically-validated dimensions through Compono Engage.
Remember, feedback is a two-way street. Ask your team for feedback on your leadership style as well. This builds trust and shows that you are committed to the same growth you expect from them. When feedback becomes a natural part of "how we do things around here," you'll see a marked improvement in both employee engagement and business performance. We're here to help you redefine how you build careers and teams by swapping poor choices for people-science.
If you're looking to hire people who already align with your feedback-rich culture, Compono Hire can help. It allows you to sync your culture benchmarks and psychometrically assess candidates at the start of the hiring process. This ensures you bring on talent that is more likely to thrive in your work environment and contribute to your team's success from day one.