3 Reasons Why Your Managers Aren’t Giving Good Enough Feedback

Most managers aren’t giving good enough feedback.

They mean well. They want to do a good job. But when it comes to driving performance through feedback, many are falling short.

Here’s the uncomfortable part. It’s not just costing individual development. It’s dragging down entire teams.

So why is this happening? Why are managers — even the well-intentioned ones — still getting feedback wrong?

Here are the top three reasons I see over and over again. If you lead managers, it’s time to pay attention; if you are a manager, it’s time to look in the mirror.

1. They’ve Never Been Taught How

Let’s start with the obvious. Most managers have never been trained to give feedback. Not properly. Not in a way that actually works.

In fact, a lot of them have climbed the ladder with little to no formal leadership training, let alone training on how to guide someone’s behaviour. In the UK, for example, The Chartered Management Institute found that while one in four workers have management responsibilities, most have never been trained for the role.

According to the same research, 82% of bosses are what they call “accidental managers”. They get promoted for being great at their job and then are expected to magically know how to lead people. However, knowing how to hit targets and how to guide someone's behaviour are two very different skill sets.

So, what do they do? They wing it. They guess. They try to say the right thing and hope it lands. This is how you get half-baked feedback that’s vague, confusing, or, even worse, completely ineffective.

“You need to step it up.”
"You were a bit off today."
"I just need you to be more proactive." 

What does any of that actually mean?

In my experience, without proper training, managers fall into one of two traps.

1) They either avoid feedback altogether because they lack confidence.

2) They serve up something so diluted it doesn’t drive change.

Either way, performance suffers.

2. They’re Afraid It’ll Blow Up

This one’s personal for a lot of people. Feedback feels like conflict. And most managers would rather wrestle a bear than get into something that feels “confrontational.”

They don’t want to be the bad guy. They don’t want to upset someone. So, they dance around the real issue, soften the blow, or skip the conversation entirely.

But let me be clear: not giving feedback is a decision. By avoiding the conversation, you’re choosing short-term comfort over long-term confidence. You’re prioritising your own emotional safety over your team’s growth.

The truth is if someone gets upset, that’s on them.

While that might sound a bit harsh, your job isn't to manage their emotions. Your job is to tell the truth. Yes, do it with care and respect, but don't lose sight of the goal.

3. They Think They Don’t Have Time

This one's sneaky because it feels valid. Managers are stretched. Meetings, deadlines, performance reviews, emails, Slack messages… the list goes on and on and on.

So, feedback gets bumped. It’s not urgent. It’s not on fire. It can wait till next week or the week after. But here’s the irony: the more you delay feedback, the more mess you’re going to have to clean up later. Unaddressed behaviours harden. Small misunderstandings snowball. Resentment festers.

Before long, the small stuff becomes big stuff. That one missed deadline turns into a pattern. That minor attitude issue becomes a culture problem. And suddenly, you're wondering why everything feels harder than it should.

If you think you don't have time for feedback, you will spend way more time dealing with underperformance, disengagement, and turnover.

Remember this: Feedback postponed is never feedback avoided — it just comes back bigger, messier, and more expensive.

The Solution? Give Your Managers a Simple System

If you want to break the cycle, you need to make feedback easier to give. That means equipping managers with tools they can use quickly, casually, and consistently.

One simple method is Keep, Start, Stop (KSS).

Let’s say someone dominates a team meeting and cuts others off. A quick walk-and-talk on the way back to their desk might sound something like:

• Stop: “Hey, I noticed you jumped in a few times before others finished. It cut the flow a bit—maybe next time, try holding back to let others finish.”

Or, if someone nails a client interaction, you could perhaps say:

• Keep: “You explained our value prop really clearly in that call. Keep doing that—it gave the client confidence and helped move the deal forward.”

It’s fast, informal, and low-pressure. When used regularly, it turns feedback into a habit. That’s how you build a feedback culture: not by waiting for the perfect moment, but by spotting small moments that make a big difference.

Feedback doesn’t need to be formal to be effective. With the right tools and strategies in place it can become part of everyday leadership. Small, timely moments of feedback can drive big shifts in behaviour, culture, and team performance.

Whenever you’re ready, here’s how we can help:

Check out our Feedback Factor Program for Managers

→ This program equips managers with a simple, proven system to change behaviours, build stronger teams, and drive real results. Find out more by clicking here

Or contact me directly at [email protected]