We all know feedback matters.

It’s one of the most powerful tools we have to help people and performance thrive: improving confidence, clarity, learning, and connection.

And yet, many organisations find themselves stuck in the same place:

• Everyone agrees feedback is important.
• But not enough of it is happening.
• And when it does, it’s often too late, too vague, or too uncomfortable to be useful.

So how do you close the gap between intention and action? And how do you actually build a feedback culture, one that feels useful, human, and part of the way things work day to day?

What a feedback culture isn’t

Let’s be clear…

• A feedback culture doesn’t mean people constantly critiquing each other or pointing out what they are doing wrong.
• It’s not just about ‘tough’ conversations.
• And it’s not something you fix with a one-off workshop or a poster campaign.

You don’t create a feedback culture with a single training session or a quarterly review.

What it is:

• A shared understanding that feedback helps us do better: for ourselves, each other, and the organisation.
• A habit that’s embedded into the flow of everyday work, not saved up for reviews or crisis points.
• A skill that needs practice, not just theory.
• A sign that people care enough to speak up, even when it’s uncomfortable.

It’s the foundation of better conversations, clearer expectations, and more effective teams.

So what gets in the way?

In most teams, the blockers fall into three categories:

1. Confidence: “I don’t want to say the wrong thing.”
2. Clarity: “I don’t know how to say it constructively.”
3. Culture: “I’m not sure it’s safe to speak up.”

None of these are fixed overnight, but they can be addressed. And the way you do that isn’t just by asking people to try harder. It’s about creating the right conditions.

And it starts with recognising what makes feedback in the workplace feel risky. And how to change that.

The foundations of a feedback culture

To create the conditions for a feedback culture to take hold, here is what that matters most:

• Psychological safety: People feel safe to speak up without fear of embarrassment or backlash.
• Trust and mutual respect: Feedback is given (and received) with care and positive intent.
• A learning mindset: Everyone believes they can improve, and that feedback helps.
• Shared responsibility: Feedback doesn’t just flow downwards. Everyone contributes.
• Visible role-modelling: Leaders go first, asking for input, acting on it, and showing what good looks like.

These aren’t just “nice to haves”. They’re what turn good intentions into everyday behaviour.

What it looks like in practice

A feedback culture doesn’t mean perfection, but it does mean progress. When it’s working, you’ll notice things like this:

• Feedback is expected, not exceptional. It’s normal to pause after a piece of work and ask, “What worked well?” and “What would we do differently?”
• It flows in all directions. Leaders ask for feedback just as much as they give it. And peers share it with each other too.
• Positive feedback is specific and useful. It goes beyond “great job” to highlight exactly what worked and why.
• Constructive feedback is timely and kind. It focuses on behaviours, not personalities, and it leads somewhere.
• People have the tools and space to build skill. No one’s expected to be brilliant straight away, but they’re supported to get better.
• Conversations don’t end at feedback. They lead to reflection, change and follow-up.

When that starts to happen consistently, feedback stops being an add-on, and becomes part of how the team works, learns, and grows together.

What helps (and what doesn’t)

If you’re trying to build a feedback culture at work, here’s what makes the biggest difference, based on what we’ve seen work across organisations:

What works:

• Leaders going first. Not perfectly, but visibly and consistently.
• Making feedback normal. Built into meetings, 1-1s and day-to-day rhythms.
• Training that’s practical, repeatable and varied. Not just theory or one-off sessions.
• Starting small. Encouraging micro-feedback to build confidence and momentum.
• Celebrating what’s going well. Not just focusing on performance gaps.
• Keeping it human Recognising the emotions involved and helping people manage them.

What doesn’t:

• Hoping it’ll happen just because you said it matters.
• Over-engineering processes or focusing only on formal frameworks.
• Relying on workshops without follow-up or real-world application.
• Obsessing over the ‘toughest’ feedback conversations and missing the everyday opportunities.
• Ignoring the role that structures, habits and leadership behaviours play.

Where to start

If you want to build a feedback culture that actually sticks, start here:

1. Get clear on your ‘why’. Why does this matter here, now, and to the people in your business?
2. Start with leaders. Help them build confidence, go first, and show what’s possible.
3. Make feedback visible. Share stories, celebrate examples, and talk about what’s changing.
4. Create simple tools and prompts. Keep it human, helpful and easy to use.
5. Measure progress lightly. Look for shifts in behaviour, not just survey scores.
6. Stay consistent. This is about small steps, repeated often, not a big bang.

A few things that help feedback stick

You don’t need complicated systems, just a few simple nudges:

• Build it into rhythms (e.g. team meetings or 1-1s).
• Try light check-ins every few months (e.g. “How confident are you giving feedback?”).
• Spotlight examples of feedback that made a difference, stories build belief.
• Make it visible. If leaders are asking for feedback, let people know.

Gallup data shows that people who receive meaningful feedback weekly are far more engaged, and it doesn’t have to take long. A sentence can shift someone’s week.

Final Thought

You don’t build a feedback culture by telling people to give more feedback.

You build it by making it safe, useful and part of how things get done.

Especially in fast-growing teams, where structure is still forming, feedback helps people stay aligned and supported, without needing layers of process.

And when you do? You help people improve, work better together, and have more honest conversations about what matters.

It’s not always easy. But it is always worth it.

Start small. Go first. Keep going.

Want to explore what this could look like for you?

We help founder and owner-led organisations shape people strategies that fit their size, culture and ambitions. No fluff. No jargon. Just practical support that meets you where you are. Find out more about our approach here or get in touch to chat about how we can help you.