High Performers Receive Lowest Quality Feedback, Study Finds

Textio’s annual report found 38% of the feedback high-performing women receive is problematic, and feedback bias reinforces negative racial and gender stereotypes

BusinessWire

July 30, 2024

New research from Textio released today on language bias in performance feedback has found high performers are getting the lowest quality feedback at work, and it’s worst for high-performing women who receive feedback containing the most exaggerations, clichés, and fixed-mindset labels.

Textio’s past reports found feedback quality predicts employee retention and attrition rates for all demographics, and that women of all races and people of color of all genders systematically receive lower quality feedback than others – and they’re more likely to quit because of it.

On average, organizations recognize 5-15% of their employees as high performers, who deliver 400% more productivity than the average performer. Retaining high performers is critical for every business. Yet, Textio’s research found high performers, the group most motivated by constructive feedback, are still not getting the right growth investments. When low quality feedback predicts the likelihood someone will quit, it’s no surprise 30% of high performers leave their organization within a year. Exiting high performers often cite feeling under invested in by their manager and colleagues, which leads to greater feelings of isolation, disenchantment, and disengagement.

“When I first published research on gender bias in performance review language ten years ago, few business leaders were thinking about language in the workplace. Today, most organizations have people leaders who are not only conversant with language data, but accountable for changing the patterns within the organizations,” said Kieran Snyder, Chief Scientist Emeritus at Textio. “Our research underscores the urgent need to invest in managers and systems that enable everyone to receive high quality feedback about their work. Employee engagement and retention, particularly for high performers, is at stake.”

Key findings from the report include:

Textio’s analysis of performance reviews, written for more than 23,000 employees across two annual review cycles, found high performers get 1.5x more feedback than all other employees.
High performers receive more exaggerated feedback than everyone else, and 2.6x more fixed-mindset language than low performers.
High-performing women get 38% more problematic feedback than everyone else.
Employees are more likely to internalize feedback that aligns with social stereotypes about their demographic identity. This is particularly problematic when feedback reinforces negative racial and gender stereotypes, which impacts how employees see themselves and their potential at work.
Men are 2-4x as likely to internalize positive stereotypes about themselves; women are 7x as likely to internalize negative stereotypes.
56% of women recall being described as unlikable, vs. 31% of non-binary people and just 16% of men.
Only 11% of men recall being negatively described as emotional, vs. 23% of non-binary people and 78% of women.
30% of South Asian people recall being called difficult, vs. just 9% of East Asian people.
More than 60% of Hispanic/Latino and Black people recall being negatively described as emotional, vs. just 21% of white people and 11% of East Asian people.