Feedback and Managerial Performance: A Longitudinal Multilevel Field Experiment of Feedback Intervention Theory

Feedback interventions play a vital and pervasive role in organizations. However, there is no consensus on how feedback interventions work or why their effectiveness varies over time. This study responds to the call by feedback intervention theorists to engage in primary research in organizational settings. It analyzes the impact of a feedback intervention consisting of two important characteristics—feedback source and content—by using a multilevel model framework that considers job performance scores (Level 1) nested within managers (Level 2) from a 6-year longitudinal study in a manufacturing firm in India. In a field experiment, 331 managers received 6 waves of performance feedback and were randomly assigned to a fully crossed 2 × 2 factorial field experiment with feedback source and content. Surprisingly, an external performance coach is more effective as a feedback source than an internal human resource professional; however, the latter is more effective when feedback content is considered over a longer timeframe, irrespective of the type of feedback content delivered. Furthermore, developmental feedback is not effective in the short term but has a positive impact in the long term. This study challenges the prevailing assumptions by finding empirical evidence that low-performing managers have greater performance improvements than high-performing managers. The results suggest a ceiling effect in managerial performance, as scores converged toward the end of the 6 years, highlighting the limitations of feedback interventions in organizations. We also find that the feedback source exerts more impact than the feedback content over time, suggesting a pecking order of the social context variables that affect feedback effectiveness. This study bridges the gap between theory and practice in feedback intervention theory and suggests future research avenues along with actionable recommendations for academicians and practitioners.