At the core of every organization, feedback isn’t just a checkbox on a quarterly or annual employee performance review. It’s the compass that guides growth, motivation, and engagement among employees. Imagine two employees completing the same project: one hits every target with precision, while the other inspires the team, encourages collaboration, and sparks new ideas along the way. Yet, when looking at the project’s achievements, the employee who focused on completing the numbers is often highlighted instead of the one who prioritized team collaboration.
That’s how traditional employee performance reviews often focus on the numbers, missing the story behind the achievement. This is where balancing subjective and objective feedback becomes necessary for the growth of every employee. The perfect balance is maintained when capturing not only what was accomplished but also how it was accomplished, ensuring a fair and holistic view of employee performance.
Yet, finding that balance can feel like walking a tightrope. Most of the time, managers struggle to be fair and consistent while recognizing the unique contributions of each individual. Overemphasizing metrics can risk overlooking effort, creativity, and teamwork. Focusing too much on perception can make the evaluation feel subjective and biased. A thoughtful performance management system ensures that both sides of the story are seen, helping create reviews that are not just assessments but also meaningful conversations that drive real employee performance management.
What Are Subjective and Objective Feedback?
Objective feedback is based on measurable outcomes, such as project completion rates, sales numbers, or deadlines met. It relies on quantifiable data that leaves little room for interpretation. For instance, noting that an employee achieved 120% of their quarterly sales target is objective feedback because it includes numbers.
On the other hand, subjective feedback focuses on behaviors, perceptions, and interpersonal skills. It reflects the “how” rather than the “what” of performance.
Comments like, “Your presentation inspired the team and fostered collaboration,” are examples of subjective feedback.
Both types of feedback are essential: while numbers tell you what was achieved, subjective insights explain why it matters.
In employee feedback management, blending these feedback types ensures that both results and the human factors contributing to those results are recognized.
Why Balancing Feedback Matters in Employee Performance Reviews
The over-reliance on either objective metrics or subjective judgment hinders overall employee growth and engagement. Focusing solely on numbers may ignore essential qualities like teamwork, creativity, or leadership potential. Conversely, relying only on perceptions can create bias, inconsistency, and ambiguity.
Balanced feedback strengthens employee performance evaluation by:
- Promoting fairness and consistency through measurable data.
- Encouraging personal growth with insights into behaviors and values.
- Enhancing engagement by showing employees that their effort and collaboration are recognized.
To balance this perfect proportion of objective and subjective feedback, an employee performance management software works as a deal-maker because it can help managers create structured reviews that integrate both feedback types effectively. An automated solution centralizes performance data, tracks progress over time, and provides insights to reduce bias.
Using Objective Feedback Effectively
Objective feedback is most useful in roles where outcomes can be quantified.
Examples include:
- Meeting project deadlines
- Exceeding sales targets
- Producing error-free work
The benefits of objective feedback include clarity, fairness, and easy tracking of progress. Employees understand exactly what is expected, and managers can benchmark performance across teams.
However, relying strictly on objective feedback has its limitations because it eliminates the scope of capturing mentoring, creativity, or problem-solving skills, which are critical elements of many roles and necessary for the completion of any task. This is where a structured employee performance evaluation system and software like FlowHCM Performance Management can support managers by documenting both objective outcomes and contextual notes, ensuring that valuable contributions aren’t overlooked.
Incorporating Subjective Feedback
While objective feedback answers the question, “What number did you achieve?”, subjective feedback addresses, “How did you achieve it?” Combining objective feedback with subjective insights captures the core of interpersonal dynamics, leadership, collaboration, and alignment with company culture. It highlights the importance that no target can be achieved solely by focusing on numbers; collaboration, mentoring, and sharing of ideas are also necessary.
Effective subjective feedback should:
- Be grounded in specific observations, not opinions
- Highlight behaviors and their impact on the team or project
- Avoid vague terms like “always” or “never”
For example, a manager might say, “I noticed you helped colleagues resolve technical challenges consistently over the past month, which improved overall team efficiency.” Adding these observations when giving an employee feedback on their performance allows managers to provide structured feedback that complements objective metrics.
Frameworks for Balanced Feedback
A structured approach ensures that both subjective and objective feedback are considered.
Popular frameworks include:
- STAR (Situation, Task, Action, Result):
Ideal for tying feedback to measurable goals while providing context about how achievements were reached. - SBI (Situation, Behavior, Impact):
Focuses on qualitative feedback grounded in specific behaviors and their effects on the team or organization. - BARS (Behaviorally Anchored Rating Scales):
Combines measurable performance levels with subjective evaluation of behaviors, minimizing bias while giving insight into employee contribution.
Using these frameworks within employee performance management software helps organizations ensure consistency, fairness, and clarity in performance reviews.
Minimizing Bias and Ensuring Fairness
Giving subjective feedback while being biased is a major concern. Some types of bias, like recency bias, affinity bias, or inconsistent standards, can undermine the fairness of employee performance evaluations. Using automated software for employee performance management allows managers to document feedback, track trends, and calibrate evaluations across teams.
Key practices include:
- Reviewing trends to identify disparities across departments or demographics
- Calibrating performance ratings among managers to ensure consistency
- Encouraging documentation of both subjective observations and objective data
Elimination of any type of bias can be achieved with the help of HR software like FlowHCM. It centralizes feedback, provides real-time reporting, and supports structured review processes. This structured, data-driven system ensures that managers give fair and actionable feedback while reducing reliance on memory or personal judgment.
Best Practices for Delivering Balanced Feedback
- Combine metrics with observations: For example:
“You delivered the client project two days late (objective), but your proactive communication kept the client informed and confident in the process (subjective).” - Focus on development, not just assessment:
Balanced feedback should guide improvement, not just evaluate performance. - Make feedback actionable:
Be it delegating tasks, improving time management, or enhancing collaboration, employees should leave with clear steps for growth. - Employ performance management software:
Software that integrate employee feedback, goal tracking, and analytics simplify the process and help managers maintain consistency across teams.
The Path to Effective Employee Performance Management
If organizations want to move towards a culture where employees feel valuable and are under the impression that their contributions are getting noticed from every aspect of objective and subjective feedback, then achieving the perfect balance becomes necessary.
Integrating HR software within an organization doesn’t only help in evaluating employee performance, but it can also help HR teams streamline the complete management of employees; from payroll and attendance to leave and expense management. However, relying solely on software doesn’t complete the picture; organizations also need to evaluate their policies and remove bias from teams. This approach can take organizations to the places where they want to be.
