Feedback in the Workplace: Establishing a sustainable and engaging Culture

by Swissnova | 7 May 2025 | feedback, HR, knowledge, Manager

Beyond the traditional annual evaluation, feedback is now recognized as a key tool for development, motivation, and agility. Yet, it remains insufficiently integrated into day-to-day managerial practices.

According to Gallup (2019), employees who receive regular and constructive feedback are 3.6 times more engaged than others. Conversely, the absence of concrete feedback can lead to confusion, frustration, loss of trust — and ultimately, disengagement.

Why is this relational dimension a strategic issue?

Because feedback is not just an individual reflex. It is an integral part of collective dynamics, a team’s ability to adjust quickly, and a culture of continuous improvement.

A well-formulated feedback supports three essential dimensions:

Learning: drawing clear lessons from one’s actions,
Motivation: feeling recognized in one’s role,
Agility: quickly adjusting attitude, communication, and organization.

But without clear intent, a method, or structure, feedback can become clumsy or even harmful — hence the need for vigilance.

Establishing a sustainable feedback culture

Several structured approaches exist to professionalize feedback practices:

The SBI model (Situation, Behavior, Impact),
The DESC method (Describe, Express, Specify, Conclude) for managing tensions,
360° feedback to create a virtuous circle of reciprocal listening.

Scheduling feedback rituals (weekly, post-project, etc.), clarifying mutual expectations, and developing active listening: all are simple levers to deploy, provided they are based on the right mindset.

Training as an Anchor Point

Implementing a true feedback culture requires time and consistency. But also, at certain key moments, structured training and alignment sessions that allow:

Acquiring a common language around feedback,
Practicing managerial postures in various contexts (success / error / tension),
Identifying individual or cultural barriers to regular feedback.

Well-designed training acts as a catalyst for collective evolution, provided it is followed by real implementation.

And now… Can feedback really be natural?

Is it possible, in some teams, to spontaneously foster a feedback culture without it feeling artificial or top-down?

Should the practice be standardized, or should the desire emerge naturally?

And above all: how can we learn to give feedback that is free of judgment, yet not complacent?

These are questions every organization — including HR and managers — should ask, to professionalize an act too often perceived as “intuitive.”

References:
London, M. & Smither, J.W. (2002). Feedback orientation, feedback culture, and the performance management process, Human Resource Management Review

Gallup (2019). State of the Global Workplace

Knowledge Transfer: A Strategic Challenge in the Wake of the Baby Boomers’ Retirement

by Swissnova | 2 Apr 2025 | knowledge, strategic, transfer

As the workforce ages, the world of work is undergoing an unprecedented transformation. In Switzerland—as in the rest of Europe—this shift is particularly significant: by 2030, more than a quarter of workers will be over 55 (OECD, 2022).

The retirement of the baby boomers—i.e. those born between 1946 and 1964—is expected to result in a massive loss of expertise, operational know-how, and organizational memory. According to the Swiss Federal Statistical Office (FSO), this demographic wave may lead to the simultaneous exit of hundreds of thousands of experienced employees.

Yet in most companies, there are few—if any—structured systems in place to ensure effective transmission of critical knowledge. It’s a concerning reality for any HR professional managing strategic skills.

Why is this transition a critical challenge?

Most of the knowledge mobilized daily within companies is tacit—it escapes manuals, job descriptions, or procedural documents. It includes gestures, practical nuances, learned reflexes, and weak signals detected over years of experience.

According to Nonaka & Takeuchi (1995), these tacit forms of knowledge may represent up to 90% of actual on-the-job know-how. The unprepared departure of these “silent pillars” directly threatens operational continuity and the transfer of essential professional expertise.

The departure of senior staff, without an anticipated process, creates a major and often irreversible loss. It is therefore essential to set up a true knowledge transfer plan as part of a larger skills management strategy to anticipate this transition proactively.

Implementing knowledge capitalization strategies

Several levers can be activated to meet this challenge: reverse mentoring, intergenerational coaching, structured debrief interviews, junior-senior pairings, and well-documented workflows. These practices contribute to the capitalization of knowledge and secure business-critical expertise over time.

But this type of system can only succeed if it’s considered holistically—as a long-term pillar of sustainable competence management, not just a one-off succession project. It requires tight collaboration between HR, operational managers, and key contributors.

Training as a transmission catalyst

Implementing a knowledge transfer plan also relies on dedicated pedagogical support. Targeted training helps:

identify which critical knowledge is at risk,
document and structure transmission materials,
and most importantly, train experts to effectively pass on their know-how.

Because transferring knowledge isn’t just “saying what you know”—it requires adapting your message, making experience tangible, and creating conditions for mutual learning.

Working on knowledge transfer through applied training makes the invisible visible—and secures strategic skills across your organization.

And now… Who holds responsibility for knowledge transfer?

As retirements accelerate and jobs continue to grow in complexity, the question of structured knowledge transfer becomes unavoidable.

But how do we determine what should—or should not—be transferred? Can we formalize everything? At what level?

Most importantly: who, within the organization, is responsible?

HR? Managers? Senior employees? Or does this call for a new, organizational governance of knowledge?

The debate is open.
And maybe now is the perfect time to reassess your company’s intangible value.

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References:
OECD (2022), A Silver Economy to Drive Future Growth
Swiss Federal Statistical Office – Population & Labour Market Data
Nonaka, I. & Takeuchi, H. (1995). The Knowledge-Creating Company, Oxford University Press