Gen Z Doesn't Have a Feedback Problem. Every Generation Does

By Amara Osei

A founder who once gave her team nothing but praise says Gen Z gets unfairly blamed for a feedback failure that belongs to every generation. Nearly 20 years after she rebuilt her first company's culture around structured feedback, her retention rate rose to a level she says "defied the odds of our industry."

The founder, who writes from two decades of leadership experience, traces the problem to the 2010s. Back then, headlines called millennials the "participation generation" — leaders claimed they had to walk on eggshells or their young staff would quit.

She saw some truth in it, but not the version the headlines told. "It wasn't because we were coddled," she writes. "It's because we weren't taught how to give or receive feedback."

In her mid-twenties, running her first company, she had no idea how to address underperformance. So she became, in her own words, the team's "biggest cheerleader" and hoped people would figure things out on their own.

What happened when a leader stopped avoiding feedback?

The avoidance caught up with her. One day she looked around and saw a team that lacked accountability, thrived on gossip, swept issues under the rug, and shared frustrations only in resignation letters.

The turning point came through a communication class at Barry-Wehmiller University, now the Chapman & Co. Leadership Institute. There she learned feedback methods she still uses and teaches today.

She shared them with her team, and the culture shifted fast. Difficult conversations moved from text messages to face-to-face. Feedback came promptly, so frustrations stopped festering. The phrase "I need to give you feedback" started to spark curiosity instead of fear.

Today she leads a smaller company and works with leaders and teams on open communication. She hears the same complaints about Gen Z that she once heard about her own generation: they can't take honest criticism, they want instant feedback but can't act on it, they live on their phones.

"But I don't buy it," she writes. "The issue isn't with Gen Z or any one generation in particular. It's that we don't teach people how to give feedback compassionately and productively, receive it openly, or build relationships rooted in transparency and trust."

Which tools actually build a feedback culture?

Her playbook has four parts:

• Train feedback during onboarding. Pick one shared method as the team's "feedback language" and teach it to every new hire. Her companies use two: FBI (Feeling, Behavior, Impact — "I felt ___, when you did ___, and the impact was ___") and "Keeps and Considers," where you name what someone should keep doing and what they should consider changing.
• Give feedback within 24 hours. The guideline applies to everyone, not just the leader. It builds trust because nobody is left wondering where they stand. If you need more time, she says, explain the delay — otherwise the wait erodes trust.
• Set communication norms. Her first company banned feedback and hard conversations over text. Tone and body language carry weight that words alone can't. Her current team works remotely, so they use video or voice calls instead — texting alone, she warns, strips out context and risks eroding trust.
• Give feedback on feedback. When someone responds defensively, don't address it mid-argument. Schedule a separate conversation, FBI-style: "I feel at a loss when you respond defensively to my feedback. The impact is it makes me want to withhold feedback from you."

She pairs that last tool with empathy. Most people are doing the best they can, she writes, and empathy doesn't mean avoiding accountability.

Where does the real problem sit?

Her final target is the person assigning blame. Past experiences shape how each of us handles conflict — a caregiver who was too direct, or a fear of confrontation that makes us avoid hard talks.

"Before we point fingers at anyone else — like an entire generation — we must find the courage to face ourselves," she writes.

Her verdict on Gen Z? Yes, the generation has a feedback problem — "just as much as any other generation." The difference is that this one, like every other, can be taught. Companies willing to train feedback as a skill, not assume it, are the ones that will keep their people.