SHRM26 Debrief · Modern Employee Experience · #1918

Future-Ready Feedback: Transforming the F-Word with AI

with Ama Agyapong

▶ Watch on the SHRM portal ~66 min, distilled

feedback frameworksdifficult conversationsperformance management

"Kick the sandwich method out. If you don't get anything else from this today, no sandwich method, okay?"

What it was about

Most people avoid giving feedback because they were never taught a repeatable, brain-science-based method for doing it. The GIFT Feedback Framework, Gain Permission, Identify facts, Frame impact, Trigger collaboration, paired with AI as a rehearsal and prep tool (never a replacement for the actual conversation), gives leaders a structure to give and receive feedback with less collateral damage.

By the numbers

turnover from 110% to 60%

speaker's own results as a Fortune 50 retailer executive HR leader after implementing a feedback-driven workplace culture

saved over $300 million in retention cost

Netflix's move to quarterly check-ins instead of annual reviews

26% increase in adaptive performance

BetterUp's use of AI role-play for rehearsing difficult conversations

Key notes

Use the GIFT Feedback Framework — Gain Permission, Identify the facts, Frame the impact, Trigger collaboration. as a repeatable structure for any difficult conversation.
Gain permission with a small, targeted question (e.g., 'Can we talk through X before we move forward?') rather than a vague 'let's chat,' and reschedule if the answer is no.
Identify facts using neutral, observable, specific language backed by homework: documentation, reports/data, direct observation, and input from others, never opinion.

The contrarian takeThe 'sandwich method' of feedback (positive-negative-positive), long taught as HR best practice, actually confuses the brain and breeds distrust — employees start bracing for negative feedback every time they hear something positive, so it should be abandoned entirely.

Take this back Monday

Do this for your team

Before your next tough 1:1, open with 'Can we talk through X before we move forward?' instead of 'let's chat.'

Say this in your next leadership meeting

We're retiring the sandwich method because it actually breeds distrust, and moving to a GIFT framework: permission, facts, impact, then collaboration.

Watch out for

Using the 'sandwich method' (positive-negative-positive): it confuses the brain and breeds distrust because people start bracing for the negative every time they hear something positive.
Opening a feedback conversation with a vague, high-anxiety opener like 'Hey, let's chat,' which makes employees assume they're being fired.
Skipping documentation and facts entirely, then trying to terminate someone with only one documented coaching conversation on file, creating legal and fairness risk.

Fun fact · Ama Agyapong

Known as "That Inclusion Lady," she's a certified EEOC investigator who's consulted for Fortune 500 companies, universities, and non-profits alike.

If this landed, see these

↳ Go deeperFrom Panic to Pattern: Make Feedback Routine, Not ReactiveTurns GIFT into a weekly habit loop instead of a one-off framework for hard conversations.⇄ The counterpointWhen Employee Relations Isn't Enough: A CLEAR Framework for Protected Class InvestigationsComplicates 'one framework fits all': protected-class conversations need a stricter, legal-grade process.✦ The unexpected oneLeading with Bravery in the Age of Transformation: How Courage Shapes the Future of WorkNames the missing ingredient: giving hard feedback takes exactly the courage this talk defines.