Quite often, formal accountability and firsthand observation can diverge in shift‑based, operational organisations. For instance, in policing, supervisors who complete performance reviews often don’t see much of the work they are expected to evaluate.
This is because police work is 24/7, can involve rotating shifts, temporary postings and acting roles, and many decisions are made by frontline supervisors or peers rather than a single line manager.
Research and practitioner guidance from organisations including the College of Policing note that this structure complicates traditional annual appraisal models, because the most meaningful evidence of performance is held by shift sergeants, field training officers, project leads, peers and other frequent collaborators, rather than the formal reviewer.
This gap can create predictable problems for the supervisor: incomplete evidence, recency bias and missed development or recognition opportunities. Supervisors shouldn’t be expected to be omnipresent, instead observations from other colleagues should be portable, timely and useful, allowing supervisors to fairly weigh this feedback at the point of review.
Map where the work was seen
Supervisors should begin each review cycle by documenting where the employee worked since the last review, and who directly observed them.
They should also identify whose accounts matter to the review process, meaning evidence and feedback should be gathered from shifts and temporary assignments, acting roles and projects.
Gather targeted eyewitness evidence
Managers can broaden feedback sources, but should focus on specific and firsthand examples rather than general impressions. A concrete account of how an officer coordinated colleagues during a complex incident from a colleague who was with the employee in the field is far more useful than a generic “good team player” comment from an office based peer.
In order to keep feedback focused and actionable, HR should ask observers to record:
Capture feedback while it’s useful
Observers should be encouraged to contemporaneously record meaningful observations and not wait until the time of the performance review to recall or present information.
Timely entries preserve context, reduce memory distortion and allow managers to act, whether it be recognising strong performance or addressing concerns, while the situation is fresh.
Incorporating the evidence
While collecting observations is valuable, it’s also important to interpret them correctly. Supervisors should incorporate the following to verify the feedback, so they can provide a balanced judgment of the employee and not simply aggregate opinions:
Link feedback to recognition, development and progression
If role based competencies are measured as part of performance reviews, observations can also be recorded against these as evidence for promotion and development.
The feedback provided can be used as evidence to answer:
By matching expectations to the level of responsibility, conversations on readiness for the next promotion can be held at review time.
Stretch opportunities, such as acting assignments, mentoring, targeted training to close gaps and validate readiness can also be created during the annual review.
These principles can be applied in many other workplaces
The need for continuous feedback isn’t unique to policing, it exists across many public and private sector organisations.
For instance, doctors, nurses and other healthcare professionals work across wards, departments and multidisciplinary teams. Local authority employees contribute to cross-functional projects and partnerships.
In the private sector, employees may split their time across client accounts, project teams, regional operations or matrix management structures where different leaders see different aspects of their work.
As organisations become more complex, collaborative and specialised, the traditional assumption that a line manager directly observes most of an employee’s contribution becomes less reliable.
More meaning, better accuracy
In complex, collaborative organisations, fairness depends on capturing the work that actually happens. Portable, timely, role-linked observations let those who see the work record it, and help managers understand it.
When managers synthesise that evidence thoughtfully, performance decisions become more accurate, development more targeted and recognition more meaningful.
Practical continuous feedback implementation tips for HR
By Tim Els
Source: hrzone.com
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