Many construction leaders and employees alike dread the annual review process, but that doesn’t mean that employees don’t value feedback. In fact, employees often want more frequent feedback from their leaders. A whopping 92% of 1,000 U.S. workers polled in a survey by the people management platform Reflektive said they wanted feedback about their job performance more frequently than once a year—and that was a year before the pandemic. Nearly half (49%) preferred formal feedback conversations with their manager at least weekly; 72% said at least monthly.

Giving feedback is part of a leader’s job, and frequent, constructive feedback helps employees grow and adapt their behavior. Plus, feedback doesn’t have to be negative. It can include recognition for hard work—if an employee is doing something positive that moves your company in the right direction, they need to know. As the famous quote goes: “Recognition is the greatest motivator.”

Below are five tips to help construction leaders provide effective feedback in focused, 15-minute sessions:

1. Schedule it. Instead of marathon annual reviews, leaders and employees can meet weekly, biweekly or monthly in 15-minute feedback sessions. Scheduling short meetings in advance allows both leaders and employees to prepare for them. And the set time limit adds focus.

2. Use a template. A feedback template is a helpful tool for keeping meetings focused. Leaders can also use templates to track progress, cut down on the time they need to prepare and help employees know what to expect, reducing the fear of the unknown. The template should include a growth objective, action items and desired outcomes to work toward.

3. Ask employees to prepare. Leaders aren’t the only ones who need to prepare for feedback meetings. This is also a chance for employees to update leaders on progress, share concerns, ask questions and give their own feedback. An employee’s role is to think through their issues ahead of time and bring notes. In this way, they can focus their message and not get distracted by miscellaneous details. This also helps employees feel heard and gives them a chance to voice requests and concerns.

4. Take one topic at a time. Frequent feedback meetings are an opportunity for leaders to coach employees on specific areas of growth. While an employee might need improvement in multiple areas, leaders should avoid addressing multiple topics in one conversation. Feedback should be limited to one topic per meeting. When feedback is given in focused, smaller chunks, employees can absorb the information and act on it.

5. Focus on growth. Feedback should always be focused on development, not punishment. Employees tend to be stressed in work cultures where the dreaded annual review is the norm but thrive in cultures that prioritize frequent feedback that promotes growth. Instead of leaders telling employees they need to improve, leaders can guide employees down a path of realization by asking probing questions. Feedback should be tied to an employee’s goals. Going over goals once a year leads to goals being forgotten, but structured, frequent goal check-ins keep priorities top of mind.

Feedback is critical to employee success, and frequent, constructive feedback gives employees an opportunity to make small adjustments to their performance over time, before small mistakes turn into major issues. Leaders owe it to their direct reports to actively lead them on the path of success—not just once a year.