Business 5 min read By Callum Montgomery
Nestlé CEO Sets Out Two Rules for Giving Feedback That Works
The head of the world's largest food company has distilled his approach to feedback into two practical lessons for managers, arguing that how leaders communicate criticism determines whether teams improve or disengage.
The chief executive of Nestlé has offered two lessons for leaders on how to deliver feedback, placing the everyday mechanics of management squarely in the spotlight at a time when companies are under pressure to get more from their workforces.
Speaking in a short video published by Business Insider, the head of the Swiss food and drink giant argued that feedback is not a formality to be discharged after a review meeting but a core leadership skill that shapes whether employees improve or quietly disengage. The two lessons, presented as practical guidance for managers at any level, focus on how criticism is framed and the relationship in which it is delivered.
The intervention is notable because Nestlé operates one of the largest and most complex workforces in the global consumer goods industry, spanning factories, research laboratories, marketing teams and distribution networks across dozens of countries. How its leadership communicates with staff is watched closely by other large employers, particularly in sectors where retention has become harder and where hybrid working has weakened the informal contact that once carried much day-to-day coaching.
The first lesson concerns the purpose of feedback. The Nestlé chief executive's framing suggests that managers should treat it as a tool for improvement rather than a verdict on performance, so that the recipient understands what to do differently rather than simply absorbing a judgement. That distinction matters in large organisations where appraisal systems can encourage managers to save up criticisms for a single annual conversation, by which point the opportunity to correct course has passed.
The second lesson concerns the manner of delivery. Feedback lands differently depending on whether it is given in public or private, in the moment or weeks later, and by someone with whom the employee has an established working relationship. The implication is that leaders who treat feedback as a technique to be deployed without regard to context will find that even accurate criticism produces defensiveness rather than change.
Management researchers have long argued that the quality of feedback is one of the strongest predictors of team performance, and that poorly handled criticism is a common reason employees cite for leaving a job. The cost of getting it wrong is not only individual: replacing experienced staff is expensive, and institutional knowledge walks out of the door with them.
The advice also arrives as artificial intelligence reshapes entry-level work in many industries. As companies weigh whether to automate tasks that graduates have traditionally performed, some commentators warn that skipping the development of junior staff risks creating a shortage of experienced managers a decade from now. In that context, the ability to coach and correct people early in their careers becomes more, not less, important.
Nestlé itself has been navigating a period of change in the global food industry, with shifting consumer preferences, volatile input costs and pressure to demonstrate progress on sustainability. Those conditions place a premium on organisations that can adapt quickly, which in practice depends on whether information flows honestly upwards as well as downwards. A culture in which bad news travels slowly is a culture that reacts late.
The chief executive's two lessons are unlikely to settle the wider debate about management education or the value of leadership training programmes. But they serve as a reminder that the most consequential acts of leadership are often small, repeated and conversational. For managers looking for guidance that can be applied in the next meeting rather than the next strategy cycle, the message is that feedback is a relationship to be maintained, not a box to be ticked.
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