---
title: "How to Give Negative Feedback: Learn the Hamburger Approach!"
description: "The purpose of criticism is not to discourage people, but to give them confidence to do better. A new assistant in the CEO's office, Lulu, received feedback from her boss that praised her strengths before pointing out areas for improvement, demonstrating the effective use of the Hamburger Approach in performance feedback."
author: "New Distribution"
publisher: "New Distribution"
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published: "2015-05-19"
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---

# How to Give Negative Feedback: Learn the Hamburger Approach!

> The purpose of criticism is not to discourage people, but to give them confidence to do better. A new assistant in the CEO's office, Lulu, received feedback from her boss that praised her strengths before pointing out areas for improvement, demonstrating the effective use of the Hamburger Approach in performance feedback.

> The purpose of criticism is not to discourage people, but to give them confidence to do better.
A new assistant, Lulu, joined the CEO's office. She graduated from a prestigious university with a degree in Chinese literature, and was capable, quick-witted, and a good writer. She was also beautiful, which made her somewhat proud and self-important. One day, Lulu submitted a work summary for an important project she had drafted. After reviewing it, the CEO called her into his office and said, "This summary is overall very good. The language is fluent, the thinking is clear, and the structure is reasonable. Several points are accurate and insightful. It seems you've put in effort, and it shows your strong writing skills!" Lulu was delighted and felt a bit smug.
Then, the CEO changed his tone and said, "This project summary is for the board of directors and needs to be approved by all board members in a meeting, so it's very important. To be cautious, I think the summary needs more depth. Some parts lack thorough analysis and quantitative data, making it a bit shallow. There are also places that are somewhat exaggerated. I've marked these areas. Perhaps it's because you haven't been here long and haven't done enough investigation and analysis. So, I'd like you to go deeper into the grassroots, understand the relevant departments involved in the project, and refine it further." Hearing this balanced feedback, Lulu nodded deeply and obediently went back to revise it.
**If the CEO had directly criticized her, it might have corrected the mistake, but it would have caused frustration and resistance. Instead, he took a roundabout approach: first highlighting the strengths, acknowledging her work and writing skills to make her happy, then pointing out the shortcomings. This way, she could accept and correct the issues more willingly.**
When employees' performance is not as expected, managers often find it difficult to give feedback. Negative feedback has a hint of criticism but is different from it; it expresses dissatisfaction but is not blame. Negative feedback involves pointing out problems in work and discussing the causes together to find solutions and methods.
**Giving negative performance feedback to subordinates is a tricky issue for every manager, especially for those with a gentle personality. They often toss and turn over it, sometimes leading to insomnia, and some have even developed a phobia of negative feedback.**
In fact, even the most tactful negative feedback cannot change the negative fact, and people naturally resist and resent it. If a subordinate has a hot temper and the manager lacks communication skills, it could lead to an awkward and uncontrollable outcome. However, if managers turn a blind eye to subordinates' mistakes and problems, tolerate them, delay feedback, hoping they will correct themselves, or use hints to try to change them, the disappointing result is that subordinates remain the same. The reason is simple: an unqualified employee doesn't know their own shortcomings, so how can they improve?
**To help employees willingly correct problems in their work, managers only need to grasp one principle in negative feedback: focus on improving work, not on employees' shortcomings. If managers ask rather than interrogate, listen rather than interrupt, discuss rather than command, and focus the feedback on solving problems rather than dwelling on past mistakes or venting emotions, the effect may be better.**
**For example, use the following tones for feedback:**
(1) What is the fundamental problem in this work? Please elaborate.
(2) What impact has this problem had on your own work, departmental work, and company work?
(3) What are the deeper causes of this problem? When the subordinate gives a reason, ask why again; generally, five whys can find the root cause.
(4) What measures do you plan to take to improve this work? Please talk about your specific approach, methods, steps, and completion timeline.
(5) What support and help do you need from me to address these issues?
**The so-called Hamburger Approach refers to the following steps in performance interviews:**
1. First, praise specific achievements and give sincere encouragement;
2. Then, point out the specific behaviors that need improvement;
3. Finally, end with affirmation and support.
The purpose of the Hamburger Approach is to remind managers that the role of performance interviews is to help employees improve performance, not to dwell on their mistakes and shortcomings. Therefore, praising strengths, pointing out weaknesses, and then affirming and encouraging is the best interview approach, worth learning.
**For example, in "Journey to the West," there is a dialogue between Buddha and Sun Wukong:**
"You mischievous monkey, you have endured hardships to protect your master on the journey to the West." (**Praise, affirmation, recognition**)
"Why did you abandon your master and return to Huaguo Mountain alone this time, breaking your promise?" (**Pointing out the problem, criticism**)
"Go now, I believe you will carry on and protect your master to obtain the true scriptures." (**Expressing trust, making demands, encouraging good performance**)
These three sentences contain both praise and criticism, affirming Sun Wukong's past efforts and contributions in protecting Tang Seng, criticizing his behavior of abandoning his master this time, and finally giving encouragement and expectations. This appropriately made Sun Wukong realize his mistake and continue to escort Tang Seng to the West. If Buddha had only blamed Sun Wukong for disobeying leadership, breaking promises, and being self-centered, it would have caused backlash and failed to achieve the intended purpose. Especially for capable but temperamental subordinates like Sun Wukong, managers need to pay attention to skills and methods when pointing out mistakes and raising issues.
Source: Yousoft Software
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