The "Criticism Sandwich"

I recently came across an article entitled “Criticism Sandwich is off the Menu” written by Suzanne Silett, Vice President, Education and Innovation at the Positive Coaching Alliance (PCA) and I was very intrigued by the subject matter for a number a reasons…in my previous career the “Criticism Sandwich” was the way we handled our employees yearly evaluations and I never thought that it was used in youth sports.  For those who may not know what the “Criticism Sandwich” is, it is an evaluation technique whereby you give the person a compliment, followed by piece of constructive criticism, followed by another compliment.  In my former career this technique was hammered into our heads as the best way to give employees feedback; however, this method seems to have been debunked and it is suggested that this method should not be used when evaluating employees or youth sport athletes.

A little over a year ago I was listening to a podcast by Adam Grant, a professor of management and psychology at The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and in that podcast, he advised against using this technique when doing evaluations.  In an article written by Mr. Grant and published December 13, 2023, Mr. Grant states that “the feedback sandwich does not work”. He states it does not taste as good as it looks and he advises against it and stated that the two main problems with it are as follows: “first, if the recipient focuses on the criticism, they’ll forget all about the praise.  That’s especially true for people who have gotten feedback before, because the moment they hear the praise, they start anticipating the criticism. Humans tend to remember the first and last part of any conversation more than the middle – which, in psychological terms, is known as the “primacy effect’ and “recency effect.”  If the point of your feedback sandwich is to convey a piece of negative feedback, the last thing you want is for the recipient to walk away having forgotten all about it.”  This is the experience that I had using this technique while doing my evaluations….the employee either tuned me out due to knowing once I gave them the positive, it was going to be followed by the negative and then the positive and they would just sit and listen and not get much out of the evaluation and in all honesty, I did the exact same during my evaluations.  Mr. Grant goes on to further state that “if you have some criticism to deliver, don’t try to mask it.”  He states that you need to preface it with a single sentence: “I’m giving you these comments because I have very high expectations, and I know that you can reach them.”

Now by this time you are probably wondering why I am writing about how I was evaluating my employees in a job that I retired from almost four years ago.  Well, the article written by Ms. Silett piqued my interest because I never thought about anyone using the Criticism Sandwich with youth sports athletes.  In the Sillett article, David Yeager, PhD describes the Mentor’s Dilemma as being hard to simultaneously criticize someone and motivate them because criticism can crush a young person’s confidence.  Dr. Yeager states “As a coach, I have often felt this dilemma. Countless times I have stood on a field with an athlete overtalking and providing non-related praise because I was nervous to provide clear and transparent feedback on where they needed to improve. Simply put, I didn’t want to hurt their feelings.   I always knew this approach didn’t really go over very well. The athletes saw right through it and the criticism sandwich, while intended to be helpful, didn’t have the impact I was looking for. What I’ve learned over the years from coaching 5-year-old to college athletes, is that when you demonstrate you care about your athletes, they respond well to truthful and specific feedback, and the research supports this”.  So why does the Criticism Sandwich not land well with young athletes?  Dr. Yeager states the following:

• When you try to ‘soften the blow’ of criticism with two, not related, pieces of positive feedback, it leads the receiver confused (Adam Grant 2024). Should I believe I’m doing a good job because you gave me two positives and only one negative?  Should I keep doing more of the positives, or stop doing the behavior you criticized?

• The Criticism Sandwich leaves the receiver feeling like the compliments are not meaningful and were just made up to make it easier to hear the criticism. (Kim Scott, Radical Candor)

As Yeager explains, “when young people are being critiqued by an authority figure, they are asking themselves a deeper question: Does this person who has power over me think I’m incompetent?  Imagine you’re a basketball player on defense. Your coach says to you: “Nice hustle, you really need to close down the player with the ball, good work keep it up.” Clearly in this scenario the coach is trying to get their athlete to defend closer to the opponent, but instead of just saying that, they muddle the feedback with unrelated praise. This can leave the athlete unsure of what to focus on, wondering whether the compliments were true, and potentially distracted from defending that opponent with the ball!  Instead try this: “I need you to close down your opponent faster. I know it’s a lot of ground to cover, but if you anticipate and get off the mark a little quicker, I know you can do it.” Further, Dr. Yeager states that coaches should ensure that any criticisms are:

• Clear and concise. The athlete knows what is expected of them.

• Sets a high standard and supports the athlete by providing a coaching strategy and belief in their ability to get it done.

• By giving constructive feedback separately, it allows the coach to provide meaningful praise at just the right time, when you see the athlete having success.

While my youth sports coaching career ended quite a few years ago, and I cannot say with any confidence whether I used the “Criticism Sandwich” and I’m pretty sure that I did, I’m now wondering whether I did more harm than good when trying to give constructive criticism to my young athletes.  I can say that I never bought into the criticism sandwich when I was working, but it was what I had to do due to evaluate my staff whether I agreed with/liked it or not; however, in coaching youth sports, it is my feeling that a coach needs to be very careful when doling out criticism to young up and coming athletes because they may not have the ability to receive criticism and we, as adults need to ensure that we are delivering the criticism in a way that received and understood by the youth so they can grow both on the field of play and later in life.  Finally, Dr. Yeager states that “as you go out and coach your athletes, remember this: before athletes can hear your critical feedback as something you intend, a way to improve their performance, they need to know you care about them and believe in them.”