Every employee dreads the annual performance review—or should they? According to Scott Wedel, Chief Operating Officer, Ag1Source, nothing on an annual review should be a surprise.

“I recommend having quarterly conversations that are elevated for the supervisor to understand how the individual thinks things are going, what they like, what they don’t like, their future aspirations, and for the manager to thank them for everything they’re doing,” he says. “Those quarterly conversations should be more strategic and focus on the individual.”

Wedel says that he often sees managers who are promoted into a team leadership role without any training on how to succeed in that role. These unprepared team leaders are uncomfortable with strategic conversations and their conversations primarily turn into tactical discussions on specific projects, ignoring the big picture of individual employees’ career trajectories.

To facilitate an optimal conversation, Wedel suggests that supervisors should create an environment where their employees are willing and able to speak freely.

“If such an environment doesn’t exist, I’d say it’s 100% the fault of the supervisor,” he says. “Managers should reassure their team members that it’s a safe environment for them to share their thoughts.”

It’s also very common for supervisors to become defensive or judgmental if an employee shares something that’s negative about themselves, the department or company, according to Wedel.

“Seek first to understand,” he says. “Ask lots of questions. A candidate I spoke with recently who just moved into a managerial role has had to adjust his approach to be no longer telling people his opinion while having those crucial conversations.”

If organizational culture is toxic, highly political and involving a lot of backstabbing, then the conversation probably isn’t going to go very well, Wedel notes.

“That employee is probably insecure and trying to protect themselves, especially if they see their supervisor as someone political who will go after them for anything they say during that conversation,” he says.