Listen "192 - The Employee Feedback Journal: Tracy Letzerich (VP of People, Wheel)"
Episode Synopsis
Tracy Letzerich, Vice President of People at Wheel, joined us on The Modern People Leader.
We discussed why feedback is the lifeblood of organizational progress, why Wheel is ditching the annual performance review, and why every manager should start keeping feedback journals with their team.
----
This episode was brought to you by Great Place To Work®. Download their Employee Retention Report here.
----
(0:45) Good news stories
(3:52) Great Place to Work’s research on RTO mandates.
(5:05) Tracy’s story: Nontraditional HR path and becoming VP of People at Wheel.
(9:00) Why do some business solutions work and others fail? It boils down to the people.
(13:42) What does Wheel do?
(15:39) Tracy’s passion for feedback in organizations.
(17:23) What does it mean to have a culture of feedback?
(18:29) Was there something in the data or personal observation that led to the focus on feedback?
(19:52) Tracy's journey at Wheel and the need for a new feedback model.
(21:59) Feedback culture is an ongoing journey.
(24:16) Balancing informal and formal feedback.
(25:16) Building relationships in a remote world.
(27:48) Role modeling feedback behaviors.
(29:23) Rethinking the one on one: The Feedback journal.
(31:32) Direct reports should own the one on one.
(33:01) The challenges of being a manager today.
(35:57) The journey to pay transparency at Wheel.
(38:18) Resistance to change around the annual review.
(39:30) Replacing the annual review with continuous feedback.
(41:04) The importance of training and ongoing support for feedback.
(43:09) Accountability in feedback culture.
(44:22) Performance map as an alternative to the annual review.
(45:01) Integrating feedback and compensation.
(47:45) Rapid fire questions.
----
📬 Subscribe to our weekly newsletter to get episode recaps
💡 Follow The Modern People Leader on LinkedIn
😊 Follow Daniel Huerta on LinkedIn
😊 Follow Stephen Huerta on LinkedIn
We discussed why feedback is the lifeblood of organizational progress, why Wheel is ditching the annual performance review, and why every manager should start keeping feedback journals with their team.
----
This episode was brought to you by Great Place To Work®. Download their Employee Retention Report here.
----
(0:45) Good news stories
(3:52) Great Place to Work’s research on RTO mandates.
(5:05) Tracy’s story: Nontraditional HR path and becoming VP of People at Wheel.
(9:00) Why do some business solutions work and others fail? It boils down to the people.
(13:42) What does Wheel do?
(15:39) Tracy’s passion for feedback in organizations.
(17:23) What does it mean to have a culture of feedback?
(18:29) Was there something in the data or personal observation that led to the focus on feedback?
(19:52) Tracy's journey at Wheel and the need for a new feedback model.
(21:59) Feedback culture is an ongoing journey.
(24:16) Balancing informal and formal feedback.
(25:16) Building relationships in a remote world.
(27:48) Role modeling feedback behaviors.
(29:23) Rethinking the one on one: The Feedback journal.
(31:32) Direct reports should own the one on one.
(33:01) The challenges of being a manager today.
(35:57) The journey to pay transparency at Wheel.
(38:18) Resistance to change around the annual review.
(39:30) Replacing the annual review with continuous feedback.
(41:04) The importance of training and ongoing support for feedback.
(43:09) Accountability in feedback culture.
(44:22) Performance map as an alternative to the annual review.
(45:01) Integrating feedback and compensation.
(47:45) Rapid fire questions.
----
📬 Subscribe to our weekly newsletter to get episode recaps
💡 Follow The Modern People Leader on LinkedIn
😊 Follow Daniel Huerta on LinkedIn
😊 Follow Stephen Huerta on LinkedIn
More episodes of the podcast The Modern People Leader: Forward-Thinking HR
268 - The Blueprint for a Modern HR Team: Kit Krugman (SVP, People & Culture, Foursquare)
14/11/2025
265 - The 4 Pillars of a Distributed Operating Model: Darren Murph (Future of Work Consultant)
24/10/2025
ZARZA We are Zarza, the prestigious firm behind major projects in information technology.