How to run effective one-on-ones and build a feedback culture

Executive overview

Growing companies often track metrics obsessively while neglecting the human signals underneath them. Zvi Band, co-founder of Contactually, shares how his team nearly let culture quietly collapse — and what they built to fix it.

The turnaround centred on two practices: structured anonymous feedback loops that built trust incrementally, and mandatory weekly one-on-ones reframed as the employee's time, not the manager's.

Leaders can't fix what they don't know needs fixing — and people only tell the truth once they believe someone is listening.

Recognising the culture problem

• Low energy and disengagement were visible before any formal signal; informal check-ins confirmed something was wrong.
• Early feedback gathering lacked follow-through: insights were collected but not acted on.
• Staff departures and manager friction were the cracks that forced a more systematic response.
• The fix started with qualitative conversations, then moved to quantitative pulse surveys.

Building trust through feedback loops

• Start with low-stakes questions (e.g. office coffee) and act on the answers visibly — this trains people that feedback leads to change.
• Escalate question depth over time once people trust the loop; you can eventually ask "do you believe in our mission?"
• Anonymous surveys were adopted despite feeling counterintuitive — anonymity is the price of honest data.
• One quarterly question: "How much longer will you stay?" Scary to ask; reveals who is quietly at risk.
• When alarming responses surface, resist the witch hunt. Instead, assume every direct report could be the source and act accordingly.
• Treating feedback seriously at every level — even minor requests for quiet space — is itself a leadership signal.

Structuring one-on-ones

• Weekly 30-minute one-on-ones with every direct report became the backbone of leadership culture.
• The meeting belongs to the direct report, not the manager — they can reschedule or skip if they have nothing to discuss.
• No status updates. Status lives in metrics reports and daily emails, not in shared calendar time.
• Format is flexible: kitchen table with a tablet, a coffee shop, a walk — what matters is that it's relaxed.
• Two questions to anchor every session:
  1. What do you think I need to know?
  2. What can I do to help you?
• When conflict or dissonance emerges between a manager and report, the first diagnostic question is: when was the last one-on-one?

Exit interviews done right

• Exit interviews should involve HR for logistics, the direct manager, and the founder or CEO — not just HR.
• The CEO entering the room signals genuine care; people are far more candid as a result.
• Frame the conversation as: "In some way, we failed you. Help me make sure you're the last person to leave for this reason."
• Avoidable departures are among the most damaging events a company can face — they warrant the same seriousness as losing a major customer.

Building external relationships

• Relationships fade without deliberate maintenance — a LinkedIn connection that goes dormant is effectively worthless.
• The minimum viable habit: one email to one person you haven't spoken to recently, every day.
• Contactually automates relationship tracking across email and social accounts, surfaces who to re-engage, and helps build a repeatable relationship-management system.