The importance of feedback in teaching

Why is infrequent employee feedback ineffective?
When feedback is intermittent rather than ongoing and in the flow of learning, it makes it susceptible to “recency bias”. 
Recency bias is when things are assessed or judged by recent events, rather than by a more holistic, historical view.
I.e., a learner underperforms in recent courses you’ve published. This recent poor performance clouds judgement of their longer-term performance.
It is also ineffective because it doesn’t provide feedback when people most need it - while they are learning, or make a mistake, i.e. at their point of need. 
When feedback is decontextualized from a learning moment, learners will find it harder to act on or implement, to improve their performance. This is because it’s delayed - either they forget the feedback by the time it becomes relevant again, or it doesn’t relate to the specific learning curve they are tackling in that moment. 
This is likely why employees feel infrequent feedback in the form of annual performance reviews is a needless HR requirement (59%) that has no impact on how they carry out their job (58%).
Why is it important to make feedback frequent? 
1. Feedback engages, motivates and improves achievement
“Feedback is one of the most powerful influences on learning and achievement” - John Hattie,The Power of Feedback
According to the Hackman and Oldham model of work motivation, feedback is one of five characteristics in a job that can enhance employee motivation and by extension, improve employee performance.
40% of people are actively disengaged when they receive no or little feedback. Providing timely, relevant feedback triggers intrinsic motivation. This type of motivation comes from within, rather than from an external stimulus like money, which makes it more powerful.
Receiving regular feedback incentivizes, resulting in a self-motivated desire to continue learning, improve performance and attain in learners.