For years, feedback in the workplace has been more ritual than resource. Despite all the talk about building feedback cultures, most organizations still rely on static, top-down processes that leave employees guessing and growing in the dark.
As teams become more cross-functional, hybrid, and fast-moving, traditional performance models are struggling to keep up. Organizations are starting to realize that annual reviews and occasional check-ins aren’t enough. People need ongoing, contextual feedback; delivered in real time, from multiple perspectives.
That’s exactly where Extern found themselves.
They had a forward-thinking mission, a dynamic team, and a learning-first mindset. But their internal feedback systems were built for a different pace of work, and it was starting to show. They needed a more agile approach to development. One that gave employees the clarity, consistency, and context to grow with confidence.
Extern is a US-based EdTech company helping students gain real-world experience through remote, project-based learning. Their core offering, the Externship, gives college students the chance to work on professional assignments for companies, guided by mentorship and structured training.
The concept is simple: real work, real companies, real impact. Instead of competing for a limited number of internships, students can build their skills, confidence, and resumes by contributing to meaningful business projects on a flexible schedule, and from anywhere.
Extern’s model benefits both sides. Students get hands-on experience that strengthens their career readiness, while companies receive curated project outcomes without needing to manage interns directly. It’s a scalable, inclusive alternative to traditional internships; designed to open doors for more students, especially those who might otherwise be overlooked.
With thousands of externs having already contributed to projects across industries, Extern continues to grow its network of learners, mentors, and partner companies. At the heart of it all is a clear mission: making professional experience a more accessible form of education.
Extern has always been a company that values learning, from the way they support students to the way they shape their own culture. So as the organization grew, it made sense to take a closer look at how feedback and development were unfolding behind the scenes.
And like a lot of companies with ambitious teams and flat structures, they relied on performance cycles that were, well… fine. Traditional. Familiar. Not wrong, but they didn’t always reflect the full picture of someone’s contribution or potential. It wasn’t that the process was broken. It just wasn’t giving people the kind of insight that fuels ongoing growth.
At Extern, we wanted to move beyond one-directional, manager-led feedback and create a more continuous, multi-perspective approach to development.
— Matt Wilkerson, Founder & CEO of Extern
In a collaborative, fast-moving environment like Extern’s, work happens across teams, across projects, and across skill sets. The company saw an opportunity to better capture that complexity by bringing in multiple perspectives, giving people more visibility into how they’re seen by others, and making development feel more connected to day-to-day work.
The goal wasn’t to replace structure. It was to strengthen it by turning feedback into something continuous, useful, and shared.
Extern wanted their people to feel more ownership over their growth journey. And they wanted feedback to serve that, not just as a formal process, but as a meaningful, everyday part of how development happens.
We needed a system that could empower team members to co-own their development journey with real-time, actionable feedback from peers, managers, and collaborators.
— Matt Wilkerson, Founder & CEO of Extern
Extern’s collaboration with Nestor started in 2022, at a moment when the company was rethinking how performance and growth should really work together. They were looking for a solution that could support both the structure of formal reviews and the rhythm of everyday collaboration.
They weren’t searching for another HR system to layer on top of existing tools. What they wanted was something that would fit naturally into how their teams already worked; something intuitive enough to scale, but flexible enough to reflect individual growth paths.
Their existing process had been largely manual, built around scheduled cycles, one-on-one input, and isolated forms of evaluation. It did the job, but it didn’t tell the full story. Feedback was hard to track over time. Progress didn’t always link clearly to development goals. And much of the value got lost in between review moments.
Before Nestor, our feedback processes were more manual, episodic, and siloed—making it hard to track progress or tie feedback to development goals.
— Matt Wilkerson, Founder & CEO of Extern
Together with Nestor, the team focused on implementing two core modules:
From the beginning, the process wasn’t rushed. It was shaped around Extern’s own ways of working: collaborative, people-first, and grounded in learning. The tools weren’t layered on top; they were integrated thoughtfully, with space to adjust and adapt along the way.
Rather than overhaul everything at once, Extern worked closely with Nestor’s team to embed the new system into the rhythm of day-to-day operations. Feedback moments became more fluid. Goal-setting became more connected. And the line between performance conversations and personal development started to blur in a good way.
Since introducing Nestor, Extern has seen a meaningful shift, not just in how feedback happens, but in how people relate to it.
What started as a way to modernize feedback turned into something bigger: a transparent, participative, and responsive culture of growth. Powered by a platform designed to embed feedback into the everyday, Extern now experiences a rhythm of performance that’s continuous, not calendar-bound. And the impact is showing up in all the right places.
We’ve seen measurable improvements in participation rates for 360 reviews, the timeliness of feedback, and the quality of development plans generated from review insights.
— Wendy Smith, Chief People Officer at Extern
What makes these results meaningful is that they’re not just about the numbers; they’re about how people experience feedback. It’s no longer limited to a form, a deadline, or a manager’s calendar. It’s part of the daily rhythm. A shared responsibility.
And for the People & Culture team, it’s now easier to spot emerging needs and respond before small issues grow into barriers.
We’re also able to track feedback consistency over time, allowing us to identify trends and proactively support team members before small challenges become bigger issues.
— Wendy Smith, Chief People Officer at Extern
Extern didn’t just upgrade a system. They reshaped how growth is supported, talked about, and shared across the organization.
Rolling out new tools is rarely just about the technology, it’s also about getting people comfortable, aligning it with culture, and making sure it actually fits into the way teams already work. That’s where Nestor’s customer support team played a key role from day one.
Extern didn’t just get access to a platform. They got a team that listened, adapted, and stayed close throughout the process, helping translate goals into real configurations, and questions into clear next steps.
Nestor’s customer support has been an exceptional partner throughout this process. They’ve been highly responsive, proactive in sharing best practices, and instrumental in helping us configure the platform to fit our culture and goals.
— Matt Wilkerson, Founder & CEO of Extern
What stood out wasn’t just the responsiveness, but the relationship. We asked questions. Brought suggestions. And stayed involved beyond onboarding, offering guidance as Extern’s use of the platform evolved.
That kind of hands-on collaboration helped ensure the rollout wasn’t just technically successful. It felt natural. It felt like something built with Extern, not for them.
With stronger systems in place and a feedback culture that feels more authentic, Extern is now focused on building consistency, making sure the rhythm they’ve created continues to support development across every level of the company.
The goal isn’t to scale for the sake of it. It’s to keep growing in a way that stays connected to what matters most: helping people learn, reflect, and move forward in their work with clarity.
As they continue to evolve, feedback remains at the center, not just as a tool for evaluation, but as a foundation for personal and collective growth.
The systems may have changed. The mindset has deepened. But the mission stays the same: creating meaningful development experiences, both for the students they support, and the teams making that work possible.
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