"[Horses] have always understood a great deal more than they let on. It is difficult to be sat on every day by some creature without forming an opinion of them. On the other hand, it is perfectly possible to sit all day, every day, on top of another creature, and not have the slightest thought about them whatsoever."
Ward, Peter. 360-Degree Feedback. London: Institute of Personnel and Development, 1997.
The assumption that the opinions of only ONE person can provide a full and accurate picture of another's performance seems rather absurd, doesn't it? And yet, we've been doing this for eons without questioning it very much. Wouldn't it be nice to have a complete 360 degree feedback?
Most people avoid confrontation and find it difficult to tell unpleasant truths to others--especially those they like. As a result we seldom have an accurate picture of ourselves, as others see us. In fact, the most subtly undermining or self-destructive things we do, are often the very things which others, even supervisors, are least likely to tell us about - even though if we knew these truths, we might be able to change at least some of them with 360 degree feedback.
This is the problem that 360-degree feedback evaluation - also often called multi-source assessment, multi-rater feedback, full-circle appraisal or peer evaluation - is supposed to cure.
As Richard Lepsinger (co-author of The Art and Science of 360 Degree Feedback) puts it, "360 degree feedback is a reality check, a way to overcome the false or misleading information which we usually get about ourselves, by replacing it with the truth, at least as others perceive it: candid 360 degree feedback from people within our work environment, who are in a position to judge various aspects of our performance, providing information which can help us to avoid mistakes and improve our ability to do our jobs in the way we would like."
Today organizations have marked interest in considering employees' and customers' opinions on such issues as organizational communication, morale, values, decision-making processes, quality and service. (Any or all of these may be the focus of 360 degree feedback review processes.) Instead of the old "every man for himself," worker-competition model once common in most organizations, collaboration and teamwork are now encouraged. And how can you determine whether a person is able to be an effective colleague or team member?: You ask the people with whom he or she interacts. The emphasis with 360 degree feedback is always on behavior, not general traits, work-styles, or personal characteristics.
360 degree feedback performance appraisal helps supervisors, who often hate more than any other part of their job, the responsibility of doing annual performance appraisals. I'm sure we've all encountered talented people who've actually refused promotions into management at least partly because they don't want to be in the position of having to make career-influencing judgments of others - a sometimes unpleasant task - on a regular basis. At the very least, if you ask supervisors what they dislike most about their jobs, the frequent answer is dealing with personnel issues, particularly doing performance evaluations. Although nearly all of us pay lip-service to the idea of providing regular performance feedback to subordinates, the truth is that unless compliments are in order, most of us avoid it as long as possible!
Besides the fact that it is difficult to tell unpleasant truths to or about others-in fact, we're trained from childhood not to do so (who wants to be a tattle-tale, right?), in today's work climate we even have to be concerned to some degree with possible retaliation for being honest! Who hasn't heard enough already about disgruntled employees filing grievances or even suing their employers because of negative evaluations which kept them from getting promoted, or worse yet, the ones who've returned to the office the next day with a gun? Combined, these factors lead to an unwillingness of supervisors to directly confront poor performance.
And last but not least, single source performance appraisals are often biased, even if unintentional in comparison to 360 degree feedback. The evidence points to the fact that some supervisors are very rigorous in evaluations, while others apparently hail from Lake Wobegon, where everyone is above average!
In the end, 360 degree feedback is an excellent organizational tool to identify critical needs and performance gaps and provide a solid foundation for individual development when used as a supplement to supervisors' appraisals, not a replacement for them.
What follows are summaries of a few of the organizational purposes, benefits, and factors linked to success and failure of
360 degree feedback programs.
The purposes for using 360 degree feedback instruments are as varied as the organizations that use them, such as for:
1. Individual performance development
2. Organizational competency gaps
3. Organizational training needs analysis
4. Career planning
5. Quality-service evaluation
6. Culture change
7. Team development The benefits of 360 degree feedback are numerous, such as to:
1. Demonstrate respect for employee opinions
2. Increase employee involvement
3. Communicate values through the competencies chosen
4. Identify organizational, departmental, and individual skill gaps
5. Improve customer service
6. Build more effective work relationships
7. Form a basis for individual development planning
8. Enhance open communication
9. Reveal and resolve conflicts
360 Degree feedback Factors Linked to Success Organizations who experience success with the 360-degree feedback methods have many environmental attributes present.
Some of these are:
1. Feedback tool is based on organizational goals and values
2. Organizational climate fosters individual growth
3. Criticisms are seen as opportunities for improvement
4. Higher compliance and consistency in providing feedback
5. Assurance that feedback will be kept confidential
6. Feedback tool includes area for comments
7. Opportunity for individuals to respond to feedback
8. Opportunity to support feedback with individualized training or coaching
360 Degree Feedback Factors Linked to Failure Many organizations have rushed into 360-degree feedback without laying the foundation for success. Typical errors include:
1. Feedback not linked to organizational goals or values
2. Feedback tied to merit pay or promotions
3. Comments traced back to individuals causing resentment between workers
4. Survey tool used as substitute, not complement to performance appraisal
5. Use of the feedback tool as a stand alone without review and follow-up by manager.
6. Poor implementation of 360-degree tool negatively affects motivation
7. Excessive number of surveys are required of each worker
8. Excessive number of questions
360 Degree Feedback - A Big No-No for Pay and Promotion While very informative and motivational for development, the 360 degree feedback method has not proved successful for decisions tied directly to pay, promotions, selection or layoffs. Some of the reasons for failure with 360 degree feedback are as follows:
1. The 360 evaluations are based on observations in the natural work environment. Some drawbacks of this are:
a. Some environments 'dampen' or constrain job performance b. Performance is based on the current job role only c. Observations are based somewhat on chance opportunities for observation
2. The observers in the 360 method have no special training, may use differing standards and, therefore, can have low inter-rater reliability (agreement), making the process overwhelming for managers and large departments
360 degree feedback has been successfully administered in thousands of different companies and businesses all over the world. Their sizes range from small family-owned companies to multi-million dollar corporations. With correct implementation,
360 degree feedback will yield invaluable results for your business, to help recruit and maintain top performing employees.
The benefits of 360 degree feedback are invaluable, for more information on 360 degree feedback or to get started with 360 degree feedback at your business, please visit www.super-solutions.com or call us at Success Performance Solutions at (800)803-4303. We look forward to your upcoming success with 360 degree feedback.
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