How 360 Degree Feedback Works And How It Can Benefit Your Group

Everybody appreciates getting positive or constructive feedback and when the process is done properly, it can be a great help to both the individual and the company. Despite the evidence to support this, studies have shown that the very lack of feedback is the main reason why people choose to leave a company, so it is vitally important that you ensure that your organisation provides this feedback to its employees. This is a wise move, because it will help you assess where your employees need development in skills to help them to increase their performance levels.

So, why do we have 360 degree feedback? This concept has resulted from a need to increase both the frequency and quality of feedback to individual workers. It is more than the usual annual appraisal, where you visit the manager’s office to be told what you are doing well and how you can improve.

In the past, it has been left to the manager to provide feedback: because of the more complex nature of the managerial role and increased workloads, this task has been neglected. 360 degree feedback allows for an increased amount of feedback through a wider circle of providers and includes peer evaluation, self evaluation and direct reports. At the end of the process, the individual in question will have at their disposal a detailed report that enables them to compare their perceptions of work with those of their peers. Once the report is completed, there is provision for a performance coach to provide guidance regarding any necessary improvement plan.

There are a number of benefits with 360 degree feedback: when individuals have a greater insight into their strengths and weaknesses they are better able to manage their careers as a result of making improvements to interpersonal skills and building upon leadership skills and the employer is able to take advantage of having a highly skilled, experienced team of employees whose productivity and quality of work is high.

What elements make the 360 degree feedback process successful?

There are six components.

1. The most senior management must be willing to embrace the process and be supportive of its implementation. As well, employees must obtain the necessary skills to give constructive feedback. The most important factor is that managers have to be willing to implement any skills that they have obtained to give appropriate coaching.

2. Each survey carried out should have a connection with the ethos of the business and any specific skills sought and considered necessary for the success of both the business and the individual.

3. Every member of the team is required to attend a 360 degree orientation. At these training sessions they will be instructed with regards to the fact that 360 is not to be used in performance appraisal, but only as a developmental tool. The importance of confidentiality is stressed to assure those who are being rated and those doing the rating.

4. A survey or questionnaire is filled out. Most of these are completed online which allows for the use of special encryption software to guarantee the security of the data collection.

5. Completed surveys are collated and placed into a report which includes verbatim comments and then given to the individual in question. The report should be easy to read. Senior management is presented with a summary of the group, in which the ratings are tallied numerically, indicating strengths and weaknesses as a group. Such information is useful to make decisions regarding training to coincide with the needs of the group.

6. Coaching that is considered necessary for improvements is then given to those requiring it. Impartiality is one of the best qualities of a good coach as is their ability to focus on realistic, useful goal setting. It is also appropriate for managers to adopt the role of coach as it will help to cement any skills gained and guarantee accountability.

How can this be successfully implemented in your business? The deciding factor is the amount of effort you are willing to put into the process. The level of improvement has a direct correlation with the amount of feedback and support that is provided. 360 degree feedback has the potential to be extremely powerful in generating feedback and consequently to make changes in your business.

Like this post? Subscribe to my RSS feed and get loads more!