360 degree feedback
Content
360 degree feedback, also known as 'multi-rater feedback', is the most comprehensive appraisal where the feedback about the employees¶ performance comes from all the sources that come in contact with the employee on his job. 360 degree respondents for an employee can be his/her peers, managers (i.e. superior), subordinates, team members, customers, suppliers/ vendors - anyone who comes into contact with the employee and can provide valuable insights and information or feedback regarding the "on-the-job" performance of the employee. 360 degree appraisal has four integral components: 1. Self appraisal 2. Superior¶s appraisal 3. Subordinate¶s appraisal 4. Peer appraisal. Self appraisal gives a chance to the employee to look at his/her strengths and weaknesses, his achievements, and judge his own performance. Superior¶s appraisal forms the traditional part of the 360 degree performance appraisal where the employees¶ responsibilities and actual performance is rated by the superior. Subordinates appraisal gives a chance to judge the employee on the parameters like communication and motivating abilities, superior¶s ability to delegate the work, leadership qualities etc. Also known as internal customers, the correct feedback given by peers can help to find employees¶ abilities to work in a team, co-operation and sensitivity towards others.
Self assessment is an indispensable part of 360 degree appraisals and therefore 360 degree Performance appraisal have high employee involvement and also have the strongest impact on behavior and performance. It provides a "360-degree review" of the employees¶ performance and is considered to be one of the most credible performance appraisal methods. 360 degree performance appraisal is also a powerful developmental tool because when conducted at regular intervals (say yearly) it helps to keep a track of the changes others¶
perceptions about the employees. A 360 degree appraisal is generally found more suitable for the managers as it helps to assess their leadership and managing styles. This technique is being effectively used across the globe for performance appraisals. Some of the organizations following it are Wipro, Infosys, and Reliance Industries etc. Arguments Against 360 Degree Performance Appraisal . Despite the fact that 360 degree appraisals are being widely used throughout the world for appraising the performance of the employees at all levels, many HR experts and professionals argument against using the technique of 360 degree appraisals. The main arguments are: y 360 performance rating system is not a validated or corroborated technique for Performance appraisal. y With the increase in the number of raters from one to five (commonly), it become difficult to separate, calculate and eliminate personal biasness and differences. y It is often time consuming and difficult to analyze the information gathered y The results can be manipulated by the employees towards their desired ratings with the help of the raters.
y
The 360 degree appraisal mechanism can have a adversely effect the motivation and the performance of the employees. 360 degree feedback ± as a process requires commitment of top management and the HR, resources(time, financial resources etc), planned implementation and follow up. 360 degree feedback can be adversely affected by the customers perception of the organisation and their incomplete knowledge about the process and the clarity of the process. Often, the process suffers because of the lack of knowledge on the part of the participants or the raters.
y
y
y
What is 360 degree feedback?
360 degree feedback is an employee development feedback which comes from different level of employees in the hierarchy of the organization; includes managers, peers, subordinates and staff, apart form the internal sources, the feedback can also source form the external relevant relations like customers and suppliers. Since the result is concluded from multi-groups inside and outside the company therefore it also known as 'multi-rater feedback'. The purpose of using the 360 degree feedback is to comprehend how the others think and feel about you, it always involves a neutral third party in the feedback so it makes the result more reliable and objective. The feedback usually used by human resource managers to plan and develop trainings for the staff. Sometimes managers also use the data to make decisions on promotions and payments. Therefore, these feedback results are important to recipients since they provide critical information for the organization to plan and set its strategies for the future. [edit]
How does this system work?
To do an internal 360 degree feedback, the company needs to gather a small group of employees within the department to complete an easy questionnaire. An individual would in charge of designing the survey and usually people are able to finish it in a very short period of time, such as around 20 minutes or even less than that. In most of the case, the feedback only involves a relatively small group of people, 10 to 15 people, for example. After the surveys are done, they will be sent to an external organization directly. Feedback questionnaires can also be done on paper or via phone. However, many paper feedbacks have become on-line feedback and via the internet instead since the technology has improved rapidly in recent years. The external company then conducts all information from the survey and generates a feedback report. The external company will send back the repost to the organization and then the organization would organize meetings with its employees to discuss the report in order to help them to develop their future plans and further training programs.
The advantages and disadvantages.
Every appraisal method would have some advantages and disadvantages, so do the 360degree appraisal method. For the 360-degree appraisal, here are several advantages and disadvantages of this appraisal method. About the advantages, it is included:
1. It provides a more comprehensive view of employee performance than other appraisal method. As the procedure of carry out the 360-degree appraisal need to have a lot of people to do the evaluation for the staff, it may include the staff in the company, from the top (manager) to the bottom (colleagues), even some external sources such as the customers. If it is conducted well, this can give the employee a more comprehensive and accurate view for the evaluation
and also it is good for the staff¶s self-development. It is more comprehensive than other appraisal methods since they may only need the manager to do the evaluation.
2. It increases the credibility of the appraisal result. Since the 360-degree appraisal methods need a lot of people to finish it, as mentioned before it may include of the manager also other staff, it can reduce the unfair of the result. It is because it contain everyone¶s point of view, not only the manager or any single staff, then they cannot give some comments that show the evaluated employee is very good or not, then help the staff easily get to promote to higher position or make the staff lose the job. It can show that this appraisal can help to increase the credibility of the appraisal result.
3. The feedback from the peers can help to enhance the staff¶s self-development. Not every appraisal methods will also include the feedback from the peers, that may only judge by the manager, so it is not easily show the real performance of the staff since the manager may not observe the performance of the staff in every single minutes and they may only have a blurred impression of the staff. By the way, if there also include the feedback from the peers as they have more communication and cooperate experience with the evaluated staff, they must know more than the manager about what the staff can improve, also help to motivate people who are undervalue themselves, so the feedback from the peers can help the staff to have a better self-development than other appraisal methods.
4. A chance to complain their manager without following the normal complaint procedures. Though the 360-degree method, if the manager does not do well in his job and make the staff feel discontent, they can compliant the manager during the appraisal without following the normal complaint procedures. This can help the staff a chance to voice out their discontent and what they want.
About the Disadvantages, there also have several points: 1. Time consuming and more complex on administration It is no doubt that include more people to do the evaluation can give a more comprehensive view of the result, but it also very time consuming since everyone need to do the evaluation, after that the company need to find more staff to help to find out the result, it will increase the complex on the administration, so the company cannot have the appraisal frequently on the same people. It is very important to choose a right timing to conduct this method that can minimize the impact of the organization.
2. May generate the environment of suspicion and cynicism This method can be threatening both the staff is being assessed and the people doing the evaluation. From the management level, the manager may feel this method could undermine
their authority and so they will not cooperate well when they do the appraisal. About the staff, if they do not have a good result of the appraisal, they may suspicious that who give them some bad comments and may things that other staff will cynics them because they cannot get a good result. As the result, it will generate a worse atmosphere in the working environment. So it is very important that the 360-degree appraisal should conduct in an open and honest environment.
3. Risk of confidentiality. It is the biggest risk of the 360-degree appraisal because many company may outsource the 360-degree process to other company that can used to make the staff who are being evaluated feels more comfortable that the information they give and receive will in a confidential environment. However, some information is very sensitive but the company discloses the information to others carelessly, that will affect the whole company.
Self assessment is an indispensable part of 360 degree appraisals and therefore 360 degree Performance appraisal have high employee involvement and also have the strongest impact on behavior and performance. It provides a "360-degree review" of the employees¶ performance and is considered to be one of the most credible performance appraisal methods. 360 degree performance appraisal is also a powerful developmental tool because when conducted at regular intervals (say yearly) it helps to keep a track of the changes others¶
perceptions about the employees. A 360 degree appraisal is generally found more suitable for the managers as it helps to assess their leadership and managing styles. This technique is being effectively used across the globe for performance appraisals. Some of the organizations following it are Wipro, Infosys, and Reliance Industries etc. Arguments Against 360 Degree Performance Appraisal . Despite the fact that 360 degree appraisals are being widely used throughout the world for appraising the performance of the employees at all levels, many HR experts and professionals argument against using the technique of 360 degree appraisals. The main arguments are: y 360 performance rating system is not a validated or corroborated technique for Performance appraisal. y With the increase in the number of raters from one to five (commonly), it become difficult to separate, calculate and eliminate personal biasness and differences. y It is often time consuming and difficult to analyze the information gathered y The results can be manipulated by the employees towards their desired ratings with the help of the raters.
y
The 360 degree appraisal mechanism can have a adversely effect the motivation and the performance of the employees. 360 degree feedback ± as a process requires commitment of top management and the HR, resources(time, financial resources etc), planned implementation and follow up. 360 degree feedback can be adversely affected by the customers perception of the organisation and their incomplete knowledge about the process and the clarity of the process. Often, the process suffers because of the lack of knowledge on the part of the participants or the raters.
y
y
y
What is 360 degree feedback?
360 degree feedback is an employee development feedback which comes from different level of employees in the hierarchy of the organization; includes managers, peers, subordinates and staff, apart form the internal sources, the feedback can also source form the external relevant relations like customers and suppliers. Since the result is concluded from multi-groups inside and outside the company therefore it also known as 'multi-rater feedback'. The purpose of using the 360 degree feedback is to comprehend how the others think and feel about you, it always involves a neutral third party in the feedback so it makes the result more reliable and objective. The feedback usually used by human resource managers to plan and develop trainings for the staff. Sometimes managers also use the data to make decisions on promotions and payments. Therefore, these feedback results are important to recipients since they provide critical information for the organization to plan and set its strategies for the future. [edit]
How does this system work?
To do an internal 360 degree feedback, the company needs to gather a small group of employees within the department to complete an easy questionnaire. An individual would in charge of designing the survey and usually people are able to finish it in a very short period of time, such as around 20 minutes or even less than that. In most of the case, the feedback only involves a relatively small group of people, 10 to 15 people, for example. After the surveys are done, they will be sent to an external organization directly. Feedback questionnaires can also be done on paper or via phone. However, many paper feedbacks have become on-line feedback and via the internet instead since the technology has improved rapidly in recent years. The external company then conducts all information from the survey and generates a feedback report. The external company will send back the repost to the organization and then the organization would organize meetings with its employees to discuss the report in order to help them to develop their future plans and further training programs.
The advantages and disadvantages.
Every appraisal method would have some advantages and disadvantages, so do the 360degree appraisal method. For the 360-degree appraisal, here are several advantages and disadvantages of this appraisal method. About the advantages, it is included:
1. It provides a more comprehensive view of employee performance than other appraisal method. As the procedure of carry out the 360-degree appraisal need to have a lot of people to do the evaluation for the staff, it may include the staff in the company, from the top (manager) to the bottom (colleagues), even some external sources such as the customers. If it is conducted well, this can give the employee a more comprehensive and accurate view for the evaluation
and also it is good for the staff¶s self-development. It is more comprehensive than other appraisal methods since they may only need the manager to do the evaluation.
2. It increases the credibility of the appraisal result. Since the 360-degree appraisal methods need a lot of people to finish it, as mentioned before it may include of the manager also other staff, it can reduce the unfair of the result. It is because it contain everyone¶s point of view, not only the manager or any single staff, then they cannot give some comments that show the evaluated employee is very good or not, then help the staff easily get to promote to higher position or make the staff lose the job. It can show that this appraisal can help to increase the credibility of the appraisal result.
3. The feedback from the peers can help to enhance the staff¶s self-development. Not every appraisal methods will also include the feedback from the peers, that may only judge by the manager, so it is not easily show the real performance of the staff since the manager may not observe the performance of the staff in every single minutes and they may only have a blurred impression of the staff. By the way, if there also include the feedback from the peers as they have more communication and cooperate experience with the evaluated staff, they must know more than the manager about what the staff can improve, also help to motivate people who are undervalue themselves, so the feedback from the peers can help the staff to have a better self-development than other appraisal methods.
4. A chance to complain their manager without following the normal complaint procedures. Though the 360-degree method, if the manager does not do well in his job and make the staff feel discontent, they can compliant the manager during the appraisal without following the normal complaint procedures. This can help the staff a chance to voice out their discontent and what they want.
About the Disadvantages, there also have several points: 1. Time consuming and more complex on administration It is no doubt that include more people to do the evaluation can give a more comprehensive view of the result, but it also very time consuming since everyone need to do the evaluation, after that the company need to find more staff to help to find out the result, it will increase the complex on the administration, so the company cannot have the appraisal frequently on the same people. It is very important to choose a right timing to conduct this method that can minimize the impact of the organization.
2. May generate the environment of suspicion and cynicism This method can be threatening both the staff is being assessed and the people doing the evaluation. From the management level, the manager may feel this method could undermine
their authority and so they will not cooperate well when they do the appraisal. About the staff, if they do not have a good result of the appraisal, they may suspicious that who give them some bad comments and may things that other staff will cynics them because they cannot get a good result. As the result, it will generate a worse atmosphere in the working environment. So it is very important that the 360-degree appraisal should conduct in an open and honest environment.
3. Risk of confidentiality. It is the biggest risk of the 360-degree appraisal because many company may outsource the 360-degree process to other company that can used to make the staff who are being evaluated feels more comfortable that the information they give and receive will in a confidential environment. However, some information is very sensitive but the company discloses the information to others carelessly, that will affect the whole company.
