Using 360-degree performance feedback is useful for HR, team leaders, and most especially employees. Find out why in this article
Bill Gates once said, “We all need people who will give us feedback. That’s how we improve.” Who better to do that than the ones we work closely with?
That, in a nutshell, is what 360-degree performance feedback is all about. In this article, we’ll discuss how it works, its pros and cons, and how it improves performance.
Being the subject of 360-degree feedback can be nerve-racking, so we’ll share best practice on how employees can see that in a positive light. Finally, we’ll discuss why organizations today benefit from having 360-degree feedback among their workforce.
The 360-degree performance feedback is the process of collecting input from different sources on an employee’s strengths and weaknesses. Feedback comes from:
This process involves seven steps:
At this stage, outline the reasons behind the 360-degree performance feedback. There are two opposing points of view here:
Most HR practitioners seem to favor using feedback for personal development. This way, the process isn’t used as a political tool, with positive feedback given to support an individual’s promotion.
The objectives for using 360-degree performance feedback – whether for personal development or part of performance management – depend on your company culture. Do your employees share feedback regularly? Does your leadership team support a feedback culture? Or is there a tendency for feedback mechanisms to be abused?
Once you’ve decided on the objectives, share these with everyone involved in the process.
Choose feedback raters who have worked with the subject for at least six months. If selecting from within the company, limit the number of raters to four or five per employee. This helps minimize survey fatigue.
If choosing customers as feedback raters, consider any privacy or confidentiality rules that your organization might have. Customers would need to give consent first before anyone can contact them for feedback.
Explain the process and highlight how important the raters’ roles are. Share guidelines to help them understand what factors go behind each rating.
Emphasize the value of giving evidence-based feedback. Where possible, encourage using specific cases to support their input.
Limit the number of questions/items to below 30, highlighting 10 competencies at most. Choose competencies that are linked to the individual’s role.
It’s a good idea to use frequency scales (using never, rarely, sometimes, often, always) over agree/disagree scales. Doing this will help identify consistent behavior as seen by different raters.
Leave a section for open feedback where raters can use free text to share evidence or highlight special cases.
Make sure that the feedback form has clear and simple instructions for the rater.
It’s time to send out the feedback forms! When sharing these forms with raters, reassure them that their comments shall be kept confidential. Their ratings will be shared anonymously with the employee.
Remind raters of the goal behind this exercise: to help the employee identify strengths and weaknesses for their development.
Use HRIS tools to send feedback, collate responses, and analyze them. If you're in the market for HRIS tools, visit HRD’s list of 5-star software and technology providers.
There is an art and skill to sharing feedback, so team leads and managers should be properly trained for this. Here’s a good tip from Simon Sinek: start off with good intentions, that feedback is being shared to help the employee grow. Watch this video for his suggested approach:
Share this list of performance review phrases with your team leads and managers to help them structure the conversation.
A development plan is effective when the employee, their manager, and HR work together address points raised in the feedback process.
The HR lead provides tools and training resources. They make sure that the plan is aligned with company policies and budgets.
The manager supports the plan, offering regular feedback and monitoring progress.
The employee takes ownership of the plan by implementing the proposed action.
A solid workforce development program can work as a good retention strategy. Find out more in the article.
As in any process, 360 reviews also have their pros and cons. Let’s go over them:
Because feedback is coming from different sources, HR teams and managers get a more accurate picture of how an employee relates with others.
As we mentioned earlier, it’s best to get feedback from those who have worked with the employee for six months or more. That is enough time to get to know the employee, observe them in action, and see how they deal with setbacks.
Self-awareness is one of the elements of emotional intelligence at work. Having better self-awareness gives employees the chance to regulate their emotions, helping defuse conflicts in the workplace.
Learning is a lifelong process; 360-degree feedback, if done right, helps develop a learner’s mindset among employees. In seeing how others perceive them, good or bad, employees become aware of areas for improvement. They learn to work through these issues, growing as individuals and becoming better in their roles.
Delivering feedback results all in one go can lead to information overload. This can be done in phases, focusing on priority themes and key areas.
Offer coaching sessions to employees to help them understand and process feedback. Make these sessions part of their development plans to ensure buy-in.
Negative feedback that’s baseless can be used to attack and discourage others, defeating the intention behind 360-feedback. Office politics could also be a factor.
To address this, a robust training process on giving constructive feedback is valuable. Giving evidence-based feedback is another approach to help counter baseless comments.
What happens after the feedback process is done, the results collated and analyzed, and details shared with the employee?
Pair feedback with a development plan. This way, the insights collated from the feedback exercise turn into action. Managers, team leads, and HR leads can help support employees in this area.
Receiving an email that they’re the subject of 360-degree performance feedback can be worrying for many employees. Here are some ways to help them prepare and lessen the stress:
Focus on the main goal, which is to help identify strengths and weaknesses to help them become better.
If the feedback is part of a performance review, let them know this to help manage expectations.
Reassure them that the process is confidential; feedback raters will be anonymous.
If you have any case examples that show how 360-degree performance feedback has helped employees grow, share these with employees. No names and details in the case studies, of course.
This is an important step to help employees understand the process better. You can take these approaches:
Explain that insights from this 360-degree feedback will help shape the employee’s development plan.
This should help make the feedback process less daunting for employees. Hold workshops or training sessions to go over the process, stressing how vital it is in personal development.
Employees may be asked to rate their peers as well, so a session on giving objective feedback would be helpful.
Similarly, offer training on how to receive feedback with an open mind. We tend to get defensive with negative feedback and diminish our achievements when we receive praise. The key is in finding the balance: celebrate wins, learn from criticism.
To close off the briefing session, hold a Q&A. Give employees the chance to ask questions and express any worries they might have. Address these concerns in a factual and reassuring way.
Looking inward is part of any effective 360-degree performance feedback. Encourage employees to start off with some self-reflection. Share questions that align with the competencies listed in the feedback form.
Keeping a work journal isn’t a bad idea. This will help employees develop self-awareness, which is key to growth and learning.
Here are some self-evaluation examples that they can use as a starting point in their journalling.
That might sound contradictory. How can a labor-intensive feedback process result in better performance? Here's how:
Knowing how their peers, managers, and stakeholders perceive them helps bring awareness to an employee’s actions and behavior.
An employee who is assertive and outspoken, for example, might not be aware that they can come across as combative. A 360-feedback review process brings this to light.
👀 Don't let blind spots hinder your growth!
— Kevin Eikenberry (@KevinEikenberry) October 18, 2024
1️⃣ Reflect on feedback and self-assess.
2️⃣ Seek insights from trusted peers and mentors.
3️⃣ Embrace 360 feedback to gain a holistic view. pic.twitter.com/kJxujRVASF
To help the employee further, giving evidence-based feedback goes a long way. Citing specific situations or examples helps the employee process the feedback better.
Evidence-based feedback also holds the raters to account. They are less likely to share baseless negative feedback if they are required to share specific examples.
The 360-degree feedback process goes beyond a single perspective. It also involves input from a team of raters who aim to provide constructive and actionable feedback. In doing this, they contribute to the growth and success of the employee.
The employee feels a sense of responsibility to perform well, knowing that their peers, direct reports, and managers are invested in their progress.
Regular 360-degree performance feedback promotes open and honest communication. Feedback is seen as a tool for personal development, not something that causes stress and worry.
Giving and taking feedback is normalized, resulting in an organization that thrives on learning and growth.
Top-down evaluations are a thing of the past. The best way to see how an employee works is through feedback from everyone they interact with.
Insights from others help expose blind spots and showcase areas of strengths. When linked with personal development plans, 360-degree feedback is a major part of any company’s L&D and retention strategies. When staff see that companies care about their continued learning and growth, they are much more likely to stay.
How is 360-degree performance feedback handled at your organization? Let us know in the comments below.
