The 360 Degree Appraisal System is a performance management tool used to evaluate and provide feedback on the skills and competencies of individuals in an organization. The primary objectives of such an exercise are:
The 360 degree appraisal significantly differs from the traditional supervisor-subordinate performance evaluation as 360 degree appraisals calls for feeback on an employee from number of sources including direct reports, peers, managers and the individual. This process enables the employee to be evaluated from an all-round perspective and thereby provides more accurate information on an individual's performance over a stated time period.
The ConceptBriefly put, the 360 degree method evaluates an employee's performance by collating it with the feedback sought from everybody else: peers, managers, direct reports as well as internal and external assessment from customers. This, along with the employee's self-evaluation forms the final appraisal. The method has been successfully employed by over 90% Fortune 1000 companies over the past decade. It has been primarily used in identifying training and developmental needs of the employees or validating ongoing training programs. It is also used in making decisions relating to promotions, terminations, pay hikes, etc.,
The concept, by and large, is most democratic as it takes into account the perception of not only the supervisors, but also of several others who interact with the individual.The employee also perceives an element of objectivity here. Further, the linking of an individual's performance with all relevant constituents fits in well into the emerging team-based work culture. However, its greatest strength lies in designing future development programs for employees.
As a rule of thumb, a minimum of five and, on an average, ten respondents should be identified under all the respondent categories (Manager, Peer, Direct Report) put together, for each assesse. The most important consideration, however, is to choose the right individuals to be the respondents. Respondents should be chosen only if they have significant interaction with the assesse.
The respondents will be kept anonymous to the assesse being reviewed. The confidentiality is to reduce the possibility of the assesse to confront the respondents later, and thus to encourage the respondents to be more open and honest with their feedback.
At the same time the respondents should demonstrate maturity to give constructive feedback and do not employ hidden agendas'. Another area of concern is giving lukewarm and fuzzy feedback because of the fear about the feedback coming back to them.
Care should be taken to give constructive feedback in a productive, non-critical manner.
Receiving a performance feedback from a multitude of sources, including one's Peers and Direct Reports, can be intimidating. "Feedback is still hard to take. It's not always fun."
Assesses may have trouble receiving feedback. But please be aware that the emphasis and the major purpose of 360 degree appraisal is to facilitate the employee's development and performance improvement.
Appreciate the constructive feedback received and deal with it positively, because:
Provides well-rounded feedback from peers, reporting staff, co-workers, and supervisors. This can be a definite improvement over feedback from a single individual. 360 degree feedback can also save managers time in that they can spend less energy providing feedback as more people participate in the process. Co-worker perception is important and the process helps people understand how other employees view their work.
Helps team members learn to work more effectively together. Teams know more about how team members are performing than their supervisor. 360 degree feedback makes team members more accountable to each other as they share the knowledge that they will provide input on each member's performance. A well-planned process can improve communication and team development.
360 degree feedback is one of the best methods for understanding personal and organizational developmental needs.
For many reasons, organizations cannot be responsible for all the development needs of their employees. 360 degree feedback can provide excellent information to an individual about what she needs to do to enhance her/his career. Additionally, many employees feel 360 degree feedback is more accurate, more reflective of their performance, and more validating than prior feedback from the supervisor alone. This makes the information more useful for both career and personal development.
When feedback comes from a number of individuals in various job functions, discrimination because of race, age, gender, and so on, is reduced. The horns and halo effect, in which a supervisor rates performance based on her/his most recent interactions with the employee, is also minimized.
Especially in feedback processes that involve the internal or external customer, each person receives valuable feedback about the quality of his product or services. This feedback should enable the individual to improve the quality, reliability, promptness, and comprehensiveness of these products and services.
360 degree feedback provides comprehensive information about organization training needs and thus allows planning for classes, cross-functional responsibilities, and cross-training.
