Roughly 60% of top development companies are using 360 degree feedback for both development and decision making for high-potential identification, confirmation of potential, and succession planning purposes – Bracken and Church(2013).
Multirater or 360 degree review process has become the most preferred feedback method for many organizations. It is a shift from the traditional feedback process, which is subjective and based only on the direct supervisor’s inputs.
What is 360 degree feedback?
360 degree review process is the method for collecting, quantifying and reporting observations about an individual from people that an individual has worked with, both internally and externally. This makes the feedback process more objective when compared to traditional feedback processes. People who take part in the feedback process include not only the manager but also peers, direct reports, consumers, and vendors.
If you have become a manager or joined as one recently, and planning to implement a 360 degree review process in your organization, here is a seven-step guide to implement it successfully.
Communicate The Process
If you are implementing multirater or 360 degree feedback for the first time in your organization, it is essential to communicate the process to all stakeholders. As it is relatively a new process, many people are still unaware of it. Communicate the purpose and also how the process will be conducted, and the results will be used so that everyone involved in the process has a clarity of it. Take time and communicate it to everyone over one-on-one meetings, group meetings, and emails.
Rater Selection
Rater selection is one of the most important processes of 360 degree feedback, as several people are part of it. Employees who are being reviewed should choose an adequate number of raters or feedback providers. When employees select a good number of reviewers, then there will be enough data for analysis. Review the list of raters whom your employees have selected, so that no unnecessary person is on the list.
It may take at least a week or two to finish with the rater selection process, but be patient and careful with this step.
Choose The 360 Feedback Software
As a manager, you should select a 360 feedback software that will help you set the questionnaire quickly for all your employees. It should be easy to use with little or no training so that less time is spent on understanding how it works. If there is confusion in selecting the software, then demo versions should be used before selecting one. The software should be easily customizable as per organization needs, and also robust so that the data stays secure. Not only this, the 360 feedback software that you select should have an efficient customer support team to help you at any time with your issues.
Engagedly’s 360 feedback software tool is the perfect solution for you. It is not only easy to use and understand, but also can be customized as per your needs.
Questionnaire
Preparing the survey questionnaire for the 360 performance review process is one of the most important tasks. If you are unsure of what questions to set, you can take the help of HR experts or senior managers. Include questions such as:
- What should this employee stop doing to get better at work?
- Does this employee communicate well with colleagues?
- What are the new things this employee should start doing to be better at work?
- Does this employee show leadership qualities?
- What are the things this employee is doing well and should continue doing?
Make it clear as well as concise, a long questionnaire will bore the readers, and a very short one won’t be effective. On the other hand, ambiguous questions will confuse the readers, and they will provide inaccurate ratings. Framing the correct set of questions plays a major role in deciding the effectiveness of the process.
Report
Once all the reviewers have submitted their reviews, it is time to generate a report for the employees who were reviewed in the 360 performance review process. It should be simple and self-understood. With the help of the report, the employees should be able to identify their strengths and weaknesses. It should be a guide for the employees, using which they can improve their productivity, and have an overall development. An apt report would be one that highlights the highest rated areas, lowest rated areas, blind spots, gaps, and ratings.
For managers, it becomes a stressful task to make such a report or to find a tool that incorporates all the points in a single report. Engagedly’s multirater or 360 degree feedback module incorporates all the points in a single report through well-defined graphs. Request for a demo with us.
Request A Demo
Action Plan
After the reviews have been completed and the report has been generated, create an action plan for your employees. The action plan should be based on improvement areas, blind spots, and skill gaps identified in the report. This will help the employees to improve their skills and develop themselves through training, internal or external workshops, conferences, coaching exercises, mentoring programs, etc. It should have specific goals and development plans outlined for your employees.
Continuous Evaluation
The 360 degree feedback process should be made a regular activity in your organization, preferably every quarter. If the process is conducted once a year or once in two years, then the effectiveness of the process plummets. Having a continuous evaluation helps in re-evaluating the employees from time to time and how they have improved from their previous 360 degree review process. Frequent feedback also helps the old and even the new employees to get used to the process.
Often, organizations start with the 360 degree review process but make no effective use of it. This 360 feedback guide will help you with it.
Planning to start a 360 Degree Feedback Process in your organization? Request us for a demo.
Request A Demo
Kylee Stone
Kylee Stone supports the professional services team as a CX intern and psychology SME. She leverages her innate creativity with extensive background in psychology to support client experience and organizational functions. Kylee is completing her master’s degree in Industrial-Organizational psychology at the University of Missouri Science and Technology emphasizing in Applied workplace psychology and Statistical Methods.