360 Degree Feedback Overview
Multirater Feedback programs get a lot of flak for being complex and unhelpful. But in reality, they are just poorly understood. We’re going to show you three ways of conducting 360 employee evaluation programs that go from simple to complex.
- Basic
- Standard
- Advanced
Basic (The Simplest Multirater Cycle)
One of multirater feedback’s biggest criticisms is that it is complex. Program creators labour under the assumption that if in order for a feedback program to be successful, it needs to be complicated. Our 360 employee evaluation software breaks that mold.
But when it comes to multirater programs, simplicity is the way to go. To create a simple multirater cycle using Engagedly, log in to your account and from the Multirater icon on the left-hand menu, go to Cycles. You will be taken to the Cycle Management page.
Here you can see a list of all the cycles that have been created in the performance review software. For each cycle, there are a few actions that can be carried out. They are:
- Edit – Clicking on this action allows you to edit the cycle
- Copy – Clicking on this action allows you to create a copy of the cycle
- Export Reviewer Load – Clicking on this action allows you to download an excel sheet containing the names of all the reviewers who are a part of the cycle, how many feedback requests they have received, how many they have completed and how many feedback requests they have declined.
- Restrict visibility – Clicking on this action allows you to restrict certain users from viewing cycles which are of no relevance to them.
You can also create new cycles from here. To create a new cycle, click on ‘+New Cycle’ which is located on the top right corner of the page.
You will be redirected to the Multirater cycle setup page where you can fill in the information about the cycle.
Cycle Info
Here you can fill in the Cycle Name and the period of review. For the simplest possible cycle, all you need to fill in is the ‘Cycle information’.
Timeline
In this section, you can choose the people who can make reviewer nominations in our 360 employee evaluation software. It can either be the HR, the manager, or employees. But in order to make this easy, we’re going to go with the default selection which is the HR.
You can fill in the details like the dates from which they can nominate reviewers, date by which they should complete nominations, dates by which managers can verify and finalize the nominations etc. if you want to. Just remember to do so in an order that is chronological. Even if you make a mistake, you can always come back and edit the cycle to rectify your mistake.
Note: The dates are only to help you structure your cycle. Not all dates are mandatory.
Anonymity
Engagedly allows you to decide the anonymity of the feedback process in the performance review software. By default, the names of the reviewers are only visible to the HR. You can also enable the options where the names of the reviewers will be visible to the reviewee and the manager.
Questionnaire
When you create a cycle, you can either use the review questionnaire present in this section or choose to use an already existing template in the template library. By default, a questionnaire is enabled during cycle creation.
To create the simplest possible multirater cycle, use the already existing questionnaire that follows the Start-Stop-Continue feedback model.
You can also add more questions to the questionnaire by clicking on ‘+Add A Question’.
| FAQ: In the questionnaire, what does @EmployeeName stand for?Answer: The @EmployeeName is simply a placeholder for an employee’s name. When you assign a cycle with the default questionnaire, reviewers will see the questionnaire populated with the reviewee’s name. |
Standard (Slightly Complex Multirater Cycle)
A slightly more complex version (more than the basic one that is) of a multirater cycle involves the use of templates for 360 employee evaluation. To create a cycle with templates instead of the default questionnaire, follow all the steps that you would to create a basic multirater cycle.
When you come to the questionnaire, below it there is an option which says ‘Disable Cycle Questionnaire and Enable Templates’. Select this option. When you select this option, the default questionnaire is disabled and template selection has been enabled.
Use our 360 employee evaluation software templates only when you want to ask different employees, different questions, be it based on their job description, their seniority level, etc.
Note: This section only allows you to enable or disable a template. You cannot select a template from this page. Template selection can be done through ‘Team Dashboard’ or ‘Org Dashboard’ after the cycle creation.
You can add a description of what the template is about.
You can now begin adding section name and add questions to each section. You can also add a description to further give context to the question.
You can now rearrange the questions and sections inside a template. Earlier you had to edit the questions or delete a few to change the position of questions. Now you simply have to drag the questions or sections to reposition them.
However, questions under a section can only be repositioned within the section and cannot be taken out to place it under a different section.
To preview your template, click on the Preview icon, which is located on the right-hand side of the page.
Competencies in Job Titles
It is now possible to add competencies to Job Titles. To add a competency to a job title, go to Job Titles in Settings.
When you click on a Job Title, at the bottom, you will see ‘+Add Competencies’. Click on that to add competencies from an available list of competencies.
It is even possible to add targets to competencies. Targets are the recommended rating users should receive in a 360 degree feedback review. Currently, targets can only be set for competencies which have been added to job titles.
For other competencies, the target is the highest number on a rating scale. For example, if a rating scale runs from 1 to 5, 5 would be the target for competencies.
Once competencies have been added to job titles, it is possible to auto-populate them in templates.
Templates are automatically saved, so once you are done creating a template, you can click on the icon next to Edit Template and go back to the Templates page. There you will see a list of all the templates created. There are 5 actions that can be taken from this page, on your own templates and 3 actions on templates created by other users.
For templates created by you:
- Preview
- Assign
- Edit
- Copy
- Delete
For templates created by other users:
- Preview
- Assign
- Copy
Preview
This action allows you to preview how a template looks.
Assign
This is one of the two ways to assign templates to users. Select a template you want to assign and click Assign. Select the cycle from the available list of cycles. You will be redirected to the Assign Template page.
On this page, there are two sections, Employees and Selected Employees. In the Employees section, select the employees you want to add and click Add.
To remove employees you’ve selected by accident, go to the Selected Employees section, select the employees you want to remove and click on Remove.
Once you are done, click Assign.
Edit
By clicking on the Edit icon, you can edit a template.
Copy
To create a copy of a template, click on the Copy icon.
Delete
To delete a template that belongs to you, click on the delete icon. Once you create a new template, you can now use it for a multirater feedback cycle.
Advanced(Complex Multirater Cycle)
This is where you should stop reading if you are not interested in knowing about complex, customized multirater cycles in our 360 degree feedback software. We don’t generally recommend complicated multirater cycles. However, if you want to know more, then read on.
A complex multirater cycle is a mix of the basic and standard multirater cycles. The steps you follow for both these cycles apply. A complex multirater cycle basically involves adding a number of additional settings.
At the bottom of the cycle creation page is the Advanced Settings option. Click on that and a slew of additional settings will now be visible to you.
We are adding a new enhancement called Peer relations to the Multirater feature.
HR managers are not always aware of a reviewer’s relationship with the reviewee. Having this information in the feedback form is a valuable addition to the Multirater process because it will help HR administrators gauge in what context that feedback is being given.
This feature can be enabled from the Advanced Settings section in a Multirater cycle.
Once you enable this option, you will be able to the manage the list of auto populated relationships. You can edit the existing ones and can create new ones too. However, you will not be able to delete the relations once you add them, but you can disable those which you don’t find relevant.
This feature is cycle specific, so reviewers will see a section asking for their relationship with the reviewee on the review form only for those cycles. This information will also be used in various places, such as feedback exports, future multirater analytics, etc.
Nominations
This section allows you to decide:
- Maximum number of nominations
- Ability to decline feedback requests
- Ability to nominate yourself (Self-Nomination)
- Manager or HR’s ability to modify reviewer nominations
The default value for max number of nominations is 6. You can either increase or decrease it. All the other nominations are enabled by default. The maximum number of nominations that are allowed in the application are 200.
Self nominations are useful because they allow employees a say in the reviewing process. While administrators and managers might know who exactly to add as a reviewer, they cannot be aware of all the users who are equipped to review a single user.
The ability to self-nominate one’s self as a reviewer fixes that problem. This feature is cycle specific and can be enabled from Advanced Settings.
Once this feature is enabled, users will be prompted to nominate themselves from the Multirater My Dashboard.
Configure Ratings and Comments
This feature in Engagedly allows you to comment on and rate the multirater feedback given by reviewers. You can enable or disable ratings and comments for the reviewer, reviewee, manager, and HR through this section. (It is not enabled by default.)
If you enable ratings, the ‘Configure Rating Scale’ section opens up. Here you can add the rating scale details like scale name and scale number. By default, a five-point rating scale is configured for a cycle. You can also enable ‘Verbal Ratings’ if you like and customize the rating scale accordingly.
You can add or remove the number of scales. The scale that you configure and save will be used for the current cycle.
Notifications
Engagedly gives you the ability to notify different users for different actions. You can enable or disable notifications through the ‘Notifications’ section for the following actions:
- When a nominee declines a feedback request (to the initiator)
- When a manager changes reviewers (to the reviewee)
- When the HR changes reviewers (to the reviewee)
Reports
Users can view detailed analytics for 360 degree feedback. Reports show analytics to users based on the permissions they have. For example, an employee will only see analytics based on their 360 degree feedback.
On the other hand, a manager can view 360 degree feedback analytics for not only themselves, but also for their direct reports.
An administrator will have greater freedom and can not only view 360 degree feedback analytics for themselves but also by managers, job titles, locations, etc.
Reports For Employees
You can view your reports by selecting the cycle and ‘my report’ from the drop down. The report is by default shown in a pictorial form with five graphs.
- Highest Rated Areas – The competencies/areas that have received the highest rating.
- Lowest Rated Areas – The competencies/areas that have received the lowest ratings.
- Potential Blindspots – The competencies/areas where you have rated yourself higher than the others and the difference between your rating and the overall average rating given by your peers and others.
- Ratings – This graph is a breakdown of all the ratings given for the current cycle, separated by rater groups and competency areas.
- Gap – The gaps/differences between your self-rating and the average ratings of others, all separated by competency. If there’s a positive difference, it means that you have rated yourself higher than what the others have rated you.
In the tabular view, you can view the analytics for the selected cycle in the numerical form. Next to the competencies, Peer Ratings, Others Ratings, Self Ratings, Average Rating ( Peer + Others), Target Ratings are shown.
Reports For Managers
Go to ‘Reports’ in the multi-rater module.
Select the Cycle that you want to see analytics for and select My Report or My Team from the dropdown menu next to it. Once selected, click on Apply Filter.
Reports For Administrators
After going to ‘Reports’ in the multi-rater module, select the Cycle that you want to see analytics for. Now, select whose reports you want to view.
Administrators can not only view reports based on the 360 degree feedback they’ve received, but they can also view it for their Team, the entire Organization, or even filter according to Manager, Department, Job Title, Location etc.
Also, when an administrator decides to view reports based on Location, another menu appears. From here, administrators can decide which Location’s analytics they want to view.
You can sort the list either based on the users or the competencies. Column visibility on this page allows you to hide any columns from the page. This does not make any changes to the data.
Adding Job Competencies to Templates
If competencies have been added to job titles, it is also possible to add them to 360 degree feedback templates.
Once you have created a template, create a separate Job Competency section. Once you have created a section, you will see an option called ‘Auto-assign questions based on the job titles’.
When you enable this option, all competencies that have been added to the job title will be automatically added to the template.
Global Competencies
Global competencies are the list of all available competencies in an organization. You can add these to your organization library by selecting ‘Add To Org Library’ beside the competency name.
You can also use these competencies for 360 degree feedback.
On the Organization Dashboard homepage, you can perform various actions like, changing the review cycle, adding reviewees, adding nominations, etc.
LIST VIEW/HIERARCHY VIEW
While the default view in the Org Dashboard is to show all users in a list, one which is in alphabetical order, the view can also be changed to reflect the hierarchy view, where administrators can see the feedback nominations of managers and their direct reports.
To change the review cycle, select the cycle you want to from the dropdown menu on the left hand top corner.
ADD REVIEWEES
You can either add all the employees as reviewees or you can select specific employees.
Go to Add Reviewees on the top right-hand corner and select All Employees to add all employees.
To select specific employees, click on Select Reviewees. You will be redirected to the Manage Reviewee page. From here, you can select the employees that you want to add as reviewees. Then click Add.
| FAQ: How can I remove a reviewee?
Answer: If you’ve accidentally selected an employee as a reviewee, you can remove them by clicking on the Remove button before you save the list. However, if you want to remove a reviewee after saving the list, only a site administrator will be able to do so. |
Note: Already selected reviewees are highlighted in yellow.
Reviewee and Reviewer Import from Excel
A new import feature has been added to the Multirater module. In this import feature, administrators can add reviewers and reviewees to a Multirater cycle by simply importing a single Excel file.
This feature is especially handy when the number of users in an organization runs into thousands.
To import users, first download the excel format. In the sheet downloaded, there will be two sheets. The first one is for internal reviewers, the second one is for external reviewers.
To add internal reviewers, you just need to provide the email ids of the users (colleagues).
To add external reviewers, you need to provide the names & email ids of people you want to add.
ADD NOMINATIONS
To Add Nominations, go to the Organization Dashboard page. Next to each employee’s name on the list, you will find the Peer Rating section. When you hover on the cycles there, you will see a message that says Click to add nomination.
To nominate reviewers for a user, click on the circles beside the username, under the Peer Rating section. When you click on the Nomination button, you will see the Nomination page. A list of users who can be nominated will be visible on the left side. Click on a user’s name and the user will be added to the nomination list. Any users who are added to the list will be found at the bottom. To remove a user from the nominated list, simply click on the ‘Remove’ icon which is denoted by a trash can.
| FAQ: How do I remove a nominee for a user?Answer: If you accidentally add a nominee, you can always remove them by double-clicking on the nominee image before saving the nomination. If you want to remove nominees after saving the nomination, hover over the nominee image beside the username and click Remove. |
How To Nominate External Reviewers
Based on cycle settings, administrators/managers/employees can nominate external reviewers to give 360 degree feedback to the users in your organization.
Go to ‘Org Dashboard’ or ‘Team Dashboard’ and choose to add nominations for 360 degree feedback for a user. Now click on ‘+Add External Reviewers’ on the top right corner of the page.
Now fill in the form and add the review request message and the email address of the external reviewer. Click Submit and a review request will be sent through e-mail to the external reviewer.
You can enable or disable external reviews through ‘Cycle Settings’. Select a cycle and go to ‘Advanced Settings’. Here, check ‘Enable ability to solicit feedback from “external” reviewers’ under ‘External Feedback to enable external feedback.
In the Organization Dashboard, you can view the names of the reviewees and their reviewers. You can also choose to display names by alphabetical order, by clicking on the alphabets from the alphabet list. You can go back to the original view by clicking on Reset.
On this page, you can see the reviewee name, designation and their reporting manager if any. You can also change the status of their review. You can either Lock or Unlock a review, or Remove A Reviewee by hovering on the Status icon.
Note: If you want to change the review status for a number of employees at one go, when you select an action, you will also see a Select All check box. When you check this box, all users will be selected.
In the same way, you can see the status of Employee, Manager and HR Reviews. You can either Recall a review, or Notify an employee/manager for pending reviews by hovering over the review icons.
The Legend button explains the different status that are present in the Peer Rating section.
Assigning A Template Through Organization Dashboard
When you select a cycle where you want to use a feedback template, an extra column called Template is displayed on the Organization Dashboard. Click on Assign beside the reviewee name in the template column.
A list of available templates is displayed from which you can select the one you feel is the most appropriate, preview it if you would like to and select the template and click on Done.
To un-assign a template, click on the Un-assign button in the Template column. Check the reviewee names that you want to un-assign the template from and click on ‘Remove’.
Export Complete Cycle Results
It is now possible for administrators to export the complete results of a cycle to an excel file. This file will have the names of all the reviewees, names of their reviewers, their relationship information, ratings and comments for each question, etc.
Reviewer Load
Reviewer load allows you to see the reviewers who are a part of the cycle, how many feedback requests they have received and completed and also the number of requests that they have declined.
On the Reviewer Load tab, administrators can view each employee and the users they will be reviewing.
When you click on the “+” symbol, you can view the number of reviewees’ to be reviewed in a list format in a pop-up box.
Here, administrators can view the reviewee name, whom they have been nominated by and the status of the review.
There are also three actions that can be performed from here. Administrators can view the reviewer’s response, lock a review, or even remove a nomination.
Managers can also remove reviewers from here, though they can also do this for their direct reports. They can also view the responses for their direct reports by clicking on the number of reviewers for each user, if that option has been enabled in the settings.
Pending Actions
In this section, users can see all the actions that they need to carry out with respect to 360 degree feedback. This includes submitting 360 degree feedback, declining feedback requests, nominating users to give feedback etc.
When you click on ‘Feedback I need to give’ you can find all the requests you receive for feedback. If you do not want to give the feedback you can simply click on ‘Decline Request’ beside the cycle name.
To review, you can click on the name of the cycle from the list of requests and fill in the review template. After that you can either save it for modifications in future by clicking ‘Save’ and share it later or share it right away by clicking on ‘Share’.
When you fill in the review template and save it without sharing, the status of the review request changes to ‘In Progress’. Once you complete reviewing, the status of that request changes to ‘Completed’.
You can view the feedback you gave just by clicking on the cycle name from the list. Your review cannot be modified unless the administrator unlocks your review from the ‘Org Dashboard’.
Feedback about me
In this section, you will see the list of multirater feedback received by you. Click on View next to the feedback to view the feedback form. If the HR has not enabled anonymity, you can see the feedback you have received.
You can also download your reviews by clicking on the Export As PDF button. A PDF version of the review will then be downloaded to your system.
If the HR has enabled feedback anonymity and also included overall self-ratings, you will be able to give yourself feedback, but you will not be able to see the feedback other users have given.
In some cases, the HR can also change the visibility settings once a cycle is completed, so you will then be able to see all the feedback you have received.
These three sections are graphical representations of the ratings you have received in past 360 degree feedback cycles.
Highest Rated Areas
This section shows the competencies that have received the highest ratings in the all the cycles that have been run so far.
Lowest Rated Areas
This sections shows the competencies that have received the lowest ratings in all the cycles that have been run so far.
Potential Blindspots
This section shows competencies where you, the user have rated yourself higher than your peers. The graph shows the difference in the ratings.
