How 360 Degree Feedback Works And How It Can Benefit Your Organisation

Everybody appreciates receiving positive or constructive feedback and when the procedure is done properly, it can be a great help to both the individual and the company. In spite of the proof that supports this, studies have indicated that the very lack of feedback is the key reason why individuals decide to leave an organisation, so it is very important that you guarantee that your company provides this feedback to its workforce. This is a wise move, because it will assist you in assessing where your employees need improvement in skills to help them to enhance their performance levels.
What is the reasoning behind establishing 360 degree feedback? This concept has resulted from a need to enhance both the rate and quality of feedback to individual workers. It has more relevance than the ordinary annual review, where you visit the manager’s office to be told what you are doing adequately and how you can improve.
Historically, it has been the manager’s role to provide feedback and, because of increasing workloads, the manager’s feedback has been limited at best. The purpose of 360 degree feedback is to widen the circle of feedback providers to include peer evaluation, direct reports and self evaluation. The end result of this process is that the individual has access to a comprehensive report that allows them to compare their own perceptions of their work to those of their close associates. Once they have this report, a performance coach will help them to make any necessary changes through a targeted improvement plan.
360 degree feedback has a number of benefits: the insight that employees gain regarding their behavioural weaknesses allows them to better manage their careers, improving upon interpersonal skills and attaining leadership skills and their employer gains the advantages of having a highly skilled and experienced group of employees and the associated increased output and quality of work.
What are the main elements of a successful 360 degree feedback procedure?
There are six of these.
1. Those at the top management level must have ownership of the process and be supportive of its implementation. Employees need to attain the skills necessary in order to present constructive feedback. Most importantly, managers have to be prepared to use the skills that they have attained to provide any relevant ongoing coaching.
2. All conducted surveys should connect with the business’s culture and the competencies that they are looking for, attending to the skills required to attain individual and company success.
3. All those involved in the rating operation are required to attend a 360 orientation. This is where they will learn that 360 is to be used only as a developmental tool and not for performance appraisal. Confidentiality as it relates to responses and the survey procedure is emphasized,reassuring both the “raters” and those being rated.
4. A questionnaire or survey is completed. Most of these surveys are completed online with special encryption software that enables data to be collected securely.
5. These surveys are collated into a report, including any comments made verbatim and presented to the individual. The report should be in an easy to read format. It is standard practice that senior management is given a group summary report where numeric ratings are tallied to indicate strengths and weaknesses on a group level. This information can then be used to decide upon training initiatives that match the requirements of the group.
6. Any necessary coaching is then given to individuals in order to achieve the required improvements. The best coach is one that is able to remain non-judgemental and who focuses on goal setting that is helpful and realistic. Managers can also adopt a supportive role in coaching; this will reinforce any skills achieved and guarantee accountability.
How can this help your organization? It all depends on the amount you are able to put into the process. The degree of change is directly related to the level of feedback given and to the level of support that is given. 360 degree feedback can be a powerful tool to engender the feedback required to make any necessary changes in your organisation.

By: Theo Benmanson

Theo Benmanson has been developing personnel for that last 15 year. He has written may articles on the topic. Click the links for additional articles on 360 degree feedback. theo@engauge.co.uk

Article Source: http://www.articlesdynamic.com/

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