360-degree feedback: getting the full performance view: when done well, 360-degree feedback processes can lead to positive change and enchanced effectiveness at the individual, team and organizational levels.

• Author: Cummings, Judith
• Position: HR MATTERS

Marty Johnson has been accounting department manager for three years at Xanadu Electronics. Every January he had had a performance review so it was a surprise when this month the human resources director told him that he would be having a different kind of review of his performance--something she called a "360-degree feedback." What is 360-degree feedback and why would Xanadu Electronics being doing it?

Companies around the country have found that 360-degree feedback can help their businesses. In Alaska, the chief operating officer of a major engineering group states, "The 360 reviews we gave our entire team provided each of us clear information on what others valued about what we brought to our company and what others hoped we would improve." The administrator of an Anchorage clinic explains, "Our managers gained tremendously from the objective information the reviews provided them."

MULTIPLE RATERS

360-degree feedback, also known as multi-rater feedback, is a development tool that many companies are using to enhance existing performance management review processes. 360-degree feedback is a system or process where employees receive confidential feedback, usually anonymous, from the people who work around them. The feedback often comes from the employee's manager, co-workers and direct reports. Feedback can be sought from any number of people, but most frequently it is sought from eight to 12 people who have a mix of work relationships with the person being rated. It can include internal and external customers along with fellow employees and managers.

CONFIDENTIAL RESPONSES

The raters are either interviewed by a neutral third party or fill out an anonymous online feedback form to answer questions covering a broad range of workplace competencies. The feedback process often includes questions that are measured on a rating scale and also asks raters to provide narrative comments. The person receiving feedback is also interviewed or fills out a self-rating survey that includes the same survey questions that the raters received.

The idea is for managers and leaders within organizations to use the 360-feedback process to get a better understanding of their strengths and weaknesses. The results are tabulated and reported to the feedback recipient in a format that helps the feedback recipient create a development plan. Individual responses are generally combined with responses from other people in the same rater category (e.g., peer, direct report)...