360 DEGREE FEEDBACK: MILES TO GO BEFORE WE SLEEP
By Nandini Chawla**
Summary: This article is based on experiences of the author in the field of 360 Degree feedback. It combines the findings from a post 360 degree follow up survey ascertaining ‘How deep rooted is the impact of a 360 degree feedback’. While interested individuals appear to be getting the maximum benefits with their personal efforts and determination, it is also encouraging to see how organizations today are also looking at ways and means to support the long lasting impact of this tool. This article ends with some easy and effective ways to support individuals and organisations development through a 360 Degree feedback.
__________________________________________________ ___________________________________
“The finest thing that has happened in Leadership Development”, “A powerful tool”, “A new concept”, “The best way to know yourself”, “A process that every manager and leader must go through” these are some of the words that have been used to describe the power of 360 Degree feedback by those who have experienced it.
While this process is finding widespread acceptance amongst individuals and organizations alike, one cannot but wonder “What next?”. Does the journey on the path of self-awareness through 360 degree feedback end once the feedback has been given? Or does it commence post the feedback? These questions intrigue both the participants as well as the organisations.
360 Degree Feedback is also called ‘Multi-Rater Feedback System’ or ‘Multi-source feedback’ or ‘Full Circle Feedback’ or ‘Multi-Rater Assessment and Feedback System (MAFS). As these names suggest, in this system, the candidate is assessed periodically (once in a two years/one year and some times even every six months) by a number of assessors including his boss, direct reports (subordinates), colleagues, internal customers, external customers and vendors. The candidates’ own feedback is also taken and used to draw comparisons between his/her ratings and the ratings given to him/her by the other assessors. The candidate can take feedback from anywhere between 7-20 assessors. The assessment is made on a questionnaire specially designed to measure behaviors and other parameters considered critical for performance.
Having anchored and facilitated the 360 degree process (including reports, feedback workshop and coaching) for over three thousand middle and senior level manager and leaders, it was only appropriate that one took a pause to revisit some of the critical aspects like the impact and effectiveness of this intense process of self discovery and development. A short survey (*Hawelia 2003) was conducted amongst a group of over 100 senior & middle level managers who had been through the process. Detailed questionnaires were followed-up by select one-on-one in-depth interviews.
(*The author wishes to acknowledge the survey and data collection done by Sital Hawelia of SCMHRD during her summer project at TVRLS)
Besides assessing impact on the individual, the study also enquired how to sustain the impact and enhance the effectiveness e.g.
How does one ensure that that impact of the feedback remains even after days and months have passed from the feedback workshop?
What systems are in place to ensure that there is a long lasting impact of the feedback on the participant?
What are some of the enabling factors that support post 360 degree feedback impact?
At an organisation level: what are some of the supporting and hindering factors that impact a 360 degree feedback process post its implementation?
How frequently should one repeat a detailed 360 Degree feedback?
Further, to appreciate the context in which the impact was being assessed we also enquired on the purpose for which organizations were using 360 degree feedback.
Study Findings:
Most organizations appear to be using this process for:
Leadership Development (Implementing their Leadership models or reinforcing it)
Individual growth and development
Competency building.
Rarely or never for: Performance appraisals, Rewards and recognition, Collecting data on employees, Succession planning and career development for:
It may also be noted that there were a few organizations who were using it as an organizational diagnosis tool, to identify training and developmental needs and to coach Assessees
At an individual level, the key responses indicated the following:
Experiences shared by all were a reinforcement that efforts are certainly being made by individuals and organizations alike to ensure that both get the best out of the 360 degree implementation.
It was encouraging to know that 46 % of the participants in the survey visited their 360 Degree Feedback once every 3-6 months and another 45% of the respondents visited it once in 6 months. A mere 9% visited their feedback just once in a year.
It was a positive sign that almost 97% of the participants were of the opinion that there was a positive impact of the 360 Degree Feedback in their processional life. A mere 3% of the sample felt that there was no real impact as a result of 360 in their professional like. Not one of the participants was of the opinion that there was a negative impact in their professional life and that it had deteriorated the same.
The opinion on its impact on one’s personal life was however mixed with exactly 50% of the respondents feeling that there was a positive impact and an improved personal life and an equal number feeling that there was no impact or no visible change in their personal life.
Many participants felt that maximum change had been achieved in the areas of more frequent communication, delegation and their receptivity to feedback. The other areas mentioned were greater role clarity, ability to appreciate the strengths of others, greater tolerance towards others weaknesses, being a better listener, greater patience and being calm and composed
The areas the respondents felt that they wanted to change and were not able to were: “Getting too emotional at work” and their “Decision making capability”.
As shared by the respondents, there were no major hurdles faced while implementing their own 360 Degree Feedback action plan. However, the fact that overnight changes were expected out of those who have undergone 360 DF seemed to create undue pressure to bring about visible changes in oneself. This proved to be a slight de-motivator.
When asked about how it could be more effective, many were of the opinion that the first step in making the post 360 degree feedback was to have longer counseling sessions. The first preference was to have a face to face counseling. If this was not possible, the second option was to have it through a teleconference, a telecon. The last option was to have it over the email.
At the organizational level: it was interesting to note that when an entire team in an organisation had taken part in a 360 degree feedback process, its impact was felt in the functioning of the division/department itself. The marked changes were in a variety of areas.
a. In one of the organisation, there was a new found respect to criticizing each other. The fact that the feedback was directed to the job and not the individual was highlighted. In the same organisation, it was felt that the team’s ability to cope with stress has also increased. People realized that it is OK to agree to disagree. Consequently, there were also improved relations and better levels of empathy.
b. In another organisation, there was a lot more communication amongst peers and between superiors and their subordinates. The openness in the interactions at the work place had a positive impact on the culture and had finally resulted in a visible improvement in team effectiveness. Further, when job rotations were initiated arising out of the business need, there were very smooth transitions between role holders post 360 degree feedback and an increase in empathy towards ‘individuals and their roles’ in the team.
c. In yet another team, there was a positive change in qualities like transparency, ownership and commitment. This resulted in greater comfort levels amongst team members seen in discussing their own strengths, weaknesses openly as well as free flowing suggestions and ways of improvement. There was a new found respect towards seeking help from others. People were also more receptive to negative feedback. There was also an enhanced ability of solving interdepartmental problems on their own without third party interventions.
d. In another case, only marginal improvements were felt at the organizational level. However, one must mention that the team did acknowledge the fact that any change would take time but were confident of positive results in the future. There were still working on the feedback and felt that it was just a question of time before the impact was visible to others.
It is clear that 360 degree feedback has not only great impact on individuals, team and organisations, but the extent of the impact differs from individual to individual as well as organization to organisation.
Who benefits the most?
Impact at an individual level appears to be more when the individual was very open, keen and motivated for self awareness and growth. The impact of the feedback was low for participants, who did not take charge of their own development. They might appear to hold a belief that the data was not owned by them (but by someone else!). This dependence orientation on the organisation or on the consulting firm could have resulted in restricted impact of the 360 degree feedback.
In the case of organizations, greater impact was felt when the organization wide data was used and followed up by some focused interventions or programs for developing competencies that were important and had come out as an areas of focus. For example in one company, the vision and articulation of vision was an area of focus based on the 360 degree feedback. This organisation took immediate steps to conduct a focused visioning exercise and true enough, their scores on this parameter had increased during the re assessment. It is indeed sad that many companies leave it just to the individual and do not really make use of the organisation level data to back it with training programs.
One could conclude therefore that the ROI on the feedback was highly individualized and depended largely on the motivation of the individual and his or her interest for self growth and development. At an organisational level, the ROI was limited where the linkages between 360 degree feedback and other developmental initiatives like PMS and HR practice was very weak or when the organisation treated it as an activity and not an initiative.
There was a perception among the participants that the impact of a 360 Degree Feedback was high during the week that the feedback was got. As they went back to the workplace, work pressures and focus on firefighting forced 360 and its impact to move to the background. There appeared to be absence of sufficient organizational support to ensure that participants periodically visited their action plans to review the progress, course correct if required and ascertain the impact of the changes already made. This was a major challenge faced by all.
Hence while the impact potential of 360 DF is beyond doubt, the more pertinent question we need to ask is ‘What more is needed to be done to make the impact of 360 degree feedback more long lasting?”
What are the resources or inputs required to make 360 degree feedback more impactful and long lasting? And finally:
Where does one go from here?
The findings clearly indicate that while 360 has started picking up well in organizations in India, a lot more work can be done to support a 360 degree feedback even after it is implemented. Along with efforts by the individual, organizations, key role holders and HR professionals can do a lot more to create and sustain an atmosphere of self awareness, learning and development. If one were to really look at what more needs to be done, the following seem to emerge as success factors in driving big change:
1. The right attitude to 360 degree feedback
The first step in ensuring that a 360 degree feedback has a sustained and long lasting impact is to treat the process as an ongoing intervention and not as a one time activity (the process should not be completed in a span of 1 or 2 months but should be well planned and over a span of a year or at least 6 months when done for the first time). It should be integrated with the other HRD initiatives. The right approach to a 360 should be to look at it as a powerful Individual and Organisational Developmental tool. A 360 implementation will not only indicate organization wise training needs, but it could be one of the best ways to build in house coaching skills. Post implementation, the organization should step in to support any further training requirements. 360 Degree feedback should be used as a tool to help in intellectual capital building, Leadership sensitivity and development and ensuring higher energy levels in the employees leading to better performance. 360 should be treated more as conversation points. It works better if it is started at the top. It is also very useful for new comers and middle mangers alike. It could be extended to supervisory categories eventually.
All in all, it works best if it is treated as a tool for self-development-nothing more and nothing less. It should preferably not be linked to rewards or the pay scale. This will only kill the spirit of development and will not make learning and development fun.
2. Being well prepared for the initiative
It has been found that no amount of communication seems to be enough for the process. It helps if orientation sessions are conducted for all the participants, assessors and external customers as well. Before giving the feedback, participants should be a part of a workshop to prepare them to receive feedback in the right spirit and build an enthusiasm in them to look at it in the right and constructive way.
3. Frequency of implementation
Multiple views were received on how often the process should be repeated. While many respondents felt that that the impact was the most when it was done for the first time, many also opined that subsequent repeat 360 Degree feedback was not as impactful.
The author strongly believes that an organisation implementing a 360 degree needs to have a clear direction as well as action plan to ensure that 360 is not confined to a one-time activity. The organization will get more benefit, if the process is repeated at least once a year; as an effort to institutuionalise this developmental intervention.
The first time a 360 degree feedback process is introduced in an organization, it should be used purely as a developmental focused initiative. One could use a comprehensive and detailed tool and only organisation wide data could be shared.
The next round could be one year later, using a shorter and sharpened tool. Select data could be shared with seniors and HR and it could be linked formally to the individual developmental plans.
The third round could be used to institutionalize the data and for career planning and coaching. Changes in the tool should be made as and when the need arises to make it more focused and to capture the need of the hour.
360 degree feedback done periodically and systematically will serve as a reminder of all that has been achieved and of all that is yet to be achieved.
3. Systemic and Process support
Dedicating three days for a feedback workshop is an effective way to share feedback with the participants. The focus would be on one-to-one feedback sessions and counseling/coaching. Not having a counseling session is like getting an executive health checkup, getting the medical report and having no one to interpret it. Coaching is most effective when provided a few days after the feedback as this gives the individual some time to register what has been said.
Action plans should deal with practical applications and one should have others experiences to learn form.
4. Post workshop support: Making 360 degree feedback a part of one’s life
There is no substitute to persistent follow up to get the best out of the 360 degree feedback process.
Facilitators of the workshop or internal coaches should ensure that participants list down their insights and focused time bound Development plans. These must be visited time to time to ensure that one does not loose sight of the action required. It is worthwhile to mention that many of the participants were of the opinion that to sustain post 360 degree feedback implementation, it was necessary to develop greater optimism. This would help greater impact and perseverance.
A 360 degree feedback could be supported by periodic and planned reviews. It can go a long way in making it happen. The frequency and the duration could be decided by the candidate. The organization, HR, CEO or a Task force could assist in post 360 follow up.
There is always a sharable part of the 360 degree feedback. Participants should be encouraged and helped to initiate a dialogue with junior’s seniors and external customers. This works well not only as a conversation point but it signifies a public statement of intent to work on select areas. This goes a long way in ensuring the support of others to make the desired changes.
Simple reminders of the feedback in the form of newsletter, good motivational and inspirational quotes books on leadership, new concepts, articles, bulletins etc. could also facilitate being in touch with the desired change being worked upon.
To conclude, anchors of 360 degree feedback need to keep evaluating the ROI from this intervention for individuals, teams and the organization. While the impact of a 360 degree feedback may take time to get reflected in the balance sheet, it is just a question of ‘When” and not “If”.
While 360 Degree feedback is a milestone in the journey of self-awareness and personal growth, we certainly have miles to go before we sleep……..
References:
1. Rao TV, Raju Rao (Performance Management and 360 degree feedback, Volume 1)
2. Rao TV, Gopal Mahapatra, Raju and Nandini Chawla (Performance Management and 360 degree feedback, Volume 2)
3. Chawla Nandini and Gopal Mahapatra (Human Capital)
4. Chawla Nandini and Shishir Mishra (NHRD Newsletter)
** Nandini Chawla, an Electrical Engineer and a Post Graduate in Business Administration from Narseee Munjee has a good mix of industrial experience in sales and marketing with leading companies like Titan and Indus League.
From India, Nizamabad
14By Nandini Chawla**
Summary: This article is based on experiences of the author in the field of 360 Degree feedback. It combines the findings from a post 360 degree follow up survey ascertaining ‘How deep rooted is the impact of a 360 degree feedback’. While interested individuals appear to be getting the maximum benefits with their personal efforts and determination, it is also encouraging to see how organizations today are also looking at ways and means to support the long lasting impact of this tool. This article ends with some easy and effective ways to support individuals and organisations development through a 360 Degree feedback.
__________________________________________________ ___________________________________
“The finest thing that has happened in Leadership Development”, “A powerful tool”, “A new concept”, “The best way to know yourself”, “A process that every manager and leader must go through” these are some of the words that have been used to describe the power of 360 Degree feedback by those who have experienced it.
While this process is finding widespread acceptance amongst individuals and organizations alike, one cannot but wonder “What next?”. Does the journey on the path of self-awareness through 360 degree feedback end once the feedback has been given? Or does it commence post the feedback? These questions intrigue both the participants as well as the organisations.
360 Degree Feedback is also called ‘Multi-Rater Feedback System’ or ‘Multi-source feedback’ or ‘Full Circle Feedback’ or ‘Multi-Rater Assessment and Feedback System (MAFS). As these names suggest, in this system, the candidate is assessed periodically (once in a two years/one year and some times even every six months) by a number of assessors including his boss, direct reports (subordinates), colleagues, internal customers, external customers and vendors. The candidates’ own feedback is also taken and used to draw comparisons between his/her ratings and the ratings given to him/her by the other assessors. The candidate can take feedback from anywhere between 7-20 assessors. The assessment is made on a questionnaire specially designed to measure behaviors and other parameters considered critical for performance.
Having anchored and facilitated the 360 degree process (including reports, feedback workshop and coaching) for over three thousand middle and senior level manager and leaders, it was only appropriate that one took a pause to revisit some of the critical aspects like the impact and effectiveness of this intense process of self discovery and development. A short survey (*Hawelia 2003) was conducted amongst a group of over 100 senior & middle level managers who had been through the process. Detailed questionnaires were followed-up by select one-on-one in-depth interviews.
(*The author wishes to acknowledge the survey and data collection done by Sital Hawelia of SCMHRD during her summer project at TVRLS)
Besides assessing impact on the individual, the study also enquired how to sustain the impact and enhance the effectiveness e.g.
How does one ensure that that impact of the feedback remains even after days and months have passed from the feedback workshop?
What systems are in place to ensure that there is a long lasting impact of the feedback on the participant?
What are some of the enabling factors that support post 360 degree feedback impact?
At an organisation level: what are some of the supporting and hindering factors that impact a 360 degree feedback process post its implementation?
How frequently should one repeat a detailed 360 Degree feedback?
Further, to appreciate the context in which the impact was being assessed we also enquired on the purpose for which organizations were using 360 degree feedback.
Study Findings:
Most organizations appear to be using this process for:
Leadership Development (Implementing their Leadership models or reinforcing it)
Individual growth and development
Competency building.
Rarely or never for: Performance appraisals, Rewards and recognition, Collecting data on employees, Succession planning and career development for:
It may also be noted that there were a few organizations who were using it as an organizational diagnosis tool, to identify training and developmental needs and to coach Assessees
At an individual level, the key responses indicated the following:
Experiences shared by all were a reinforcement that efforts are certainly being made by individuals and organizations alike to ensure that both get the best out of the 360 degree implementation.
It was encouraging to know that 46 % of the participants in the survey visited their 360 Degree Feedback once every 3-6 months and another 45% of the respondents visited it once in 6 months. A mere 9% visited their feedback just once in a year.
It was a positive sign that almost 97% of the participants were of the opinion that there was a positive impact of the 360 Degree Feedback in their processional life. A mere 3% of the sample felt that there was no real impact as a result of 360 in their professional like. Not one of the participants was of the opinion that there was a negative impact in their professional life and that it had deteriorated the same.
The opinion on its impact on one’s personal life was however mixed with exactly 50% of the respondents feeling that there was a positive impact and an improved personal life and an equal number feeling that there was no impact or no visible change in their personal life.
Many participants felt that maximum change had been achieved in the areas of more frequent communication, delegation and their receptivity to feedback. The other areas mentioned were greater role clarity, ability to appreciate the strengths of others, greater tolerance towards others weaknesses, being a better listener, greater patience and being calm and composed
The areas the respondents felt that they wanted to change and were not able to were: “Getting too emotional at work” and their “Decision making capability”.
As shared by the respondents, there were no major hurdles faced while implementing their own 360 Degree Feedback action plan. However, the fact that overnight changes were expected out of those who have undergone 360 DF seemed to create undue pressure to bring about visible changes in oneself. This proved to be a slight de-motivator.
When asked about how it could be more effective, many were of the opinion that the first step in making the post 360 degree feedback was to have longer counseling sessions. The first preference was to have a face to face counseling. If this was not possible, the second option was to have it through a teleconference, a telecon. The last option was to have it over the email.
At the organizational level: it was interesting to note that when an entire team in an organisation had taken part in a 360 degree feedback process, its impact was felt in the functioning of the division/department itself. The marked changes were in a variety of areas.
a. In one of the organisation, there was a new found respect to criticizing each other. The fact that the feedback was directed to the job and not the individual was highlighted. In the same organisation, it was felt that the team’s ability to cope with stress has also increased. People realized that it is OK to agree to disagree. Consequently, there were also improved relations and better levels of empathy.
b. In another organisation, there was a lot more communication amongst peers and between superiors and their subordinates. The openness in the interactions at the work place had a positive impact on the culture and had finally resulted in a visible improvement in team effectiveness. Further, when job rotations were initiated arising out of the business need, there were very smooth transitions between role holders post 360 degree feedback and an increase in empathy towards ‘individuals and their roles’ in the team.
c. In yet another team, there was a positive change in qualities like transparency, ownership and commitment. This resulted in greater comfort levels amongst team members seen in discussing their own strengths, weaknesses openly as well as free flowing suggestions and ways of improvement. There was a new found respect towards seeking help from others. People were also more receptive to negative feedback. There was also an enhanced ability of solving interdepartmental problems on their own without third party interventions.
d. In another case, only marginal improvements were felt at the organizational level. However, one must mention that the team did acknowledge the fact that any change would take time but were confident of positive results in the future. There were still working on the feedback and felt that it was just a question of time before the impact was visible to others.
It is clear that 360 degree feedback has not only great impact on individuals, team and organisations, but the extent of the impact differs from individual to individual as well as organization to organisation.
Who benefits the most?
Impact at an individual level appears to be more when the individual was very open, keen and motivated for self awareness and growth. The impact of the feedback was low for participants, who did not take charge of their own development. They might appear to hold a belief that the data was not owned by them (but by someone else!). This dependence orientation on the organisation or on the consulting firm could have resulted in restricted impact of the 360 degree feedback.
In the case of organizations, greater impact was felt when the organization wide data was used and followed up by some focused interventions or programs for developing competencies that were important and had come out as an areas of focus. For example in one company, the vision and articulation of vision was an area of focus based on the 360 degree feedback. This organisation took immediate steps to conduct a focused visioning exercise and true enough, their scores on this parameter had increased during the re assessment. It is indeed sad that many companies leave it just to the individual and do not really make use of the organisation level data to back it with training programs.
One could conclude therefore that the ROI on the feedback was highly individualized and depended largely on the motivation of the individual and his or her interest for self growth and development. At an organisational level, the ROI was limited where the linkages between 360 degree feedback and other developmental initiatives like PMS and HR practice was very weak or when the organisation treated it as an activity and not an initiative.
There was a perception among the participants that the impact of a 360 Degree Feedback was high during the week that the feedback was got. As they went back to the workplace, work pressures and focus on firefighting forced 360 and its impact to move to the background. There appeared to be absence of sufficient organizational support to ensure that participants periodically visited their action plans to review the progress, course correct if required and ascertain the impact of the changes already made. This was a major challenge faced by all.
Hence while the impact potential of 360 DF is beyond doubt, the more pertinent question we need to ask is ‘What more is needed to be done to make the impact of 360 degree feedback more long lasting?”
What are the resources or inputs required to make 360 degree feedback more impactful and long lasting? And finally:
Where does one go from here?
The findings clearly indicate that while 360 has started picking up well in organizations in India, a lot more work can be done to support a 360 degree feedback even after it is implemented. Along with efforts by the individual, organizations, key role holders and HR professionals can do a lot more to create and sustain an atmosphere of self awareness, learning and development. If one were to really look at what more needs to be done, the following seem to emerge as success factors in driving big change:
1. The right attitude to 360 degree feedback
The first step in ensuring that a 360 degree feedback has a sustained and long lasting impact is to treat the process as an ongoing intervention and not as a one time activity (the process should not be completed in a span of 1 or 2 months but should be well planned and over a span of a year or at least 6 months when done for the first time). It should be integrated with the other HRD initiatives. The right approach to a 360 should be to look at it as a powerful Individual and Organisational Developmental tool. A 360 implementation will not only indicate organization wise training needs, but it could be one of the best ways to build in house coaching skills. Post implementation, the organization should step in to support any further training requirements. 360 Degree feedback should be used as a tool to help in intellectual capital building, Leadership sensitivity and development and ensuring higher energy levels in the employees leading to better performance. 360 should be treated more as conversation points. It works better if it is started at the top. It is also very useful for new comers and middle mangers alike. It could be extended to supervisory categories eventually.
All in all, it works best if it is treated as a tool for self-development-nothing more and nothing less. It should preferably not be linked to rewards or the pay scale. This will only kill the spirit of development and will not make learning and development fun.
2. Being well prepared for the initiative
It has been found that no amount of communication seems to be enough for the process. It helps if orientation sessions are conducted for all the participants, assessors and external customers as well. Before giving the feedback, participants should be a part of a workshop to prepare them to receive feedback in the right spirit and build an enthusiasm in them to look at it in the right and constructive way.
3. Frequency of implementation
Multiple views were received on how often the process should be repeated. While many respondents felt that that the impact was the most when it was done for the first time, many also opined that subsequent repeat 360 Degree feedback was not as impactful.
The author strongly believes that an organisation implementing a 360 degree needs to have a clear direction as well as action plan to ensure that 360 is not confined to a one-time activity. The organization will get more benefit, if the process is repeated at least once a year; as an effort to institutuionalise this developmental intervention.
The first time a 360 degree feedback process is introduced in an organization, it should be used purely as a developmental focused initiative. One could use a comprehensive and detailed tool and only organisation wide data could be shared.
The next round could be one year later, using a shorter and sharpened tool. Select data could be shared with seniors and HR and it could be linked formally to the individual developmental plans.
The third round could be used to institutionalize the data and for career planning and coaching. Changes in the tool should be made as and when the need arises to make it more focused and to capture the need of the hour.
360 degree feedback done periodically and systematically will serve as a reminder of all that has been achieved and of all that is yet to be achieved.
3. Systemic and Process support
Dedicating three days for a feedback workshop is an effective way to share feedback with the participants. The focus would be on one-to-one feedback sessions and counseling/coaching. Not having a counseling session is like getting an executive health checkup, getting the medical report and having no one to interpret it. Coaching is most effective when provided a few days after the feedback as this gives the individual some time to register what has been said.
Action plans should deal with practical applications and one should have others experiences to learn form.
4. Post workshop support: Making 360 degree feedback a part of one’s life
There is no substitute to persistent follow up to get the best out of the 360 degree feedback process.
Facilitators of the workshop or internal coaches should ensure that participants list down their insights and focused time bound Development plans. These must be visited time to time to ensure that one does not loose sight of the action required. It is worthwhile to mention that many of the participants were of the opinion that to sustain post 360 degree feedback implementation, it was necessary to develop greater optimism. This would help greater impact and perseverance.
A 360 degree feedback could be supported by periodic and planned reviews. It can go a long way in making it happen. The frequency and the duration could be decided by the candidate. The organization, HR, CEO or a Task force could assist in post 360 follow up.
There is always a sharable part of the 360 degree feedback. Participants should be encouraged and helped to initiate a dialogue with junior’s seniors and external customers. This works well not only as a conversation point but it signifies a public statement of intent to work on select areas. This goes a long way in ensuring the support of others to make the desired changes.
Simple reminders of the feedback in the form of newsletter, good motivational and inspirational quotes books on leadership, new concepts, articles, bulletins etc. could also facilitate being in touch with the desired change being worked upon.
To conclude, anchors of 360 degree feedback need to keep evaluating the ROI from this intervention for individuals, teams and the organization. While the impact of a 360 degree feedback may take time to get reflected in the balance sheet, it is just a question of ‘When” and not “If”.
While 360 Degree feedback is a milestone in the journey of self-awareness and personal growth, we certainly have miles to go before we sleep……..
References:
1. Rao TV, Raju Rao (Performance Management and 360 degree feedback, Volume 1)
2. Rao TV, Gopal Mahapatra, Raju and Nandini Chawla (Performance Management and 360 degree feedback, Volume 2)
3. Chawla Nandini and Gopal Mahapatra (Human Capital)
4. Chawla Nandini and Shishir Mishra (NHRD Newsletter)
** Nandini Chawla, an Electrical Engineer and a Post Graduate in Business Administration from Narseee Munjee has a good mix of industrial experience in sales and marketing with leading companies like Titan and Indus League.
From India, Nizamabad
Dear Member,
Thanks a Lot for sharing such a nice writeup on 360 degree feed back.
I am agree with the view that mMost organizations appear to be using this process for:
Leadership Development (Implementing their Leadership models or reinforcing it) ,Individual growth and development,Competency building.
As you said I used 360 model for performance appraisal but the result we got were fixed and finally we decided to stop this using in Appraisals.
Thanks & Regards
Ashok kumar
From India, Gurgaon
Thanks a Lot for sharing such a nice writeup on 360 degree feed back.
I am agree with the view that mMost organizations appear to be using this process for:
Leadership Development (Implementing their Leadership models or reinforcing it) ,Individual growth and development,Competency building.
As you said I used 360 model for performance appraisal but the result we got were fixed and finally we decided to stop this using in Appraisals.
Thanks & Regards
Ashok kumar
From India, Gurgaon
Hi kkincitehr,
Thanks for sharing great article..
Can you share the methodlogy in terms of process or questionaires and more importantly the do & don'ts of the same?..
In normal circumstances these functions are outsourced to consultants and i strongly feel that these initaitives should be spearheaded by HR Professionals themselves in their organizations.
Look forward to more article like this in future..
Cheerio
Rajat
From India, Pune
Thanks for sharing great article..
Can you share the methodlogy in terms of process or questionaires and more importantly the do & don'ts of the same?..
In normal circumstances these functions are outsourced to consultants and i strongly feel that these initaitives should be spearheaded by HR Professionals themselves in their organizations.
Look forward to more article like this in future..
Cheerio
Rajat
From India, Pune
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360 degree feedback form template.doc
360 Degree Feedback System.ppt