ESTABLISH THE PURPOSE

A specific business reason must exist before investing time and money in 360-degree feedback. Developing a clear purpose for 360-degree feedback will allow managers to understand the benefits it delivers for them and the organization.

For example, your organization is interested in growing the leadership skills of your youngest managers, since you would like to see some of them become the company leaders in the future. That’s a good reason.

Or, your organization has just finalized a merger/restructure and is looking to optimize your organizational hierarchies that would require those in key roles to manage complex and diverse work groups.

Or, are you simply wanting to enhance the personal, managerial, and leadership skills of those who directly impact organizational productivity and results?

The above are examples of developmental reasons – to help individuals be more aware of the areas that need improvement and to support them in working towards positive change.

However, 360-degree feedback is sometimes used for evaluation purposes – to appraise individuals and collect information for personnel decisions, such as compensation and rewards, promotion, career progression and so on.

Research and experience suggest that 360-degree feedback is best used for development, not evaluation. Using 360-degree feedback for employee appraisal or determining salary can sometimes lead to morale issues, for example, in an organization culture that is highly competitive, or where there is a lot of fear of repercussion. This can lead to invalid assessments.

In contrast, when 360-degree feedback is used for developmental purposes, responders are more willing to provide honest feedback since they know that their feedback will not jeopardize the recipient’s career. Also, most participants feel more prepared to hear constructive but challenging feedback when it does not affect their livelihood.

Communicate the purpose of 360-degree feedback as soon as you have established it. If the purpose is not communicated clearly and up-front, then people will create their own reasons, resulting in damaging rumors and misconceptions.