All employers need to do 360 Degree reviews

Contents

• Firstly, what is 360 degree feedback?
• Who should 360 degree reviews be conducted for?
• Purpose of the 360 degree feedback
• Tips for successfully executing a 360-degree feedback process
• Using survey feedback results

Firstly, what is 360 degree feedback?

A 360 degree feedback survey is a system or process designed to give a wider perspective of the performance of an individual (or group) within an organisation by taking into account various perspectives from key stakeholders within the employee’s work environment.

Feedback is gathered from sources such as peers, direct reports, managers, and on occasion key customers may be involved.

Anonymous feedback gathered in a 360 degree review is provided to the employee concerned in an aggregated or summarised format (as a feedback report) and should provide a wide range of information about their skills, performance, and working relationships.

Who should 360 degree reviews be conducted for?

Given the time, cost & effort involved in conducting 360-degree feedback surveys, these processes are often reserved for those in management and leadership roles within an organisation. Some organisations use 360-degree feedback as a form of performance appraisal. The most successful outcomes in utilising these reviews are when they are used for training and development, as well as succession planning purposes.

A word of warning – although it sounds like a good idea to ask a wide range of sources for feedback to help evaluate the effectiveness of an individual, HR experts caution there are pitfalls in doing so. Companies need to carefully consider the design of their 360-degree feedback survey system to ensure it achieves the purpose for which it was intended. The process most definitely requires senior management support and a strong culture of communication and trust.

Purpose of the 360 degree feedback

In most cases, the purpose of doing a 360-degree feedback survey is to provide timely and useful feedback to help individuals (and their managers) identify where they can develop further to improve their skills, performance, working relationships and enhance their career development potential.

There is no doubt that detailed qualitative feedback gathered from a wide range of sources accompanied by coaching and supportive counseling from a manager can be very effective.

In some situations, a manager may not even work in the same location as the employee so is unable to observe their direct report’s behaviour which is where the perspectives of peers, direct reports & customers is invaluable – it can be an eye-opener to see what others see. A 360-degree review can also identify situations where a strong performance in one area – customer service, for example – may offset a not-so-flash performance in another area.

Occasionally, 360-degree surveys are used to improve ties between groups – perhaps when they are not working well together as a group, and there is conflict. In these cases, managers would focus the appraisal effort on the entire group rather than on particular members. Handled well, this process can form an ongoing channel of communication to identify and resolve conflicts between groups.

Tips for successfully executing a 360-degree feedback process

To ensure the best possible results from the 360-degree feedback process, it is important to ensure that:

• questions are short, clear and relevant to the person’s job;
• respondents are credible to the person being appraised (i.e., they are deemed as being in a position where they can credibly provide input);
• both the employee and those who will complete the questionnaires are adequately briefed on the process;
• feedback is never attributed to an individual respondent;
• it is clearly stated how feedback will be given and by whom;
• training is provided to those individuals who will provide the feedback and results;
• issues of confidentiality are clearly communicated detailing who has access to the data and for what purpose;
• feedback is concise, simple to understand, and provides guidance on how the information can be used;
• the process is constantly monitored and evaluated.

Using survey feedback results

Once completed, the results from a 360-degree feedback survey are collated into an in-depth report of the findings and are provided to the employee by a person trained to provide feedback (e.g. the employee’s manager who has had coaching on how to deliver feedback or an external HR partner). This report usually summarises the responses, actual scores and average scores for each question as well as any comments offered by raters.

A discussion of the results allows the employee and their manager (or the HR partner) to identify areas where the self-appraisal responses are in alignment with the perceptions of their peers, direct reports & managers, and where they are not. An examination of this provides the opportunity to take on areas in the employee’s work behaviour, skills and performance that may need training and development to bring about a desired result.

Done well – the 360-degree feedback process has the potential to be a real motivator for change.

Leadership skills can make a difference to your business

Contents

• Leadership qualities are the very cornerstone of success
• Research by psychologist Kurt Lewin in the 1930s identified three major leadership styles:
• Leaders adopting the transformational leadership style tend to be emotionally intelligent, energetic, and passionate.
• Leaders will need to be flexible enough to adapt leadership style to the situation as it evolves.

Leadership qualities are the very cornerstone of success

Almost every great accomplishment has at its core, solid leadership. When everything is going well it is leadership that keeps people from getting complacent. When things are going poorly it is leadership that guides and encourages people, it is leadership that sets the new course, and it is leadership that provides hope for positive future outcomes.

Leadership style refers to a leader’s characteristic behaviours when directing, motivating, guiding, and managing groups of people. History has shown how great leaders can inspire political movements and social change.

Great leaders can also motivate others to perform, create, and innovate. In the past, managers used to operate with a rigid, bottom-line focussed, heavy into a command-and-control style of leadership. However, in most situations that style does not work now. Values have changed.

Research by psychologist Kurt Lewin in the 1930s identified three major leadership styles:

• authoritarian (autocratic)
• participative (democratic)
• delegative (laissez-faire).

While subsequent research has identified other more defined types of leadership, this early work provided a catalyst for the identification of other characteristic patterns of leadership including the transformational leadership style which is often identified as the single most effective style.

Leaders adopting the transformational leadership style tend to be emotionally intelligent, energetic, and passionate.

They are not only committed to helping the organization achieve its goals, but also to helping group members fulfil their potential. Research shows that this style of leadership results in higher performance, more improved group satisfaction than other leadership styles as well as leading to improved well-being among group members.

However, it is not easy being a leader, especially these days when we are living in times of continual and, at times, exponential change.

The social and economic crisis caused by the current global pandemic is an extreme but relevant example of the types of challenges leaders face today.

Like any other crisis, the disruptive force and major social impacts were entirely unexpected and during the early days of the pandemic the most urgent objective of leaders would be to safeguard the future of the organisation and by adopting a more autocratic approach, making quick decisions for today while also considering what will be the “next normal” for tomorrow.

The “next normal” is the opportunity for organisations to emerge from this crisis stronger than before and in the post-pandemic world, smart leaders will need to adapt their leadership style.

Covid-19 has changed what business leadership looks like now, and for the foreseeable future. The more directive leadership style adopted in the early days of the pandemic would be perceived as an overly directive, actionist one-leader show during business as usual.

Leaders will need to be flexible enough to adapt leadership style to the situation as it evolves.

• An article in Forbes Magazine describes the “7 Leadership Traits For The Post COVID-19 Workplace” required to restore and revive stressed and flailing supply chains, product lines even entire industries” as being:
• Candour/openness/honesty – Possibly the best antidote for a workplace climate of anxiety and cynicism is openness and honesty. People respond so much better to the known (even if the news is not great) than the unknown (which tends to fuel more anxiety) or even worse misleading half-truths or irresponsible optimism (which can irreparably damage trust long term).
• Regular, reliable fact-based communication – regular, reliable fact-based communication goes a long way to bringing people together and reducing workplace anxiety.
• Empathy – some people are still feeling fragile and concerned about Covid-19. There has been a loss of sense of community and cohesion among staff from the isolation experienced e.g., loss of shared office space when working from home and ongoing concerns about things like job security and sick leave balances. Even just providing some heartfelt encouragement and recognition for a job well done goes a long way.
  Intergenerational and managing a remote and distributed workforce – Gen Zers and millennials require a different style of management (ethical).
• Virtual and distributed teams also require a different style of leadership. You still need to bring these employees together regularly or work streams may fall apart.
• Flexibility and adaptability – Covid-19 has taught us that businesses need to be flexible and adaptable to changing situations. Faced with unprecedented uncertainty, leaders need to avoid the temptation to “stick with the decision” and change course if necessary.
• Humility / modesty – whether its knowledge related to public health, statistics, human resources or even legal issues, leaders will undoubtedly find themselves needing to rely on expertise that they do not themselves have to make the best decisions for the broader organisation. As a result, humility is a huge asset. It takes a strong leader to respond to a difficult question with “I don’t know, but I’ll find out”.
• Active listening – while leaders certainly need to make hard decisions that will not, please everyone, making well informed decisions is still key. Indeed, there is a difference between listening and waiting to talk and for many leaders, their ability to shift gears into “listening to understand” versus “listening to respond” will be a key ingredient for their success.

Smart leaders need to adapt and be prepared to change their leadership style in the post-pandemic world and as Michael Dell (the founder of Dell Computers at age 20) said “I’ve learned that you have to take advantage of change and not let it take advantage of you”.