360 degree performance evaluations
- 1. 360 degree performance evaluations Feedback from colleagues in the form of 360 reports has become almost universal practice in medium to large-size organisations. There are many good reasons for the expansion of this practice. Foremost among these is the opportunity for managers and supervisors to gain frank feedback from those with whom they work. A 360 feedback report is by far the most useful source of information about strengths and weaknesses that can be used as the basis for targeted development planning. The value of this information depends partly on the quality of the report and partly on the quality of the interpretation of that report. On the basis of our experience in feeding back 360 reports we have formulated the following 10 tips for feedback facilitators to assist their clients in making sense of a 360 report and drawing appropriate conclusions. 1. Have a feedback plan. Form a plan for your feedback with an introduction (covering your objectives, confidentiality agreement and plan), a middle (detailed review of each competency in turn) and an end (drawing overall conclusions from the report). Agree the plan with your client, but question whether there are any particular issues or concerns that they need to raise right at the beginning. 2. Own the process of feedback, not the content. You are not responsible for the content of the feedback report. Your role as a feedback facilitator is to help the person to understand and interpret their report as objectively as possible. 3. Aim to identify feedback themes. The 360 feedback report is often overwhelmingly full of detail. Look for overall themes in the feedback rather than individual nuggets of feedback that may be 'outliers'. Use information from ratings and comments to identify recurring strands of feedback about both strengths and areas where development might be needed. 4. 360 feedback presents colleagues' perceptions. Remember that 360 feedback represents respondents' perceptions about the level or extent of competency demonstrated. Perceptions are valid as feedback information, but it is up to the client (and you) to determine what to do with the feedback. 5. Don't rely on the numbers alone. Text comments should elaborate and amplify the messages from ratings, by addressing behaviours in the clients immediate context. Look to integrate ratings and text to identify clear feedback themes. 6. 'The devil is in the detail'. Look at the detail of individual item ratings as well as overall competency scores. The reason for this is that while competency models aim to segment the behaviours necessary for success in any given organisation they will tend to over-simplify. The result is that a person may exhibit some of the behaviours of a competency, but not others. For example, in Performance Management a manager may
- 2. be very good at praising high levels of performance, but weak at quickly picking up on poor performers. 7. Look for both agreement and disagreement among raters. These can occur at two levels. First, look for differences between groups of raters, e.g. is the person rated differently by peers than by direct reports. This may indicate that the person behaves differently between these two groups (e.g. listening more to peers than direct reports). Alternatively, it may reflect different opportunities among the groups to observe the behaviour (e.g. the direct reports of the client may see less of his or her Strategic Planning behaviour than peers or their own manager). Second look for within group differences - a person may treat different people within the same group differently. For example in Integrity, a person may be seen as open and honest by some direct reports, but not others. 8. Don't get hung up on single ratings or comments. Feedback clients will tend to focus on individual ratings or comments that they see as negative. People naturally like to keep a 'clean sheet' where everything is positive. Help the person to work through these, but emphasise that they are probably not the key messages from the feedback. 9. Understand the feedback reaction cycle. Nearly everyone is apprehensive about receiving detailed feedback on their approach to work. Our general experience is that 360 feedback is typically overwhelmingly positive and confirming. However, for the more challenging aspects of feedback consider that people may well need to go through the Denial/Anger/Withdrawal/Acceptance (D.A.W.A.) cycle in dealing with their feedback. It helps to consider where on the cycle the client is at any one point. It can take more than one feedback session to get to the point of acceptance where a person can move positively to acknowledging and planning how to address development areas. 10. Summarise the main conclusions. Summarise the main conclusions. Seek to agree a summary with the client about the main conclusions to draw from the report. What are their perceived key strengths? In what areas are they perceived to do less well? What are the implications for development? Note that there is much to be said for maintaining and developing strengths as much addressing areas of weakness. It may or may not be possible to change the behaviours that underlie weaker competencies - sometimes it is necessary to work around these. Do not overwhelm the client with conclusions - aim to pick out the top 3 areas of strength and the 3 key areas of potential development. Following these guidelines will help you to have a productive feedback session with your client, enabling you to move on to the all important stage of setting and planning to achieve some focused development objectives. http://performanceappraisalebooks.info/ : Over 200 ebooks, templates, forms for performance appraisal.