Regular assessment of employee performance is essential for improving productivity and employee well-being. Although some find the prospect of performance reviews intimidating, they are valuable discussions that provide employees with support and guidance on how they can improve, progress, and be a valued team member.
We’re experts in employee assessments at Thomas. One method we particularly recommend is 360-degree feedback assessments. 360-degree feedback assessments, which gather input from team members, managers, and customers for a well-rounded picture of an individual’s performance and qualities, are an increasingly popular way to objectively evaluate employee performance and fit. They can also help identify future leaders by calling out soft skills and traits that get lost in typical performance appraisals.
So, how do you go about conducting a 360 assessment? What are the pros and cons of this method of employee evaluation, and how can you get the most out of them?
In this guide, we’ll answer all of these questions and provide a framework for creating and implementing 360-degree feedback assessments to fit any organization, large or small.
Understanding 360-Degree Feedback
Before we dive into the details of how to run a 360-degree feedback assessment, let’s do a little more to improve our understanding of what and who it encompasses.
What is a 360-Degree Feedback Survey?
Despite its growing popularity, 360-degree feedback - sometimes known as multi-source feedback or multi-source assessment - is nothing new. Its origins lie in military use in the early twentieth century but in the 1950s large corporations such as Esso adopted this approach to improve their operations. Deloitte finessed the details in the early 2000s and now multinational companies such as PepsiCo, Starbucks, and GE use 360 assessments every day.
Our personal definition of 360-degree feedback at Thomas is this: A 360-degree feedback assessment is a process that gathers feedback from an individual's managers, colleagues, team members, and customers to provide a comprehensive evaluation of their performance. It involves utilizing a 360-degree feedback tool, which allows individuals to receive feedback from multiple perspectives, providing a holistic view of an individual's competencies and identifying performance gaps.
You can already see how this differs from traditional performance reviews as these rely solely on the individual on their manager to compile their thoughts, often with the manager taking the lead. However, a manager is a busy person and may not see everything their employee is doing day-in, day-out, so aspects of a person’s performance may go unnoticed. Collecting feedback from a wider range of people provides a more objective view and limits bias.
360-degree feedback assessments are particularly popular with organizations who want to ensure their team leaders and managers are performing at their best as gathering feedback from direct reports is an excellent indicator of team engagement, potential for employee turnover, and overall productivity.
What Does It Mean to Collect 360-Degree Feedback?
360-degree feedback gets its name from the concept of gathering insights from an employee’s entire circle of workplace contacts. If you picture an employee at the center, we’ll see that their circle is made up of:
- Their peers and team members; people of a similar seniority who can provide insight on collaboration and teamwork
- Their manager who is well-positioned to observe their contributions and effort
- Their direct reports, should they have them
- External stakeholders such as customers and clients
You also need to look at the center of that circle we’re imagining: the employee must self-assess to complete the feedback process. You can compare and contrast this self-assessment with the feedback given by others to see where any perception gaps lie.
360 assessments are most effective when those being asked to assess a fellow employee are given structured questions to frame their feedback around. These questions should align with the relationship between the employees, whether they be team members or direct reports, to ensure their answers address the full spectrum of the individual’s capabilities and behavioral qualities. It’s also important to emphasize to those taking part that all feedback will be anonymized - the person receiving feedback will not be told who has provided it. Efforts should be made to mask contributor identities so the person being assessed can’t identify anyone through the process of elimination.
The Pros and Cons of 360-Degree Feedback
To decide whether 360 assessments are the right way to go for your place of work, you should weigh up the pros and cons of this approach.
Advantages of 360-Degree Feedback
- Enhances self-awareness – Employees at the center of a 360 assessment get the chance to see how others perceive them which can improve their self-awareness. In turn, this impacts team morale and productivity as increased self-awareness may encourage someone to adjust their communication style or be more empathetic.
- Supports leadership development – A strong leadership pipeline is essential to the ongoing success of any organization. 360 assessments can help build this talent pipeline by identifying strengths and areas for growth within those looking to move into leadership positions.
- Encourages open communication – Honesty is encouraged in 360 assessments. This level of open communication should also be promoted outside of the assessment window, creating a culture of continuous feedback.
- Provides a more objective view – Traditional performance appraisals or one-to-one assessments are subjective. Through combining multiple perspectives, 360 assessments provide a more objective view of someone’s strengths and weaknesses outside of any personality clashes or misunderstandings that may exist within the employee-manager relationship.
Disadvantages of 360-Degree Feedback Assessments
- Risk of biased feedback – Knowing that their responses are going to be anonymous may lead to someone providing a misleading response that doesn’t reflect reality.
- Time-consuming process – Collecting feedback from multiple sources requires planning. A decent window of time needs to be provided for those assessing to gather their thoughts and send them to the person collating responses, so assessors need to think ahead to ensure they have everything they need.
- Employee discomfort – Some may feel anxious about receiving feedback and others may feel reluctant to give it. However, they should be encouraged to push through this discomfort as it may lead to them learning things about themselves that will help them grow.
- Needs a clear action plan – Feedback without a follow-up plan is ineffective. Assessors gathering feedback ahead of 360 assessment meetings with employees should analyze the answers coming in, and prepare a suggested action plan that the employee can refer to going forward.
How to Design a 360-Degree Feedback Program
Effective 360-degree feedback assessments require structure - it’s not just a matter of sending a quick email to a few randomly selected people asking what they think of their colleagues. To get meaningful responses, a full 360-degree feedback program is needed.
7 Steps For Designing an Effective 360-Degree Feedback Assessment Program
1. Define objectives – What do you want to achieve with your 360-degree feedback assessments? Is the focus on individual career development or is it about identifying the strongest performers in your organization and understanding what makes them effective?
2. Identify participants – Who should give and receive feedback? What working relationship do various participants have with each other?
3. Create a structured feedback survey – Effective 360-degree feedback surveys balance qualitative and quantitative questions. We’ll provide more advice on this later on in this guide.
4. Ensure anonymity and confidentiality – Build trust in the process by explaining how individuals will be kept anonymous so they can provide honest feedback without fear of repercussion.
5. Communicate expectations – Give those participating in the 360-degree feedback process clear instructions. This includes both those giving and receiving feedback.
6. Analyze the results effectively – Collate all of the feedback provided and look for patterns and common phrases. Use data-driven insights, particularly for quantitative responses.
7. Develop actionable follow-ups – Turn feedback into meaningful growth by creating a personal development plan for the employee receiving feedback. Allow them to provide input into exactly what this action plan looks like and how they will achieve the goals outlined in it.
How to Create a 360-Degree Feedback Assessment Survey
As we mentioned before, an effective 360-degree feedback assessment requires a well-structured survey that can be relied upon to gather accurate, actionable feedback.
Here are a few tips on how to get this right:
- Use clear, concise language - if possible, have someone review the survey for ambiguity
- Include both open-ended and rating-scale questions
- Avoid leading or biased questions that may steer the person responding toward a particular answer
How to Write 360-Degree Feedback Assessment Survey Questions
These are a few examples of effective 360-degree feedback assessment questions that we’ve seen work well with a range of organizations:
- “How well does [Employee] communicate with their peers?” (Rating scale)
- “What is [Employee]’s greatest strength in their role?” (Open-ended)
- “How could [Employee] improve their leadership approach?” (Constructive feedback)
Who Can Give 360-Degree Feedback?
Here’s an overview of all of the people involved in providing 360-degree feedback and why all of their contributions are valuable:
1. Self-assessment
360-degree assessments maintain the self-assessment that is commonly seen in appraisals. Here, the employee reflects upon their work and assesses where they are performing most effectively and where they feel they could improve. In identifying any personal areas for growth, employees can outline any areas they would like further support on and request additional learning opportunities, all of which are vital for progression and wellbeing.
2. Peer Feedback
Fellow team members that the employee regularly works with are also asked to provide their thoughts on strengths and opportunities for improvement as part of 360 assessments. Peers can be within and outside the employee’s own department and should be at a similar level of seniority. Peers should be encouraged to provide insights on how well the person being assessed collaborates and contributes to the wider team.
3. Manager Feedback
Line managers should reflect upon how they have seen the employee contribute in recent months and what their working attitude has been like.
4. Direct Report Feedback
360-degree feedback assessments provide valuable insight for anyone with line management responsibilities by encouraging direct reports to be honest in their evaluations. This process allows direct reports to share what they need from their manager as individuals and as a team. Direct report feedback is often overlooked in traditional performance reviews, but it is an essential part of 360-degree feedback for managers.
5. External Stakeholder Feedback (optional)
In customer or client-facing roles, 360 assessments can include feedback gathered from customers. This may be gathered ahead of the assessment or may be collected throughout the customer life cycle.
360-Degree Feedback vs. Performance Reviews
Perhaps performance reviews have been the go-to tool for appraising employees in your organization for years. These still have real value - 360-degree feedback assessments don’t supersede performance reviews but should be used in tandem to optimize employee performance in a measurable way.
To make the most out of each option, it’s important to understand the difference between each approach and when to use them.
Key Differences
Purpose:
- 360-degree feedback assessments focus on employee development, identifying strengths and areas for improvement.
- Performance reviews are primarily for evaluation, tracking goal achievement against KPIs.
Sources of Feedback:
- 360-degree feedback assessments collate insight from multiple sources, including peers, managers, direct reports, and sometimes external stakeholders.
- Performance reviews are manager-driven, typically relying on input from one direct supervisor.
Focus Areas:
- 360-degree feedback assessments evaluate soft skills, leadership potential, and teamwork.
- Performance reviews assess job performance, productivity, and task completion.
Frequency:
- 360-degree feedback assessments are often conducted on a continuous or periodic basis, depending on organizational needs.
- Performance reviews are usually annual or bi-annual and tied to salary reviews or promotions.
When to Use Each Method
We advise that 360-degree feedback assessments be used for leadership development, teamwork insights, and personal growth. They’re an effective way of evaluating valuable soft skills that can go overlooked in performance reviews even though it is these soft skills and personality traits that signify who may be a good fit for future leadership.
Performance reviews still have their place, however. It’s important to have performance-based KPIs in place that employees can track themselves against so they know what they’re working towards. KPIs established during performance reviews can be linked to salary increases and promotions, which can boost employee motivation. Additionally, managers can track their team's performance using these KPIs.
Tools and Implementation
360-degree feedback assessments don’t have to be created, managed, and implemented entirely by HR teams and leaders alone - there are lots of tools available to streamline the process and ensure you get the most out of your chosen assessments.
How to Implement 360-Degree Feedback Assessments
- Step 1: Define the goals of your 360-degree feedback assessment program
- Step 2: Choose a reliable assessment tool, such as the Thomas 360 system which can be tailored to your business
- Step 3: Train employees on giving and receiving feedback - setting expectations and fore-warning employees of the upcoming implementation of 360 assessments is key to getting the best information out of them and ensuring no one feels blindsided
- Step 4: Ensure feedback is anonymous and constructive - a reliable assessment tool will cover this step, saving time and stress spent attempting to anonymize responses manually
- Step 5: Use results to create personalized development plans - this is the ultimate goal of the assessment; you want to learn more about our employees but you also want to use that information to help them grow for their wellbeing and for our success
360-Degree Feedback Tools: How to Choose the Right One
Choosing a 360-degree feedback tool can be overwhelming as there are so many to choose from. These are the key features we recommend you look out for:
- Customizable surveys
- Automated reporting and analysis
- Data security and compliance
- Integration with existing HR platforms
We’ve designed the Thomas 360 system to tick off every item on that list so the organizations that work with us get actionable insights that actually mean something to their business.
Real-World Applications of 360-Degree Feedback
As we mentioned before, major multinational brands have been using 360-degree feedback assessments with their employees for years. With a rigorous approach to 360-degree feedback assessments, these brands have uncovered real, ongoing value that has improved the way they do business.
How Are 360 Assessments Used?
Organizations with an established approach to 360-degree feedback are able to use them for:
- Leadership development
- Team performance improvement
- Conflict resolution and communication training
- Employee coaching and mentoring
How Often Should 360 Assessments Be Used?
- Best practice: Conduct assessments annually or bi-annually
- For leadership roles: Consider quarterly reviews
- Avoid overuse: Overly frequent assessments can lead to feedback fatigue resulting in poorer quality feedback
Unlocking Employee Potential with 360-Degree Feedback Assessments
360-degree feedback assessments are designed to offer a well-rounded view of employee performance, bringing soft skills and work traits to the fore to help identify leadership potential and skills gaps that can be addressed. When implemented correctly, 360-degree feedback assessments drive professional growth and cement team success.
To unlock the full potential of your employees, get in touch with our experts today to find the best 360-degree feedback assessment solution for your team.
