Positives of 360-degree Feedback

HCM Info Systems
Sep 7, 2018 · 4 min read

360-degree feedback is effective for development. The feedback obtained can be used for organizational growth, team development and individual improvement.

360 degree feedback is a method and a tool that provides each employee the opportunity to receive performance feedback from his or her supervisor and four to eight peers, reporting staff members, coworkers, and customers. 360 degree feedback is when one collects feedback about your strengths and weaknesses from everyone around you, hence it has been named as 360 degree.

Organizations have most commonly utilized 360-degree feedback for developmental purposes, providing it to employees to assist them in developing work skills and behaviors. However, organizations are increasingly using 360-degree feedback in performance evaluations and employment decisions (e.g., pay; promotions). When 360-degree feedback is used for performance evaluation purposes, it is sometimes called a “360-degree review”.

Benefits of 360-degree feedback

Following are few of benefits associated with 360-degree feedback.

Creates Self-Awareness : Self-awareness means understanding your personality, including your strengths, weaknesses, beliefs, motivations, thoughts, and emotions. Self-awareness is especially important when it comes to leadership. Leading people requires a careful balance of competing priorities.

Everyone thinks they have a good handle on how other people see them. But , Research shows people generally score themselves lower than their supervisor and their direct reports score them. It is great to know people think higher of you than you think of yourself which give you more confidence in what you are doing?

Promotes dialogues : Dialogue is the first step in moving from measurement to improvement. Self-awareness, clarified behavior, and process feedback combine to provide a natural opportunity for dialogue. Ideally, that dialogue begins with a warm discussion between the manager and employee in which strengths are highlighted and weaknesses are explored. The dialogue should continue with a planning dialogue between the manager and the employee in which improvement goals and plans are agreed upon.

Improves Workforce Relationship : 360 reviews are key to identifying employee strengths. Unearthing strengths is important for acknowledgement and areas requiring improvement allows for creation of tailored development and training plan. Developing strengths is important for an employee’s career growth and for the company’s effectiveness.

Performance feedback is something that is often one-sided (as in a supervisor/direct report relationship) or altogether missing (peers don’t feel it is their place to say anything). By introducing this element of into of 360-degree feedback , organization create another touch point of reciprocal support.

Encourages Development of Skills : The most important aspect of 360 reviews is that they give individuals a starting point for the development of new skills and behaviors. This includes building on current strengths and developing new skills. The 360 process gives individuals ownership over their own improvement through the creation of customized development plans. This encourages individual accountability and gives employees control over their career paths. Taking the central role in their own development also increases the engagement of employees in the feedback process.

Enhances Performance : As 360 feedback gives multi-rater feedback, it allows the individual to uncover blind spots in their behavior. This enables the employee to understand the behaviors that they are exhibiting, but never notice themselves. Uncovering blind spots is important for continuous employee improvement. Highlighting blind spots allows an individual to focus on learning and development needs that are applicable to those overlooked behaviors. Research shows that a good 360 degree feedback program is related to increased employee engagement and improved performance.

Necessity of 360 Feedback!

360 degree feedback allows each individual to understand how his effectiveness as an employee, coworker or staff member is viewed by others. The most effective 360 degree feedback processes provide feedback that is based on behaviors that other employees can see. The feedback provides insight into the skills and behaviors desired in the organization to accomplish the mission, vision, and goals and live the values. The feedback is firmly planted in behaviors needed to exceed customer expectations.

Hence honest and reliable feedback is necessary to test one’s own perceptions, recognize previously unseen strengths, and become aware of blind spots in one’s self-perceptions. The goal is to help anyone in the organization (senior leaders and employees) improve their personal skills and behaviors at work. By combining multiple sources of feedback, you’ll get a more complete picture of the employee.

HCM Info Systems is a Digital HR Specialist & SAP SuccessFactors implementation partner we help our clients in streamlining HR Process for successful digital transformation

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