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Navigating the path of employee performance reviews is tricky for any organization. Irrespective of its size. The availability of multiple review options makes it more complicated. There are self-assessments, one-to-one evaluations, and group reviews, after all. And all that using different methods!
The result? You either have accurate reviews, facilitating organizational and employee growth. Or you have faulty, misleading, biased, and inaccurate reviews, leaving your employees dissatisfied while driving your business away from its goals.
What’s the solution, you ask?
Opting for 360 reviews.
Organizations worldwide have been turning to this holistic 360 feedback approach to reviewing their employees’ performance of late. Before you start wondering what a 360 review is, how it works, and how you can create such a process in your company, read this article. We’ve covered all these concepts and more so you can get a head start.
Feel free to jump between sections. You can also bookmark this blog to come back to it later.
» What is a 360 Degree Review?
As the name suggests, a 360 degree review or 360 degree feedback refers to a comprehensive evaluation of an employee’s performance. It takes into account feedback from not just the manager but also the employee’s peers and colleagues for a balanced stance on their performance, skills, workplace behavior, and competencies.
Typically, the size of such a review team is between six to 12 members.
This is completely different from a traditional performance review process which only requires the manager’s feedback. Moreover, a conventional review only accounts for the employee’s capacity to meet their goals and overall performance.
A 360 review process, however, paints an accurate picture of the employee’s list of weaknesses and strengths. It relies on the feedback from peers the employee interacts with every day, making it all the more authentic.
Wondering what areas such an evaluation taps into?
A 360 review takes a detailed look into the following:
- Employees’ communication skills
- Their ability to collaborate within and outside their team
- Leadership qualities
- Vision
- Workplace contributions
- Habits
- Accountability
- Management, and more.
The idea is to give a fair review of their productivity and efficiency. At the same time, it is also about providing them with a solid list of areas where they need improvement. That way, they can meet their individual professional goals with ease.
The best part about 360 reviews? It collects anonymous feedback from peers, subordinates, and colleagues.
You May Also Like: 5 Key Benefits of Feedback Culture for Your Business
» How Does 360 Reviews Work?
Designing a structured 360 review process takes significant effort, time, and active participation from everyone involved.
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Since this is a multi-rater feedback system, the team reviewing an employee usually consists of colleagues, direct supervisors/managers, direct reports, vendors, and even customers. An evaluation administrator, typically an in-house HR, oversees the entire process. Some large organizations hire a consultant to head the panel, especially while reviewing top-level executives.
Now, let’s go through the generic 360 review process in brief:
- The evaluation admin creates a questionnaire for the 360 reviews based on the objective of the review. There are many 360 degree feedback software systems available out there to make the entire process smoother, more accurate, and streamlined.
- The raters or selected members of the review panel answer the questions to offer detailed feedback. Some reviews also include a rating on a scale of 1 to 5.
- Upon receiving feedback from everyone on the review team, the managers create a report. Such reports tend to break up the findings into “strengths” and “weaknesses” of the employee being reviewed.
- The final report is then shared with the concerned employee in a one-on-one meeting.
- Based on the review, the employee, along with their manager, can redefine their goals and make a solid plan to strengthen their weak spots. Together, they can identify relevant learning programs & opportunities to shape their organizational role and overall personal growth.
» Common Types of a 360 Degree Review
To make the most out of 360 degree reviews, you can choose from the four common 360 review styles, listed below, depending upon your organization’s culture, industry, and review goals:
› 1) Manager-evaluated reviews
360 reviews tend to include managers who receive and analyze feedback about the employees. It is the managers who create review reports, detailing both the positive and negative pointers. The motto is to give constructive criticism so that employees are motivated to work on their weak areas.
› 2) Direct feedback between employees
In such types of reviews, employees give each other feedback directly without any middleman or a manager or an admin involved. Meaning, there is no authoritative figure to filter the perspectives. You only facilitate the process of sharing feedback.
It’s important to note that such direct employee-to-employee reviews work in progressive enterprises with a positive work culture and a close-knit workforce.
› 3) External consultant-led feedback
Many companies hire a consultant to lead 360 degree review surveys. The consultant is only responsible for gathering and sharing the information. Once you have the data with you, one-on-one and group meetings can be done with employees to understand areas of improvement and opportunities.
› 4) Digital evaluation scores
360 performance review software systems let you review employees in numerous disciplines. You can give a score to each employee on each of these domains digitally. That makes providing, sharing, and organizing employee feedback a lot simpler, faster, and instantly accessible.
Now that we’ve explored the common types, it’s time to uncover 360 review advantages and disadvantages.
» Benefits of a 360 Review
› 1) It offers unbiased, balanced feedback
The percentage of employees satisfied with their conventional performance review is only 22%. That’s because many of them think of the review process, involving just their manager, as incomplete, unfair, and ineffective. They think they’re not being evaluated for the work they’ve done. The notion of favoritism is also at play here.
A 360 degree review can be a savior in such a scenario.
With 360 reviews, the feedback comes from multiple sources. They provide a holistic view of the employee’s performance beyond mere target achievements–from skills to capabilities to collaborative spirit.
On top of that, these reviews are confidential. Thus, they help reveal pointers that the manager might have missed. As a result, the final comprehensive review turns out to be insightful, balanced, and free from biases.
› 2) It fuels employee growth
With a 360 degree review, employees get to know the areas they’re thriving and things they could improve. Since such a review involves multiple team members, this list of areas is validated. That invokes positive feelings, making employees feel valued. It also acts as a motivator for them to continue putting their best foot forward to step up the ladder.
› 3) It boosts the spirit of teamwork
360 reviews require employees to be honest about their coworkers’ overall performance. This leads to teammates realizing their worth in the form of anonymous feedback and appreciation. At the same time, these reviews present criticism in a positive manner, encouraging employees to work on their weak spots. That brings teams closer, fostering the mindset of “teamwork” at all times. The result? Your teams become more aligned collaborating seamlessly.
› 4) It provides insights into organizational needs
360 reviews not only help you in employee evaluation but also let you discover the need for change in your approach or processes. Evaluation results of a few mid-level employees, for instance, can reveal the need for creating a dedicated training module about a particular skill. Or it can bring to spotlight an inefficient policy that employees perceive negatively.
With 360 reviews, you can identify such potential deterrents hampering employee performance and overall organizational growth. And make necessary changes before it’s too late.
› 5) It improves accountability, productivity, and morale
360 evaluation techniques foster a growth mindset. By showcasing strengths and spots of improvement, it magnifies employee morale and also the sense of accountability among your workforce across levels. That helps to build a proactive approach, boosting active involvement in fulfilling responsibilities.
The result is, that you notice a significant improvement in the overall organizational productivity which, in turn, inches you closer to your business goals.
» Challenges of a 360 Review
› 1) It is time-consuming
The comprehensive nature of a 360 degree review subtly points to how it’s not a one-day job. The process, in fact, takes weeks to complete. From creating the survey to getting responses from selected reviewers to generating a report, it requires sufficient investment in the form of both time and effort. Conventional reviews, on the other hand, don’t take this long. But they aren’t as detailed either.
› 2) It has scope for inaccurate, vague ratings
A well-designed 360 review doesn’t guarantee honest, unbiased feedback from the sources involved. There may be instances where the raters mix their personal feelings with the task of reviewing their colleagues’ performance. It is tough to rule out the possibility that reviewers might give higher scores to teammates they like. And provide negative feedback to coworkers they don’t quite get along with.
Moreover, such reviews could end up vague if the survey lacks clear goals and standards. In that case, all you have is data with zero actionable insights to improve in the near future.
› 3) It is ineffective with very few reviewers
For a 360 degree review to stand valid and helpful, the review panel must have at least six to eight members. That, from a variety of domains - peers, direct reports, vendors, clients, support staff, and managers. Otherwise, the entire process would lose its holistic nature.
For example, a review panel consisting of only three people - two from the same team and one from another department - would miss evaluating the employees on their varying competencies. It would also turn biased or lack constructive feedback.
› 4) It is not useful if reviewers are inexperienced
Given the nature of 360 reviews, it needs a panel of reviewers who actively want to participate in the process. Reviewers who know the importance of giving feedback and the art of giving one based on predefined areas. Without that, the performance review may look incomplete & misguided and the process aimless.
It may also happen that some employees wouldn’t have the bandwidth for participation, prompting you to include inexperienced reviewers. It’s better to help free up your experienced reviewers’ schedules for this task than to receive amateur evaluations from newbies.
› 5) It can fail with a lack of intent to improve
The aim of 360 reviews is to encourage employees to strengthen their weak areas. Once you’ve shared the review with the employees, it is crucial to create a tailored plan for learning & development. Furthermore, there should be regular follow-ups to track their progress. In the absence of such steps, the review might be rendered useless, not giving you the desired results for the future course of action.
» Final Thoughts
A strong team is at the core for any organization to grow at its desired pace. And creating and retaining a strong team requires optimum opportunities and growth for every member of your workforce. A 360 review facilitates such growth with detailed, accurate, and unbiased employee performance reviews. It not only helps align your business goals but fosters an environment that enables employees to attain their personal goals.
The best thing is that it is easy to get started with this type of review. There are plenty of leading 360 evaluation tools available in the market. Choose the one that suits your requirements, industry, and budget.
