Brief Information on Benefits of 360-Degree Feedback

360-degree feedback refers to the method of performance evaluation in which supervisors, co-workers, managers, and customers are asked to give feedback on the performance of an employee. It can also involve the evaluation by the employee himself. The feedback promotes honest reviews and allows the supervisors, co-workers, managers, subordinates, and customers to measure the effectiveness of the employee. It is a developmental as well as a performance appraisal tool. The idea for 360-Degree Feedback was adopted from US military institutions’ peer review. 

It is also called multi-rater feedback, full-circle appraisal, peer appraisal, group performance review, all-around feedback, and multi-source feedback.

Characteristics

The characteristics of 360-degree feedback are as follows:

• Identifying participants providing feedback is kept anonymous. 
• The whole process of 360-degree feedback is confidential.
• The total number of participants providing review could be eight to ten. 
• Questions can be in the form of a rating scale or answer form or a mixture of both. 
• Also includes self-assessment.
• Often focuses more on behaviours and skills than on skills and job requirements. 
• Provides a detailed report on employee performance. 
• Customized and subjective concerning the objectives of the feedback and the organization.
• The main objective of 360-degree feedback is continuous growth and learning. 

Benefits of 360-Degree Feedback

The benefits of 360-degree feedback are as follows:

• Provides a detailed report on employee performance.
• Increases confidence and builds the morale of employees.
• Promotes transparency and creates an open environment.
• Provides a voice to seniors as well as to subordinates empowering them. 
• Helps in retaining employees and reducing employee turnover. 
• Feedback provided by customers helps in studying their demands and formulation of plans to exceed their expectations. 
• Helps employees to discover and work on their strengths and weaknesses. 
• Supports professional development. 
• Facilitates team-building and cooperation.

Essential Features for an Effective Assessment

For constructive feedback, the instrument needs to be effective. The following features will help in achieving that: 

• Should be thoroughly researched and planned
• Benchmark set for comparing results of feedback should be high
• Feedback should provide insight into the effectiveness of leaders
• Should focus on discovering and increasing the strength of employees and leaders.   
• Instruments used for 360-degree feedback should be short, precise and concise. 

Methods of Obtaining Feedback

There are two methods of obtaining 360-degree feedback:

1. Formal methods

One of the commonly used formal methods is the questionnaire. They can be on paper, online or on a disk. They involve questions that allow the person to rate the recipient. It is easy, simple and precise. It does not involve the subjective views of the person. 

Another formal method is a structured interview. It can be done in three ways. They are telephone interviews, group interviews, and face-to-face interviews. Group interviews are the least reliable way to obtain feedback. 

• Informal methods 

Informal methods of obtaining feedback include emails and unstructured interviews. These methods do not provide reliable or sufficient information. The quality of the results often depends on the skills of the interviewer. 

Advantages of  360-Degree Feedback

• Sources of 360-degree feedback are diverse and well-rounded, containing all aspects.
• Helps in developing and strengthening teamwork and holding employees accountable. 
• Helps in identifying the effects of business policies and approaches that hinder employee growth.
• 360-degree feedback facilitates specific career development.
• Sources of feedback are diverse – the chances of bias and prejudice are less. Also minimizes the chances of providing feedback based on recent interactions.
• Feedback covers the overall perspective of employees – output provided by employees improves drastically. 
• Helps organizations to identify key areas and employees that need training. 

Disadvantages of  360-Degree Feedback

• It is only a part of the overall performance measurement system and should not be used alone as it may result in unfulfilled expectations. 
• May cause organizational issues if it is implemented hastily or incompletely, without being subjective to the needs of the organization. 
• Can fail if the goals of the feedback are not aligned with that of the organization and are not woven effectively into existing performance plans.
• As the process is anonymous, the information provided to recipients is limited. 
• Highlights employee weaknesses and shortcomings more than their strengths.
• If the raters are inexperienced, it can cause the feedback to be rendered ineffective.
• May involve the collection of a large amount of data. 

Conclusion

360-degree feedback refers to the method of performance evaluation in which supervisors, co-workers, managers, and customers are asked to give feedback on the performance of an employee. The benefits of 360-degree feedback are multifold. There are two methods of obtaining 360-degree feedback. They are- formal methods and informal methods. Formal methods include feedback taken in questionnaire format or structured interviews. Whereas, informal methods include feedback taken through emails and unstructured interviews. However, I360-degree feedback can be a failure if the goals of the feedback are not aligned with that of the organization and are not woven effectively into existing performance plans.