Having just seen a post from a 360 service provider suggesting that there should be a separate section on the assessment of Values in an appraisal, I felt compelled to offer our thoughts on this.
Frankly, we don't agree with the idea of a separate section that prompts a manager and their employee to talk about 'values' so explicitly - how crass! It prompts rather theoretical discussions about personal values and people find this overly invasive and fear being exposed - hardly conducive to a productive appraisal meeting and could easily derail the process completely. Magnify that by how many people 'go through this process' and it could be a potential disaster.
We do however think that values, and more explicitly how values manifest themselves in the context of the work someone performs, is an area of assessment in an appraisal or 360 review. The skill is in developing the right questions or combination of questions that tease out how these values play out in the work place and the impact they have on the individuals colleagues, and this is the approach we always take.
I suspect that a 'simple values section' is the hinting at right direction but it is the wrong implementation and a short cut to doing the job properly.
If your provider simply says, 'we'll add a values section on at the end', ask them why the values aren't entwined into the rest of the assessment or questionnaire.
After all, that's how values appear and are observed in the work place.
If your service provider 'doesn't get it' or can't or won't do this, then our genuine advice is to walk away before any damage is done.
