360 – how often is too often?

Once people start to use a 360 questionnaire and realise the value of gaining the insight into how others see them, it’s sometimes easy for them to make the (incorrect) leap in thought process that the more 360s they do, the quicker they’ll develop and acquire the skills and behaviours they’re looking for.

So how often should we be utilising this tool?

Based on the experience both of our Head of Psychology and the feedback from customers as to what works for them, we’d recommend this to be every 12-18 months as a minimum. Any more often than this and you may start to see a less effective 360 feedback emerge.

Why is this?

People tend to get ‘rater fatigue’ when they're constantly being asked to fill in 360- degree questionnaires. 

You need to allow sufficient time between reviews for people to make the behavioural changes identified or to plan and engage with any personal development which comes out of the 360 feedback session.  There’s likely to be little shift in the behaviour and therefore the ratings in just, say, 3 months.

But even if it isn’t the time to complete a full 360 questionnaire, it’s worthwhile gathering on-going, regular feedback at critical points. For this reason, both our Talent Performance® and Talent Advance® modules from our on-line talent management Talent® system include a ‘Get Feedback' function. This enables people to get more informal, immediate 'pulse' feedback on things that have just happened or on areas they're developing. This is usually shorter, qualitative, aimed at a small number of people and related to one or two specific questions, which doesn't create the rater fatigue that 3 month full-360s would.

To talk about this more, let us know your thoughts below.

7 benefits of moving on-line for 360 review

Want to know what the key benefits to moving to on-line 360 as highlighted in our recent survey?  Some are obvious, some less so.  Read on.

1.     Reduction in administration time.  77% of organisations in our recent survey have observed this time saving. It seems that some of this time is 're-invested'.

2.     More time spent on development planning. 46% of survey respondents signal that they now spend more time on development planning. 

3.     Better individual understanding of own strengths and development areas: 91% have found this to be the case showing the improvement since going on-line.

4.     Greater commitment to the development plan: 73% reported that their people were more committed to their individual development plan after moving on-line. 

5.     Easier comparison of people across departments and the organisation with 55% commenting that this is easier since going on-line.

6.     Faster analytics: 60% of respondents say that the analytics are faster with the on-line system.

7.     Spotting of those with high potential made easier:  57% comment that is it easier to now identify those employees with high potential.

If you’d like to know more about our research or are looking to see how moving on-line with your performance review can bring these benefits, do get in touch.

Promoting a feedback-friendly culture

We have refined this handy 3-point checklist for developing the culture in your organisation to support the giving and receiving of feedback. Not easy we know, but implemented gradually over time with support from the top and you could make some inroads into this difficult problem. You could of course also ask us to help!

1. Improve and ensure the quality of feedback

• Train supervisors and others about how to provide useful feedback
• Create clear standards concerning valued behaviours that are relevant to organisational goals
• Provide clear performance measurements
• Provide reports tying individual performance to bottom line departmental or organisational metrics
• Provide time to review and clarify feedback results with others such as one's supervisors

2. Emphasise the importance of feedback in the organisation

• Expect top-level managers to serve as role models about how to seek, receive, and use feedback
• Ensure that everyone actually receives feedback (i.e. its not voluntary or the sole preserve of a select few)
• Involve employees in the development of behaviour and performance standards
• Ensure that performance improvements following feedback are recognised and rewarded

3. Provide support for using feedback

• Provide skilled facilitators to help recipients interpret formal (i.e. 360) feedback and set development plans and goals
• Train and reward supervisors for coaching
• Encourage feedback recipients to discuss their feedback with colleagues to help clarify it and to reach shared agreement concerning behaviour expectations and changes
  provide feedback recipients with the freedom to act on the feedback to give them a sense of control
• Provide formal and inofrmal opportunities to learn

Do ask us how we include many of the above items within our 360 feedback programmes as standard to ensure a successful 360 review project.