The role of 360-degree feedback in performance appraisals How does this compare with other performance appraisal methods?
Executive summary
360-degree feedback is one of the most widely used employee assessments today. Its popularity has increased dramatically with the growth of the web-based assessment tools that has made implementation easier, cheaper and faster.
The purpose of the 360-degree feedback is to assist each individual to understand the strengths, weaknesses and development needs to perform the job at an optimum level. The organisations should have a clear understanding as to why they are using the 360-degree feedback and should follow the right steps to successfully implement the process. I have personally undergone
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People behave differently when interacting with different groups and even the same behaviours could be perceived differently. Understanding these differences across roles can be very helpful in developing training and development needs of the employee.
Promotes open communication around performance
360-degree feedback can open up communications about performance because the process involves giving and receiving feedback from all directions in the organisation–upwards, sideways and downwards. More specifically, 360-degree feedback can provide an excellent forum for employees and their managers to talk openly about performance and plan ways employees can further develop their capabilities and behavioural attributes.
Easy and fast to implement
Organisations use 360-degree feedback surveys because they are easy to implement and can be done quickly and cost effectively (since the emergence of web-based assessment tools). At the opposite extreme is something like formal, comprehensive assessment centres that demands much more resources, time and cost (Mack, 2009).
Application of 360-degree feedback
The organisations use 360-degree feedback for more than one application and uses for different purposes (Rigby 2009).
Individual development
This is the primary and the most common reason for using 360-degree feedback. The feedback reports summarises strengths and development needs and provides insight on how employees are perceived by different groups
These characteristics may serve as the basis of stereotypes that obscure individual differences; prevent people from getting to know others as individuals; and acutely assessing their performance potential (Hunt, J., Osborn, R., Schermerhorn, J., 2005). On the other hand, the impact of demographic characteristics can promote team members to interact, which can contribute to high performance. Some teams who are subjected to demographic characteristics can learn to respect each member 's perspectives, and share the common organizational task.
It gives the opportunity to provide structured feedback and reflection and recognise ay achievements as well as identify any performance issues.
3600 feedback is a process in which someone’s performance is assessed and feedback is given by a number of people who may include their manager, subordinates, colleagues and customers (Michael Armstrong 2009:644). The debate surrounds a point of whether it offers a means of overcoming the traditional limitations of appraisal.
Although performance cannot be judge alone with 360-degree assessment, it provides a commentary aspect that will assist an organization in Leadership Development and Succession Planning. Including the 360-degree appraisal in the performance management process will provide a broader perspective about an employee’s performance and detail to annual appraisal. In addition, the technique facilitates greater self-development for an employee. Moreover, it enables an employee to compare his or her self- evaluation about performance with the perceptions of others.
It is commonly believed that people differ in various ways, and these individual differences play a detrimental role on their behaviour at work. To be more specific, individual differences include two kernel factors which refers to intelligence and personality. It is clear that individual differences are important in determining behaviour, however, there are other external factors which are equally important, such as working environment or culture within an organisation.
4.1 Critically compare the types of feedback, support and advice that internal assessment and quality assurance staff may need to maintain and improve the quality of assessment
Can be difficult to manage with large numbers of learners Can be demanding of resources such as time, facilities and assessors Offering the assessment ‘live’ can be even more time-consuming to set up, prepare for and manage Reliability may be difficult to achieve because of the range of responses that the learners might give
Feedback is important as it sets up targets; the person knows what to improve. It motivates people and helps them to focus. It helps identifying the strengths and weaknesses. It expresses what is important to the organisation and the job and reduces uncertainties in people.
The employee should know where he/she stands in obtaining performance goals. Thus, providing feedback is an integral part of the task. The feedback should be delivered to the employee to motivate the employee but also help him/her identify any weakness in his/her performance and to help contribute to growth. The employee should leave the appraisal with knowledge of what he/she specifically needs to improve on
Using feedback as a strategy will create growth within the organization both professional and personal.
Colleagues can be asked to complete peer reviews, frequently referred to as 360 degree appraisal. Knowing how well employees interact with peers can help measure work ethic and professionalism. It can also help identify problems but also identity employees with potential for leading new developments or to be offered more responsibility for example. The use of standard assessment forms, which include open-ended questions about specific incidents (where
Different feedback strategys have been used as efficent tools in the promotion of progress and improvement in the professional world (Baker, A. Perrault D. Alain, R., 2013). De Janasz et al. (2014) explains some positive outcomes that result from shariying, asking and getting feedback from others in within a workplace; such as improving and reforcing employee relationships, enforcing a gainnful comunication, promoting teamwork, and increasing the performance of employees. Specificly De Janasz et al. (2014) develops the idea that providing constructive feedback, sustained by strong interpersonal communication skills, enables the individual recognize their strengths and wiknesses in a clear and non risky way, in order to look for the most accurate plan to improve, and obtain significant and necessary behavioral changes. Everyday Feedback as part of an organization strategy help employees feel confident about their possition and process inside the company, and promotes a clear path to achieve personal and organizational goals (Baker, A. Perrault D. Alain, R. (2013); citado en Levy and williams,
Also for consideration is whether 360D has served its purpose, or if continued development will be valuable to the group. Would annual 360D surveys continue the development? Not only is integrating new managers a concern, continued development of individual management skills and continued development of the team as a whole are valuable. Can the group expect their current skills and relationships to be satisfactory, or do they need constant development attention, and if so, what is the best technique. Also, if the 360D were to become an annual process, is it redundant, or additive to the performance review process currently in place?
360 degree feedback system as a performance evaluation tool as long as the understanding of its intent is understood. “There are three key steps in the successful implementation of 360 degree feedback systems in an organization. The three steps are that it must fit the organizations culture, make it psychometrically sound, and used with care” (“Best Practices”, 2012). It is also important to train the feedback providers to be sensitive, respectful and polite. Treating employees in a friendly and respectful manner and offering constructive advice will make them more open to accepting the performance
In an article from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management [OPM] (n.d.) it stated that “without feedback, you 're walking blind, at best, you 'll accidentally reach your goal, and at worst, you will wander aimlessly through the dark, never reaching your destination.” Feedback is a critical element in a managers “toolbox” when evaluating employees. It gives an employee a view of how good or bad their previous performance was and what or if they need to improve in their performance. It also reduces