Sample employee appraisal comments

The term '360 Degree Appraisal' is becoming increasingly familiar in modern

organizations, although in practice, 360 feedback is more often linked to Performance
Review, Coaching and Leadership Development. Our experience suggests Three Key
Questions organizations should ask about 360. Firstly, 'Why has the idea of the '360
Degree Leader' become so Popular?' Secondly, 'What are the Essential Steps linked to
Successful Implementation? and finally, 'Is there anything New we should know about
360 Design - and 360 Degree Feedback Software?''

360 Overview

The idea of multi-rater assessment goes back a long time. The principle underpins the
design of Assessment Centres, first introduced by the military in World War Two, and
subsequently in AT&T and other large organizations. 360 degree feedback is part of this
multi-rater tradition, but it has only recently become easy to administer using high-speed
internet connectivity. The process involves a 'Focus Person', i.e. the subject of the 360
feedback, receiving feedback from various work associates. An in-depth report then
provides insight into the views of these various groups and forms the basis for a follow-
up discussion, which may also lead to further development activities, particularly in the
context of leadership skills training.

Why has the Idea of the '360 Degree Leader' Become so Popular?

There is a growing recognition that leadership skills are becoming a core element of a
manager's role. This means that 'task focus' has to be supported by appropriate 'people
skills'. Organizations characterized by high productivity have managers who are able to:

(i) Energize and Motivate their People

(ii) Manage Role Relationships in a way that Minimizes Problems and Maximizes
Opportunities to Achieve Positive Outcomes.

Increasingly, effectiveness is viewed in terms of meeting the expectations of specific

groups of work associate, whilst also ensuring that actions are aligned to wider corporate
objectives.

The 'Balanced Processing' of Information required to position problems effectively and

make sound decisions is dependent on a high level of Self Awareness. It is therefore vital
that managers and more senior professionals are responsive to feedback and can evaluate
their personal judgement in the context of the task and the people. In other words, there is
a need to Balance both Internal and External perspectives to make sound decisions.
This Personal Insight does not develop by chance, and we know that 'High Potentials' are
more skilled (and objective) in gauging their effectiveness in handling challenging
situations. We see this objectivity in the Self Review ratings made by more-effective
delegates after completion of Assessment Centre Exercises. Well-designed 360 degree
feedback creates opportunities to explore both the behaviour and thought processes that
influence performance outcomes. This is the basis of 'double loop' learning, which is one
of the building blocks of Learning Agility. It is also interesting to note that one of the
differentiators of High Potentials is their Learning Agility, which involves applying
existing knowledge in new ways, quickly adapting to the demands of complex, unfamiliar
situations. It is evident that 360 degree feedback has the potential to play a key part in
raising awareness of Critical Success Factors that are Role Specific and affect
performance outcomes.

Although there may be some initial concerns about the impact of 360, the combination of
objective feedback and constructive follow-up is generally valued by managers who
participate. Structured, open discussion of performance issues can also contribute to a
wider change of thinking about the process of Self Review, effective Learning Strategies,
and wider Leadership Performance.

What are the 'Essential Steps' that Underpin the Introduction of a Successful 360?

It is quite often suggested that 360 degree feedback should start at the top and cascade
down through the organization. This may sometimes be of value, but more important is
the overall positioning of the 360. It is very helpful to have the introduction viewed as
part of a wider HR process that has a clear relationship to performance and professional
development. This means that the 360 should be linked to (a) the Context e.g. change /
new challenges, and (b) Constructive Outcomes, e.g. adequate learning resources that
support Self Development. In some cases the focus may be on individual coaching, or
alternatively, initial one-to-one feedback may be followed by leadership development
workshops and practical leadership skills training.

Not all organizations have an open and learning-orientated culture and in this situation
greater effort is required to build commitment to the 360 process. One approach, that may
encourage positive engagement, is to discuss the 'people issues' that are linked to a new
technical initiative, system or process. Even the best systems, to achieve positive results,
require committed people, and those people also need to maintain positive work
relationships with others.

The 360 review must also ensure confidentiality, and this helps build the confidence
required for people to give honest responses. However, for organizations that are further
along the '360 highway', some systems now give the option for respondents to add their
name to written comments. The essential point is that the 360 degree feedback software
must offer the flexibility to allow easy tailoring of the questionnaire content and the final
report.

Effective Management of Role Relationships: "Why Intelligent 360?"

The focus on Managing Role Relationships is critical in many work situations, especially
those requiring the commitment of direct reports, colleagues, internal and external
customers, business partners or stakeholders. In the case of managers, it's possible to
identify a range of Scenarios that create challenges and demands. These often represent
Critical Incidents i.e. difficult situations, where the behaviour of the manager is the key
to the outcome. In this context, use of 360 degree performance appraisal looks promising,
but what steps are required to get the maximum benefit?

In traditional 360 design, a single set of questions has been directed to everyone
providing feedback. However, analysis of 360 questionnaire results suggests that when a
'Cannot Say' option is provided, up to 48% of respondents may decline to answer some
questions. This is generally because the questions are not relevant to those respondents.
The result is an overly long questionnaire that is viewed as irrelevant by many of the busy
professionals who are providing feedback. This undermines the credibility of the whole
process.

The single most important change in recent 360 degree feedback design involves
targeting specific questions to different groups of respondent. This means that we
only ask Business Partners the questions that make sense to Business Partners! We also
need to incorporate written comments that can highlight areas of Strength, as well as
opportunities for Development. Feedback comments should therefore be linked to
Activities. The first step in constructive feedback often involves reviewing the Context
that relates to specific comments.

This approach is at the heart of Intelligent 360 and also adds new focus to the idea of
Emotional Intelligence. The Effective Management of Role Relationships is closely
aligned with the EI attributes of Self Awareness, being responsive to others, and Self
Regulation i.e. considering the impact of actions on others. Balanced Processing of
Information is also one of four key attributes associated with Authentic Leadership.

With effective briefing of all involved in the 360 degree feedback process, comments are
generally measured and constructive. This is a significant step towards building a
learning organization.

Practical Questions Relating to 360 Degree Feedback

Not all 360 degree feedback software incorporates the latest design and technical support
features. It is most important that the administration is largely automated, offers effective
reminder and follow-up arrangements, and encourages ownership of the process by the
Focus Person. Ideally, internet access is backed by facilities to input 'paper' versions of
the 360, and all aspects of the design should have scope to be tailored to requirements.
The latest 360 includes questions targeted to different groups of respondent, support
materials relating to design, and a library of questions that can be used as the start point
for a new questionnaire.
Reports should also have options for tailored content, and the best examples combine
rating of competencies and questions that invite written comment. The prompt headings
linked to the written sections may relate to effectiveness in handling particular situations,
or more general comments about strengths and areas for development. The online Control
Panel should place the client administrator in the position to easily review progress, add
or edit respondent details, re-start or edit auto-emails, and finally, generate reports in pdf
or Word formats.

Finally, before deciding on a 360 provider, consider the options for wider use of the data
collected through the 360 feedback process. In addition to generating high quality
individual reports, the latest 360 software will also produce 360 Group Reports that help
identify overall Strengths and Weaknesses. This is done by combining all the 360
feedback and then filtering by such categories as Division, Region and Office. It
encourages the Divisional and Section Heads to become directly involved in a discussion
concerning the training needs suggested by the 360 feedback. It is possible, for example,
that positive relationships between team members conceal difficulties with specific issues
of concern to customers, or the need for more positive interaction with business partners.

The new generation of 360 software, with its strong focus on Role Relationships, offers a
forward-looking approach to Training Needs Analysis. The combination of targeted
questions, online administration, and flexibility in the range of Group Reports that can be
generated, makes the analysis very straight-forward. As it is also 'grounded' in real life,
there is naturally a strong base to follow-up with practical leadership skills training.

Costs

If you are designing your own 360 degree feedback questionnaire, and tailored report,
you should be able to find a supplier who offers this facility free of charge. Some 360
systems still require a fee to register, or restrict the number of respondents or 'categories'
(colleagues, direct reports etc) that can be included in the report. The advice here is that
'flexible' should mean Flexible, and if some wished-for aspects of functionality are not
currently available, it is often possible to have these added. A competitive price on
individual reports should also be coupled with volume discounts, and there may be the
option of a long-term licence.

Summary

In conclusion, 360 degree feedback can be used simply to support a coaching session, or
form part of a broader HR initiative linked to Leadership Development. Intelligent 360
software, coupled with careful planning of how best to introduce the process, and
professionalism in managing feedback, gives organizations a powerful tool that can
achieve real changes in Managers' behaviour. The process can encourage greater
openness and create insight into new learning strategies linked to Relationship
Management. In the War for Talent, companies need to use the most effective tools to
engage managers and strengthen leadership performance.
The latest 360 initiatives finally give HR managers the flexibility and focus required to
pinpoint the Role-Related Critical Success Factors linked to high performance. Recent
research includes in-depth analysis of the specific issues that are most relevant to direct-
reports. The relevant behaviour can easily be included in the design of new 360 degree
leadership questionnaires.

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