How is 360-degree feedback used to develop staff in the workplace?

Dec. 16, 2010 - PRLog -- Summary

The most striking finding of the survey results is just how many 360-degree appraisals are taking place in the corporate world. Nearly nine out of ten respondent companies are conducting 360s and over half of these have two or more programmes. Popularised in the 1980s, 360-degree feedback has finally come of age.

While there is near-universal acceptance of the benefits of 360 among our respondents, it’s clear that there is a great variety of business aims and implementations. Each organisation, it seems, is taking the basic premise of gathering feedback from multiple audiences but applying it in a way that reflects its individual circumstances. On most dimensions that we explored – programme objective, frequency, employee population – there was a real spread of survey responses.

In some instances, the choices that companies make are in direct contradiction to each other. For example, we asked the best way to change individuals’ behaviour; one respondent said you should link it to pay and another said it should use it for development only. There are benefits and costs to both approaches, which we seek to interpret for each organisation with which we work. We can conclude from this, and from our own experience, that there is no single ‘best practice’ but rather a set of decisions that lead to ‘best fit’ for each organisational context.

In conclusion then, for HR and business professionals, the decisions around the use of 360-degree feedback should relate to how best to apply it. This requires careful consideration of the business objective, cultural norms including the feedback culture, and how to maximise the benefit against the cost of engaging multiple employees in giving feedback.

For a free copy of this report with associated data and graphical representation go to
http://www.etsplc.com/360-degree-feedback-review.aspx

# # #

ETS provide HR consultancy and technology to blue-chip UK and international businesses. ETS are leaders in the areas of performance management, 360 degree feedback, appraisal systems and employee surveys. Over one million employees use an ETS solution