Frequently Asked Questions
Is 360-degree feedback ever inappropriate?
Yes, when:
- The person receiving feedback is too new to the group or organisation
- There are not enough respondents who truly understand the full scope of an individual’s responsibilities
- During the time of a major change, such as just before or after a merger or acquisition
- In an environment where there is a high degree of mistrust
How important are norms?
Each organisation, even those within the same industry have a very different culture and set of values. What is important in one organisation may be relatively unimportant in another. Additionally, most participants agree that comments, not numeric ratings, give the most meaningful feedback. For these reasons, we have found that comparing individual results to national norms, while indeed interesting to consider, is not as relevant as comparing one’s scores to in-house norms which are unique to the organisation.
How can the validity and reliability of a 360 survey be verified?
Questions about validity are most important with instruments that are developed in the tradition of psychological tests with the purpose of measuring things that cannot be observed directly, such as values, attitudes, styles and traits. 360-degree survey items should always be based on concrete, observable behaviours. To establish face validity, show the survey to a representative group of people who will be giving and receiving feedback and ask the following questions:
- Are the questions clear or ambiguous?
- Are the questions relevant to the subjects’ job?
- Are the major items addressed?
Is 360 voluntary or mandatory?
The 360-degree process should always be voluntary. A 50% return rate should be expected, however this has often been increased due to the adoption of incentives (e.g. chocolate/sweet rewards to all successfully completed surveys, CD or dinner vouchers).
How often should 360 be rolled out?
Given that people need time to make changes and then, it takes a little while before others perceive that change, we have found that twelve-month intervals are most appropriate. This allows people to create change and then get feedback on their progress so that they can develop next-level goals and action plans. Another option is to conduct mini-360 surveys of just ten to fifteen questions at each monthly meeting, focusing on a specific topic, such as running effective meetings.
What type of information should be targeted?
- Knowledge – familiarity with job, industry, company
- Skills – task proficiency
- Behaviours – patterns in relation to the environment (energy, optimism)
- NOT personality traits or styles!
Who gets a copy of the report?
Initially, the participant is the only person who should receive a copy of their individual report. The manager should receive group and organisational data, and on occasion, may obtain the individual data. While giving the data does increase accountability and allows the manager to quantifiably track progress, there is a variety of pitfalls to giving the manager a copy of the report, such as:
- People will fear the process
- Feedback comments will not be as constructive
- Data can become a weapon, not a development tool
- The manager may lack the ability to interpret the data appropriately
- The manager may reprimand the employee for not doing well
- Participants must share goals, not actual results. In this way managers can act as coaches, guiding the individual to higher performance levels, not focusing on specific scores and comments