360 DEGREE FEEDBACK

SYSTEMS

SWATHI NEELAKANTAN
SEETHALAKSHMI S
 DEFINITION
• It is a tool that provides each employee the
opportunity to receive performance feedback from
his or her supervisor and four to eight peers,
reporting staff members, coworkers, and customers.
• Most 360 degree feedback tools are also responded
to by each individual in a self-assessment.
• It allows each individual to understand their
effectiveness as an employee, coworker or staff
member.
• The most effective 360 degree feedback
processes provide feedback that is based on
behaviors that are observed by other
employees.
• People who are chosen as raters or feedback
providers, usually are selected in a shared
process by both the organization and
employee.
Criteria for choosing raters:
• Interact routinely with the person receiving
feedback.
 ADVANTAGES
1) Decreased possibilities of biases
2) Increased awareness of expectations
3) Increased commitment to improve
4) Improved self perception of performance
5) Improved performance
6) Employees enabled to take control of their
careers.
 RISKS OF IMPLEMENTATION
1) It is difficult to know which rater group to use: (e.g.,
manager ratings are significantly higher than direct
reports) for feedback. When correlations between rater
groups are low, it can be difficult to pick which group’s
feedback to pay attention to.

(2) It is difficult to evaluate within rater

agreement: Within a particular rater group, there could
be outliers or extreme scores that skew the average for
the group.
(3) 360-degree feedback may not measure the
right behaviors. The type of rating and response
scale for most 360-degree feedback assessments
are generally not appropriate for performance
appraisal and compensation decisions. (e.g., a
“potential” scale should never be used for
compensation decisions).
(4) Raters can manipulate scores to control
how a participant gets paid. Raters may
evaluate participants with the intention of
having a say in future of his or her salary instead
of the intention of helping them develop.
CHARACTERISTICS OF A GOOD SYSTEM

• ANONYMITY: helps in eliciting honest

information regarding performance, especially
when provided by subordinates.

• OBSERVATION OF EMPLOYEE PERFORMANCE:

• FEEDBACK INTERPRETATION: Discussing the
feedback received with people interested in
the employee’s development. Usually
discussed with direct superiors.
• FOLLOW-UP : Done through developing a
developmental plan.
• USED FOR DEVELOPEMTAL PURPOSE:
Administrative purpose such as promotions
and compensations. Cannot be used for
reward allocation.
• AVOIDANCE OF SURVEY FATIGUE: Can be
avoided by not staggering employees with too
many questionnaires.
• EMPHASIS ON BEHAVIOUR: Better to
emphasize on behavior (competencies)than
results. Helps in identifying concrete actions
for improving performance.
• RATERS GO BEYOND RATINGS : Raters provide
written descriptive feedback consisting of
constructive comments of areas of
improvement.
• RATERS ARE TRAINED: Skills of a well trained
rater include discrimination between good
and poor performance and provision of
constructive criticism.
APPLICATIONS
 Organizational change
It can be used to spur internal change by
involving all company stakeholders such as
senior management, departments, teams and
individual employees.
 Succession Planning

As leaders and top talent retire from the

organization, it will be crucial to identify and
develop employees for future leadership roles.
360 feedback helps pinpoint successful
leadership skills and behaviors that can be
developed in other employees. It is an integral
component of talent management.
 Training Assessment
Assesses the needs of employees and identifies
current knowledge and the learning needs of
individuals. A personalized employee
development plan is created to improve and
acquire new knowledge and skills.
Identifies organization needs and evaluates its
effectiveness.
Identify proficiency levels and tailor the training
program to its needs.