IntroductionThe goal of any 360º programme is organisational improvement. The best 360º initiatives are tightly integrated into well orchestrated performance management and development planning programmes. Behavioural feedback is an important diagnostic stage in a meaningful development process, and well managed development planning programmes can have demonstrable positive impact on organisational effectiveness, resulting in greater levels of productivity and lower levels of employee turnover.i In addition, there is much evidence to support the assertion that companies with robust performance management programmes outperform competitors lacking such systems in financial measures, such as return on equity, stockholder return, sales growth and cashflow.ii
There are however some horror stories of 360º programmes detracting from organisational effectiveness. Poorly designed and orchestrated programmes have been shown to be detrimental to the organisations’ talent strategy and demotivating for those involved.iii This usually happens when organisations underestimate the importance of relevant behavioural content, solid technology, professional feedback and effective project management.
So 360º feedback is not guaranteed to show you a return on investment. It is, after all, simply a diagnostic process. However, there are many studies which indicate that well orchestrated 360º programmes reap significant rewards for organisations and help improve individual performance,iv v and other studies demonstrating that 360º feedback is predictive of future performancevi.
The real return on investment from a 360º programme lies in its ability to bring about changes in employee behaviour in a way that creates competitive advantage for an organisation. To achieve this, a successful 360º programme requires that you have:
■ Clarity of purpose with explicit links to organisational objectives. ■ Quality behavioural competency frameworks and tools to execute the project. ■ A robust project plan.
The remainder of this Best Practice Guide will focus on these three areas and is aimed at supporting learning and development professionals in making an unrivalled success of 360º programmes.
Clarity of Purpose
Understand 360º
A 360º assessment is a diagnostic tool variously called multi-rater feedback, 360º feedback, 720º feedback or multi-source feedback. Typically used in a development context, 360º assessments are characterised by the collection of data around an individual’s performance at work from multiple colleagues (peers, direct reports, managers and sometimes clients) and the person themselves. Occasionally qualitative feedback from these groups is sought either in addition to or instead of a structured questionnaire. The criteria assessed are job and organisationally relevant behavioural statements often derived from the organisation’s competency framework. This diagnostic intervention forms an integral component of a successful virtuous learning circle through supporting the definition of effective behaviours and by providing a focus on the specific development needs of the individual.
A 360º assessment is obviously more extensive than upward feedback or 180º feedback, where managers are given feedback by their direct reports, and it is broader than traditional performance management processes where employees are most often reviewed only by their managers. 360º assessment has grown from relative obscurity in the 1980’s to being a core part of most Learning and Development (L&D) and Talent Development strategies in the 2000’s. Its value is often characterised by the multi-source feedback leading to a multi-dimensional view of an individual’s performance.
The data from a 360º assessment is fed back to the individual, usually with the intent that it achieves some or all of the following:
■ Provides insight on how they are perceived in the workplace by those with useful opinions on how they behave at work. This information can serve as a proxy measure for how they perform in their job.
■ Highlights their strengths and their areas of development against a set of relevant workplace criteria.
■ Feeds into the performance management process. ■ Provides important behavioural feedback to help prioritise development planning
activities. ■ Supports targeted development planning.
The data gathered is also typically used at an aggregated level to provide information on group level performance and to inform targeted training and development spend and/or succession planning projects.
It is worth noting that organisations who have not used 360º assessment before often find that the subsequent years of the programme are more successful than the first. Suspicion around how the data will be used is a typical reaction of first time recipients of a 360º assessment. The organisation needs to demonstrate in year one that the process is confidential and is there only to support the development of the individual and to grow organisational capability. For this reason some organisations prefer to introduce 360º programmes gradually, for example:
■ Basing the 360º assessment on a selection of competencies rather than on an entire job profile.
■ Selecting a subset of competencies that are pertinent to a current theme in the organisation (e.g. ‘managing change’).
■ Rolling the assessment out with senior management only in the first iteration and, once it is visibly supported and less threatening, rolling it out further down the organisation.
Organisational alignment
360º programmes with a clear purpose and objectives are likely to be more effective, particularly when they are aligned with organisational strategies and goals and can be linked to existing processes within the organisation.
Consider these questions: ■ How does this programme support the overall objective of organisational
improvement? ■ Is this link clear and tangible? ■ Does it have the support of the senior team? Is this support visible to the
participants? ■ Which aspect of the organisational strategy does it support? ■ Which of the organisation’s values is it aligned with?
The most successful 360º programmes are conceived as part of broader human capital strategies, most typically, leadership development or change management programmes. To be successful, there needs to be alignment of both purpose and process.
Whilst 360º assessment is mainly thought of as an initiative focussed on the individual, the additional benefits it can bring at an organisational level are significant. Analysis of the aggregated data from an organisational programme can support the realisation of these benefits. Aggregated analysis of 360º assessment data should always be carried out in order to:
■ Validate or inform the Training Needs Analysis process and in doing so inform a more targeted training and development spend.
■ Compare the relative bench strength of different departments. ■ Measure the impact of development initiatives over time. ■ Track organisational improvement over time.
Timing
Getting the timing of a 360º programme right is an important precursor to its success. At a strategic level, consider what changes are happening in the organisation and reflect on how the 360º programme supports this change process. For example in a downturn economy where there is a tightening of L&D budgets, 360º assessment and development planning projects can be used to reach a higher number of people at a lower per person cost to the organisation than other more ‘high-touch’ development programmes. In an upturn economy, a 360º programme can be used to motivate and engage employees, and in doing so support retention initiatives in times when there is high competition for talent.
More operationally, consider how the 360º assessment fits within the corporate culture or engagement survey’s timeline. How is it aligned with the performance management cycle? It is usually advisable to ensure that 360º programmes are not run close to decisions around pay increase awards so as to ensure the two processes are not perceived as related.
Investigate also if there are other organisational initiatives driven by other departments that would dilute the impact of the programme. For example, it may make sense to wait until after a customer satisfaction survey in order to see if the customer priorities indicate that the workforce needs to be primed to develop particular skills. In this scenario, the framework for a 360º assessment can include a measurement of the organisational bench strengths in that area and direct individuals that most need it, towards relevant development activity.
Finally, consider the timing for a re-run of the 360º assessment. A 360º programme, if it is to be successful, will not be a one-off occurrence. Continuous iterations of the programme should be planned. Many organisations run 360º programmes annually, however, any period of time is reasonable as long as you consider the expected rate of development of the target group.
Timing the 360º programme■ Do you work in a business that has cyclical peaks and troughs at different times of
the year? ■ If you work globally, are the cycles the same globally?■ What is the annual HR and L&D activity cycle? How might a 360º programme
impact on this cycle? How might it be aligned with these activities and support them?
Example One: Performance Management■ Is there a behavioural element to the organisation’s Performance Management
rating?■ Will the results of the 360º programme feed into this rating? ■ Is there a development planning process incorporated or alongside the performance
management process? ■ Will the 360º assessment results feed into identifying the developmental priorities?
Example Two: Management Development Programme ■ Are there Management Development Programmes running across your organisation
that will benefit from measurement? ■ A 360º programme can be aligned here to ensure that pre and post measures of
overall levels of management effectiveness are captured and used to demonstrate the effectiveness of the programme, or to highlight which components of the programme are more effective than others.
■ It can also provide an additional diagnostic to the measurement component of the Management Development Programme by directing the focus of the programme on areas where most development is required.
The instrument used in a 360º assessment process needs to describe the behaviours which relate to job performance. A 360º assessment is a measure of perceived performance, not of an individual’s estimated potential, therefore the questions need to be framed around observable behaviours that the individual has the opportunity to display in the course of their role.
If this is the first use of the instrument, or if it has been designed specifically for this application, checking the technical qualities of the instrument becomes more important. Areas to consider here are:
■ The extent to which the items actually relate to the competency or area being assessed.
■ The appropriate minimum numbers of items have been included per competency to ensure the breadth of the competency is assessed.
■ The extent to which it is psychometrically reliable.
Whether the same instrument is used across the organisation or for different job roles will depend on how relevant the behaviours are for the different groups involved. The instrument needs to describe specific work behaviours and ideally relate to existing measurement systems within the organisation, for example, competencies. It also needs to be in line with the organisation’s culture and values.
The questionnaire needs to be relevant to the raters and their day to day involvement with the individual. A well-designed questionnaire should offer respondents the opportunity to indicate where they have not had the opportunity to observe a behaviour, or where the behaviour is not relevant to the job, so as not to force them to guess. The length of the questionnaire is also worth noting. Given the span of control that many flat organisational structures contain, it is likely that the same people will be asked to complete a number of questionnaires. To make this practical and to retain value in the measurement, the length of the questionnaire must be considered, ideally taking no more than 20 minutes to complete.
These areas will now be covered in more detail.
Purpose drives content
The stated purpose of the 360º programme should drive the selection of appropriate content for the questionnaire. Consider what the purpose is:
■ To support the development of the individual in their current role (i.e. ‘pure’ development)?
■ To provide feedback on a set of competencies linked to the next level of management (talent management or succession planning)?
■ A combination of both of the above? ■ To give an input to a performance management process?
Answering these questions will help inform the final selection of content for the questionnaire. You may also want to consider to what extent you dictate the competencies that an individual is assessed against. Whilst most organisations will find it useful to select at least a core set of competencies that are relevant for a particular level of management, some organisations will prefer to give more flexibility to participants allowing them perhaps to focus on competencies that they feel are most important to their role. Ultimately it will be the purpose of the 360º programme that will dictate your decision.
Of particular note is the proposed use of 360º assessment as part of performance appraisal. This type of approach has been met with mixed success. In mature and open organisational cultures, with a strong performance appraisal system already in place, the use of 360º assessment in this way may be appropriate as one input.
Behavioural content
The content of a 360º assessment is most often behaviourally based and the questions are drawn from a relevant competency framework. The success of the programme will be directly linked to how relevant these competencies are to the current and future role of the individual being assessed. If your model is not fit-for-purpose you are likely to be embarking on a fruitless exercise.
Clues that your competency model may not be fit-for-purpose:
If your Model:■ has not been incorporated into, or does not reflect, the language of your organisation■ does not seem aligned with your organisation’s current strategy■ has not been integrated into other HR processes (selection, development,
performance management)■ of your organisation■ is not flexible enough to differentiate between managers at different levels of your
organisation■ has overlap between different competencies■ has not been reviewed for a number of years
If your organisation has:■ undergone significant and rapid growth■ gone through a merger or acquisition■ gone through major change or restructure
If people recruited against the competency model often: ■ are not a good fit for the organisation ■ underperform ■ leave the business
If your organisation’s competency-based development initiatives: ■ do not get the buy-in of your employees ■ do not achieve the desired results ■ do not deliver against the needs of the business
Organisations sometimes try to ensure that their values are assessed in their 360º assessment. The success of this will depend on whether the values can be expressed behaviourally. For example, if ‘putting the customer first’ is a value then one can easily translate this into a set of behavioural statements against which a participant can be assessed. Some values don’t lend themselves so well to this approach. If for example, ‘honesty’ is a value then it may be less easy or appropriate to ask raters to comment on an individual’s performance in this area, or to ask specific behavioural questions about it.
In most cases a set of behaviours can be defined that are a good expression of the organisation’s values. The next question to deal with is how the values are aligned with the organisation’s competencies. If ‘putting the customer first’ is both a value and a competency the questionnaire needs to be designed to avoid repetition. The best solution is to understand and carefully map out the linkages between the values and the competencies avoiding overlap and repetition between the two.
From competency model to 360º assessment
It is true to say that any 360º assessment will only be as good as the competency framework upon which it is based, but the work does not end there. Writing 360º questions (or statements) from your competency model is a skilled task. Below are just a few of the more concrete rules against which to judge the robustness of the content in a 360º assessment.
Each question (or statement) should: ■ be short (ideally eight or fewer words) ■ be relevant to the overall competency heading ■ be sufficiently specific to avoid diverse interpretations ■ avoid jargon and colloquialism ■ describe a single behaviour ■ describe behaviours, not outputs.
Moreover, if the organisation truly wishes to support participants in acting on the results of a 360º assessment, then the content development phase needs to include the creation of specific development advice for the behaviours that comprise competency framework. This can vary from giving specific behavioural tips to recommending specific training courses. The development content will be informed by the nature of the behavioural questions, the development resources available and the learning philosophy of the organisation.
Rating scale
There are two main options here. Firstly, a ‘frequency’ response scale, a measure of how often an individual displays a particular behaviour, or secondly, a ‘quality’ rating scale, a measure of how well an individual displays a particular behaviour. Neither is inherently better and what is important is how well the proposed rating scale matches the language of the competency model.
The response choices need to reflect equal intervals between each step and there will also typically be an option of providing a “No Evidence” response. Examples include:
Benchmarking individual 360º results has the advantage of allowing individuals to answer the common question “is that a good score?” by comparing their ratings with those of others. This can be a useful approach as average 360º ratings are typically greater than the mid-point on a 360º rating scale. However, it also carries the potential risk that individuals may over-interpret small differences between their ratings and the group average when these differences do not actually translate into differences in job performance.
The majority of 360º assessments have at least one open-ended questionviii. This allows the questionnaire respondent to bring some of their ratings to life by providing more context or examples. There is always a risk with open-ended questions that some people will use the opportunity to provide barbed or inappropriate comments. Whilst not a common occurrence, some thought should be given in the project planning stage as to whether this is a likelihood in your organisation, in light of the relationships and power-distance between the focus1 and those people completing the questionnaires. The role of the facilitator in taking decisions about how to deal with this feedback needs to be considered.
Reporting
Many options are available for reporting on the outcomes of 360º assessment, ranging from static computer generated reports to interactive web-enabled development planning tools. The best practice approach for your organisation will be dictated by a mixture of practical and cultural realities. Consider if your participants are able to access the internet to view their results. Are they IT literate enough to want or be able to access the results in this way? For example if you are carrying out a board-level 360º programme, participants may prefer to have a hard copy they can refer to between meetings and flights rather than an online output that they can’t access unless at a computer.
Advantages of online participant reporting:■ can allow for a more interactive feedback session■ online reports are often integrated into development planning templates increasing
the likelihood of development plans being worked on■ often easier to track changes over time
Advantages of paper-based participant reporting:■ physical report suits some participant groups■ useful in group feedback sessions
Processes and Project PlanningProduct components and features are highly important but they will fail without a well orchestrated process. Often underestimated, 360º programmes require a good degree of careful planning. This can be resource heavy and it is recommended that before going too far down the process a project plan is drawn up.
Project plan
A key reason for the failure of 360º programmes is the lack of thorough project planning. Here we present a sequential overview of the key steps to take into account when planning a 360º programme:
Planning Phase ■ Appoint a project manager and project team. ■ Scope the project and agree measures of success. ■ Agree outline timescales and milestones. ■ Agree process for selection or design of the competencies/behaviours. ■ Agree process for selection and rollout of IT platform. ■ Agree communication plan (discussed in greater detail on page 14).
Preparation Phase ■ Solution and build of IT platform. ■ Design supporting processes, e.g. the development plan and the development
advice. ■ Design communication materials. ■ Deliver the software and train the system users. ■ Project manager and pilot group to experience the process first. ■ Train those responsible in feeding back results. ■ Agree parameters for and carry out pilot project.
Assessment Phase ■ Brief initial feedback recipients and select assessors. ■ Brief assessors and line managers. ■ Enter participant and rater details into the 360º IT system. ■ System administers 360º assessment questionnaires. ■ Questionnaires completed by raters. ■ The assigned resource reminds (‘chases’) raters as appropriate.
Development Planning Phase ■ Brief recipients on receiving feedback. ■ Facilitator and recipient agree facilitation arrangements. ■ Results presented to the recipient by a facilitator. ■ Recipient draws conclusions and discusses with facilitator. ■ Recipient agrees a definitive development plan with facilitator.
Evaluation Phase ■ Measure the value of the process for the focuses. ■ Compare project outcomes against agreed initial measures of success. ■ Obtain feedback from focuses and raters, feedback providers and project
administrators. ■ Aggregate the skills data for useful management information e.g. for informing
Training & Development spend, Talent Management processes, etc. ■ Track progress of development plans. ■ Schedule a re-assessment process.
Communication plan
As with any such high-visibility initiative that impacts on a large number of people, a well orchestrated communication plan is vital to success. Your communication should include these points:
■ Purpose and benefits of the process. ■ Outcome of the process and ways in which the information can be used. ■ Process overview and time scales. ■ A demonstration of the system. ■ Who will be doing what. ■ The support available. ■ General advice re: “do’s and don’ts”. ■ Reassurance around the confidentiality of the process from senior stakeholders
within the organisation.
More specifically for each group the following points should be considered: ■ Focus:
■ Is participation voluntary? ■ What is the process for selecting raters? ■ How do they get access to the system/questionnaire? ■ How will feedback be provided (face-to-face, report, internally or externally
facilitated)? ■ Who will have access to the results and how will they be used? ■ How is the security of the data being managed? ■ What are the timelines for the process? ■ How can individuals raise concerns about the fairness and appropriateness of the
process or their results? ■ What resources are available to support the developmental plans that emerge
from the feedback? ■ Raters*:
■ Who will see their responses? ■ Is it anonymous? ■ Who should they contact with queries? ■ How many raters are being asked to complete in each category? ■ Provide some advice on the type of qualitative comments they should make.
■ Project Administrators: ■ How should they handle queries from focuses and raters? ■ How do they use the IT system and how do they get further support?
What are the timelines for the project and who has responsibility for managing this? ■ Feedback Providers:
■ What training will be provided? ■ Who will co-ordinate the feedback? ■ What are the expected outcomes from the feedback session? ■ What other resources are available to the focus after the feedback?
* A separate communication process needsto be considered for the customer group.
■ HR and L&D: ■ What is their role in the process? ■ How should they handle queries? ■ How is this process aligned with the HR or L&D strategy and other initiatives in
these departments? ■ Line management of the focus:
■ Do they understand and support the initiative? ■ How is it linked with the organisational strategy? ■ What is their role in the process?
As well as the communication groups it can be useful to work through the types of communication medium you are going to use (see Table 1).
Table 1. Key communication methods to consider:
■ Use senior stakeholder e-mail for:
a. Introduction and general announcements about the processb. Providing overview documentation and points of contact for the process
■ Use Group Briefing sessions for:
a. Providing a more detailed overview of the project stagesb. Allowing participants to voice queries and concernsc. Reassuring focus and raters of confidentiality of the process
■ Use a Support Phone line/e-mail box for:
a. Providing on-going support for those going through the processb. Identifying specific issues or growing concerns that may need to be addressed more
generally
Project administration
The administration resources for the successful execution of a 360º project can be significant. Some consideration should be given here as to whether you have the resources to run the project internally or require outsourced services. Key administration activities are likely to include:
1) Collating a list of raters for each focus.
A 360º programme will have a process for agreeing who are appropriate raters for each person. Some respondents, i.e. line manager and self are obvious, however other groups, e.g. peers, direct reports and customers, need careful consideration. The final choice of raters is often driven by the individual but reviewed and ‘signed-off’ by the individual’s line manager or the L&D department. The administration of this process can be time consuming and involve a lot of ‘chasing’ and checking.
2) Entering raters and focus details (such as e-mail addresses) intothe IT system.
Once raters and focuses are finalised they will need to be collated and entered into an IT system.
3) Tracking completion rates & reminding raters to complete.
As the project progresses the 360º questionnaire completion rates will need to monitored. Periodic reminders will need to be sent out to individuals or groups. Whilst IT systems can be used to manage this process, experience dictates that the ‘human touch’ will be required in some cases to ensure the best response rates possible are achieved.
4) Collating / generating 360º feedback reports.
Once questionnaires have sufficient raters to be considered ‘complete’ there is typically some collation of the results, generation and often printing of a report.
5) Co-ordinating feedback sessions.
Like any exercise involving many stakeholders there will be a significant amount of time spent scheduling and re-scheduling. If external providers are being used to provide feedback sessions this can reduce the administration burden here.
6) Dealing with queries from focus and raters.
Quite often the project administrator will be the first line of support for raters, focus and feedback providers with questions or seeking reassurance about the process.
Running a pilot
A pilot is a critical aspect of a 360º programme. It helps remove some of the uncertainties through allowing a small and safe trial group to experience the end-to-end process. It provides useful information for further detailed planning and communication. If it is the first use of the questionnaire, then piloting also allows for a review of the content.
It is generally recommended to run a pilot 360º project with a small subset of the larger group. Ideally, the pilot group would have a positive attitude generally to 360º assessment and be willing to be open-minded and honest in their evaluation of how it worked.
Quite often the HR or L&D department are a good target group for a pilot. Key advantages of running a pilot include:
■ Ensuring the content of the questionnaire is appropriate. ■ Ensuring the IT system has no bugs or performance issues. ■ Enabling the project administrators to become accustomed with dealing with
common issues/queries. ■ Identifying any process issues that need adjusting. ■ An estimation or check of the administration resources and timelines that will be
Effective facilitation of the feedback is central to a successful 360º programme. Skilled facilitators can make the difference between a participant taking action with their results or leaving them on the shelf and are likely to be more adept at dealing with common negative reactions to feedback such as rationalisation or outright rejection of results. They are likely to use psychological models for the provision of feedback to heighten the likelihood that the participant will gain acceptance of the results and be motivated to take action on them.
The typical objectives of a facilitated feedback session
Most sessions typically have some or all of these sequential objectives: ■ To enable the participant to understand their feedback report. ■ To enable the participant to identify the strengths and development areas that
emerge from the feedback report. ■ To assist the participant in identifying and prioritising areas to be taken forward in a
development plan.
The session may also include more formal development planning, such as the completion of a Personal Development Plan template and there may be scope to agree further follow-up sessions with a facilitator, coach or line manager and where further support can be obtained and periodic reviews of the plan carried out. The responsibilities of these parties and the resources available to the participant should be clearly explained.
Who will deliver the feedback?
For organisations with little internal experience of 360º assessment it can be sensible to have some or all of the feedback facilitated by an external party. This increases confidence in the confidentiality of the process and ensures high quality feedback experiences. Subsequently, training the internal L&D experts on providing 360º feedback is entirely plausible and indeed in organisations with a strong culture and skill base around providing feedback, line managers may be best placed to provide the feedback. They will however need to be tasked to act on the feedback as well or you risk losing the benefits of the programme.
Most organisations vouch for a mix of using external and internal resources to provide the feedback, often using external resources for the more senior and ‘difficult’ feedbacks where confidentiality and experienced facilitation is most crucial.
How long will it take?
Feedback sessions will typically take 60-120 mins. The duration of the feedback will depend on:
■ The objectives you want to achieve, e.g. how much feedback of results versus development planning will be possible in the session
■ The resources available to the individual after the feedback, both to review the results and build and execute their development plan
■ The experience of the individual in 360º assessments ■ The number of competencies being reviewed.
The creation of a Personal Development Plan should be an integral part of any 360º programme.
It will assist the individual to: ■ Crystallise their objectives ■ Identify a path towards achieving these ■ Improve their progress towards their personal goals ■ Improve working relationships and the working environment ■ Ultimately, improve their job performance and satisfaction.
Development plan formats vary, and a good plan will have more than just 360º data feeding into it but at the very least, the plan should encourage the recipient to:
■ Identify key strengths and development needs, and consider their implications for the short and longer term.
■ Consider their development in the context of business/departmental plans. ■ Select a manageable number of specific skills or behaviours to tackle as priorities,
with short-term targets to stimulate action. ■ Follow up on specific issues with raters, i.e. gather more detail. ■ Focus on issues of real benefit to the individual and organisation. ■ Detail what they will do in practical terms, with timescales and outcomes defined. ■ Define the benefits expected from the development. ■ Identify the support they will need (what and from whom). ■ Keep the plan as a ‘living’ document that they commit to keeping up-to-date.
One suggested successful process towards the facilitation of the feedback of 360º data into a development plan is given here:
STEP 1 Consider, business objectives, targets and career aspirations Individuals are asked to:
■ Write down the business objectives that are important for them to be effective in their jobs, and how they would measure success
■ Write down their short-term career aspirations (next 1-2 years) ■ Identify what they are aiming towards so that the behaviours they choose to
change can help them achieve this.
STEP 2 Identify the three key competencies that will best help meet the above.The individual is asked to identify the three key competencies that would have most impact in helping them achieve their objectives (these may already be strengths).
STEP 3 Review the results, looking at best and worst behaviours.The individual is then asked to explore the results from the 360º assessment. This is best done with a facilitator.
STEP 4 Identify the behavioural strengths / development needs
The individual is then asked to answer the question, “what behaviours should I develop to radically improve my performance?”
STEP 5 Use these identified areas to produce a personal development plan with Specific Measurable Achievable Realistic & Time-bound objectives.
Trends in 360ºThe last ten years have brought a great degree of learning around how to build better IT systems, how to integrate 360º assessments into core HR and L&D processes and on how to run a smooth and successful project. There is now widespread acceptance that 360º programmes, when implemented correctly, can add significant value to individual and organisational development.
Time has also seen a growing sophistication in the understanding of the place of 360º assessment as a diagnostic tool rather than an end in itself. There has been an acceptance that 360º assessment is an early and significant part of a development process and that a lot of focus needs to be injected into the development planning stage to ensure the development needs identified are acted upon. Organisations are becoming more adept at using organisational level data from 360º programmes to guide their development spend and to help them focus on the initiatives that will have maximum impact.
There has been a significant increase in the use of 360º assessment in broad-based leadership development, and in succession planning programmes, to support the identification of key talent. It is also now established as a key input into coaching discussions where professional external coaches often have very little information about individuals.
As time progresses we can expect to see the company-level 360º assessment data having an even more central role in the development and guidance of organisational strategy. A more seamless technological integration of 360º assessment data into talent management systems will support more significant levels of real-time decision-making, based on the reliable measure of human capital bench-strength that 360º can provide. Moreover, the integration of 360º data into broader Management Information and financial systems will make the link between ‘people performance’ and ‘organisational performance’ more meaningful, thus improving the capacity to accurately represent the value of human capital on an organisation’s balance sheet.
Closing comments: Nine ‘Must Do’s’ ■ Ensure you secure visible senior management involvement and support ■ Focus your 360º assessment on critical behaviours that increase performance ■ Don’t underestimate the importance of project planning and communications ■ Facilitate, share and support the feedback of results ■ Produce clear business-orientated development plans ■ Follow up and support the implementation of the development plan ■ Use organisational level 360º data to inform strategy decisions ■ To achieve the best results, plan for an ongoing 360º programme - not a one off
single initiative ■ Link the outcomes of the project back to organisational objectives in order to
ii Boston Consulting Group (2008). Creating People Advantage.
iii Watson Wyatt Human Capital Index (HCI) (2001). Human Capital as a lead indicator of Shareholder Value.
iv Reilly, R., Smither, J.W., & Vasilopoulos, N. (1996). A longitudinal study of upward feedback. Personnel Psychology, 49(3), 599-612.
v Walker, A., & Smither, J.W. (1999). A five-year study of upward feedback: What managers do with their results matters. Personnel Psychology, 52(2), 393-423.
vi Maylett, T. M., & Riboldi, J. (2007). Using 360° Feedback to Predict Performance. Training + Development, September, 48-52.
vii Mumford, A. (1994). Gower Handbook of Management Development.
viii 3D Group (2009). The 10 most common 360-degree Feedback Practices.
