360 Degree Feedback Best Practice

A more common request now when implementing performance appraisals has been the desire on the part of our clients to incorporate multi-rater feedback (typically from other managers) in the appraisal process.

Taken to it's logical extreme, there would be 360 degree feedback from all individuals who could offer valid feedback on that persons behaviour.

However, sometimes it is a good step forward to introduce the idea of multi-rater feedback into an organisation but making it a natural part of the appraisal process; it contributes to a more rounded view on an individual, it creates familiarity with the concept and offers the individual some useful insights, albeit still short of peers and direct reports offering feedback.

When this is coupled with that multi-rater feedback centering on competencies or qualities, then the foundations being laid to phase in 360 degree feedback is even stronger.

John

Just read a short and concise blog post which made a really great point of what can be an empowering starting point with any 360 feedback debrief; namely, highlighting someone's strengths and see how it highlights their weaknesses as well.

An overplayed strength can become a weakness as can an underplayed one; very often this focus on strengths can help someone consider their development areas with a more open frame of mind.

John

During a recent conversation around coaching, one of the group discussing the topic had an interesting background in teaching and working with 'problem' children as the media might describe them.

I asked whether there was a common theme to those children who turned things around and were able to forge a better life for themselves; without pause, the answer came 'they took responsibility for their lives'.

As a coach and specifically in the context of 360 degree feedback debriefs, I am similarly struck by the way in which individuals, having read their 360 feedback report and increased their levels of self-awareness, take varying levels of responsibility for the impact of their behaviours.

Change comes when they say 'OK, what can I do about this situation?' rather than absolving themselves by saying 'Well they would say that', 'It's not my fault, they don't listen', etc etc.

There is a lot in the news which talks of people's rights and how there is a need to emphasise more about people's responsibilities - the starting point with this shift comes through that age old idea of 'facing up' to one responsibilities or becoming self-aware.

John

Sometimes when debriefing an individual on their 360 degree feedback report, you may find that it is relatively bland or 'middle of the road'; the individual neither excels in some areas or is deemed to be in serious need of development in others.

This can seem like a difficult scenario to manage; it may feel that there is nothing to celebrate and little to focus on regards development opportunities, so the conversation may fizzle out.

However, the key here is to allow the individual to consider which competencies could become real strengths and make the most difference in their current role.

The development part of this 360 feedback discussion then shifts to 'do more of this' and consideration of small adjustments that would have them go from good to great.

John

A quick post to point out the most recent 'Horizon' programme on BBC2 earlier this week; entitled 'The Secret You' it delves into the idea of what is consciousness.

At Bowland we are immersed in 360 degree feedback and the part it plays in raising an individual's self-awareness, making them more conscious of what decisions they are making, why they are making those decisions and the affect of their subsequent behaviour on others.

Fascinating stuff!

John

We have been running some client seminars recently and the feedback has been so positive that we have decided to put a new seminar together and make it available to all.

Title: “How to succesfully implement a 360 degree feedback process within your organisation”
Date:  December 2009
Venue: Central London
 

• Understand the critical factors that will ensure success when introducing 360 into your business
• Take away a checklist to help you work logically through the implementation process
• Appreciate the key principles that will help you design a great questionnire, communicate    effectively to get company wide 'buy-in' and facilitate face-to-face debriefs.

This seminar will be very interactive and allow plenty of opportunity to network with other delegates, discuss best practice and offer ample time for Q & A if you have specific issues to be addressed. Places will be free but limited, so f you would be interested in attending please forward an email to john@bowlandsolutions.com and we will send you specific details in due course.

Tongue firmly in cheek here with the title, but it is another common 360 degree feedback debrief scenario; the recipient who has contradictory feedback from respondents.

This 360 feedback could be polarised within a respondent group i.e. within their 'direct reports' category, with some direct reports believing the recipient has a clear strength whilst others see it as a key development area.

Similarly, this can happen between respondent groups i.e. 'peers' might hold a very different view to the 'direct reports'; in both instances, this is highlighting that one group of people have a very different experience of the recipient to another group of people.

Why is this happening? This is the very issue to be explored in the 360 feedback debrief; it probably reflects the relationships the indvidual has with these different groups of people.

So, you would simply ask the recipient why they may have a different perception; how do they behave with one group to the next? Are they aware of a difference?

They may not be, so this vein of questionning can help discover if the recipient treats certain people differently to others.

At the same time, you must discourage a 'witch hunt'; typically heard as ''Well they would say that!" or "I know who said that, so I am not really bothered".

All of these comments suggest the recipient is still focussed on others behaviours rather than their own.

John

Following on from the theme of my last post around 360 degree feedback debriefs, another scenario we encounter is where the recipient has an excellent 360 feedback report.

This again is a question we often have asked in our training programme; 'What should I do if there are just no development areas?'.

The first thing to note is that there are always development areas; there is always something an individual could choose to do differently in their role or towards a role they aspire to.

So firstly with an excellent report, the debrief should still take time to explore the very strong feedback and narrative; the recipient should be encouraged to take the time to celebrate it and enjoy it, because they may not have had this type of 360 feedback before.

You may ask them if any of this great feedback comes as a surprise; draw their attention to particular examples of great behaviour and highlight the noted impact on others and the organisation.

When it comes to what they might see as 'things to do differently' or development opportunities they may seize upon, then this is where you can ask them if the strengths highlighted might be deployed to even greater effect across the organisation.

Asking this type of question and raising the issue of where this person sees themself in 12-18  months time can help focus their mind of what strengths are really important to demonstrate even more if they are to fulfil their ambitions.

One might argue that this is an 'easier' type of 360 feedback debrief; however, the truth is that is perhaps even harder than most, as you have to fight against complacency and an opportunity just to pat someone on the back!

John

A recent article in 'Management Today' highlighted a common scenario which is always raised as a concern in our own one-day training programme, 'How to conduct effective 360 degree feedback debriefs', and that is 'What do I do if they just won't accept the negative feedback?'

The answer provided is good at highlighting that there is a need for validation of the recipient's position; after all, it is subjective feedback that has been provided, so their 'worldview' is just as important.

However,  if there is an overwhelming feedback and a broad perception in their 360 feedback report, that they exhibit behaviours which others find difficult, then it is worth emphasising that whilst this alternative worldview is different to their own, it cannot be ignored.

Denial and justification will be uppermost in many of these types of 360 feedback debrief conversations, and ultimately you can only take some one so far in accepting that there is feedback worth paying attention to.

Ways to break through though can come about when asking what the consequence will be if these two 'worldviews' are allowed to continue? Can they carry on in 'harmony' albeit very different?

This is unlikely; more likely is the fact that as the recipient considers the consequences of continuing in the same way for the next 12 months, they will see a risk attached to this approach; continuing conflict, an impact on performance and ultimately something will have to give, which could be their role, aspirations within the organisation, etc.

John

I will be facilitating a session on Friday 11th September for the 'TJ Forum South Group' also known as the 'Challenge Yourself' network ,entitled 'The trials and tribulations of implementing 360 Degree Feedback'.

This event is now full, but the network is growing, thriving and very active, so if you would be interested in joining and attending future events, then just drop a note to Sam Swinstead of Challege Manager.

Sam does a tremendous job of creating and organising events that cover a range of topics throughout the year, so bias aside, if you are based in the South and want to learn & network with a diverse group of people, then I think you should get stuck in!

John

We often talk about the face-to-face meeting where the 360 degree feedback report is shared with a recipient as being the most important element of the whole process.

We call this the 'debrief' and have discussed before what we feel is the purpose of this session and what constitutes a successful outcome; namely, a higher level of self-awareness and some sense of acceptance of the feedback.

We believe that with this having been achieved, an individual has the inherent ability to decide what needs to change, how they can improve and how they should develop themselves.

This is highlighted again in a recent article in People Management magazine by Sir John Whitmore, who talks about 'high awareness and high responsibility'; as line managers and leaders develop themselves from within through understanding themselves better, they are more able to help their reports in a similar way.

John

Two recent articles supported our own experience over the first 4 months of this year, which is that the use of 360 Degree Feedback is on the rise.

The first cited a recent CIPD survey, "War on Talent?..", which highlighted Leadership Skills as one of the most important skills in meeting business objectives in the coming years (81%).

Despite the fact that L & D budgets are being curtailed, we are still seeing a firm committment to Leadership Development Programmes, as organisations realise that they must allocate their training spend carefully and ensure that they nuture the talent that will navigate them out of the downturn.

A natural precursor to any leadership development is 360 Degree Feedback; it offers an excellent way to get anecdotal evidence of performance and behaviours both pre- and post-programme, and to assess any changes that may have happened as a consequence of the training.

Certainly an article on senior management development at Cable & Wireless in the latest 'Human Resources Magazine' makes reference to this; they use 360 Degree Feedback in combination with the training and various ongoing interventions such as coaching and one-to-ones.

With limited budgets and leadership top of the agenda, it becomes increasingly important to measure the success of any initiative, particularly one where the very future success of the organisation is at stake.

John

We are in the midst of a popular time for annual appraisals at the moment; we see a sudden uplift in interest in creating efficient on-line performance review processes.

As ever, we advise and guide clients as to what good practice looks like when conducting the annual reviews, but increasingly we are having discussions around what should happen in-between the annual reviews....i.e. those 12 months from one review to the next...!

Not unsuprisingly, we suggest that there should be more frequent reviews over the course of the year, coupled with more forward looking conversations about what needs to happen in order for performance to improve.

Invariably for performance to improve, there has to be feedback; there has to be comment on how someone is performing in the moment, in order to raise their self-awareness and enable them to decide to do things differently.

If someone you were coaching was running a marathon and they wanted to achieve their best possible time, how often would you give this feedback? At the end of the race or as they ran?

A good blog post at KnowHR recently on performance reviews, which hgihlighted a recent publication offering a whole series of stock phrases for line managers to use in the annual appraisal.

I can understand the need to support line managers to help them conduct constructive performance reviews, but feel that offering 'phrases to memorise' send out the wrong message.

The review is meant to a process which leads to a meaningful conversation, just as any other conversation should be between an employee and their line manager.

Far better to offer tips, advice and guidance on how to have a meaningful and authentic conversation as two adults then to focus on getting through the process with a 'pick & mix' list

This was a key question at a recent networking event and forum, where the desire was to find a new way to implement performance appraisals and performance management in a way that was productive and engaging.

We often find that when talking to clients about another area of our expertise, namely, 360 degree feedback, that this question of 'Why are we doing this?' is more readily discussed and easier to identify.

This is because the concept of conducting a 360 degree feedback process is a conscious decision for the organisation; it might support a leadership development programme or be part of an assesssment centre initiative - in any case, it is evaluated with a specific purpose in mind.

However, when it comes to performance appraisals, this conversation doesn't always happen, because there are just accepted as 'something we have to do'.

As a consequence, it can become easy to focus on the process and the detail of performance appraisals, without really considering what you hope to achieve with them.

Once there is a clear understanding of what you truly want performance management and appraisals to acheive within the business, ideas as to how you can make them productive and engaging become much easier.

I read a recent article in the Harvard Business Review which made me  reflect on how placing performance appraisals on-line made things easy for everyone concerned, and here's why...

It discussed how lasting behavioural change can often come about through changes to ones environment.

The author described examples from everyday life, where for example, he moved their garden furniture to outside their patio doors rather than in the garden - suddenly where they once aspired to eat outside and enjoy the weather, but didn't because the table and chairs were 'too far down the garden' - they found themselves eating outside all the time....why?

He attributed to the simple fact that it was perceived as being 'easier' to do it....just open the patio doors and sit down!

The act of making the environment more conducive to sitting down outside, made it more likely to happen.

He extends the same observation to work life; if you can make it easier for people to do something, or have them perceive it as being easier, then there is a greater chance of them doing it.

He cites many examples but not unsurprisingly my interest was in the comment regarding making day-to-day tasks simpler by using technology; for us this is the most straightforward argument for on-line performance appraisals - it just makes things easier.

We consistently see improved completion rates, higher levels of engagement, and a more cohesive approach to appraisals because on-line systems make it easier to administer and use.

Given the fact that we have a rapidly growing base of some 30,000 users accessing our on-line performance appraisal and 360 degree feeback systems every day, I was keen to attend the recent Social Networking Forum at Olympia this week.

We have a community of users that already interact with us regularly and with the technology changing at such a fast pace, this ability to listen, engage and respond can only improve.

The media often skew the picture around 'social networking' as being the domain of Facebook or My Space and alike - as a consequence, it can be perceived as something that adds little value to the day-to-day productivity of an employee and subsequently the organisation.

However, the idea of establishing network of individuals who can help each other, pass on knowledge, and experience that relates to their work makes perfect sense.

With some careful forethought, one could establish communities that actually create efficiencies and improve productivity through sharing best practice on many tasks that are common to most organisations; one such area would be performance appraisals.

As with worked with so many different clients, we often share best practice through our discussions as we advise, guide and suggest ways to implement an online appraisal process.

To open up this discussion to a wider audience both within the client organisation or between organisations could help to create a new standard in performance management and appraisals.

Now, let's have a look at this thing called 'Twitter'......!

Enticing a title as it is, with the promise of one key thing to remember in sharing 360 degree feedback reports, there is a grain of truth to it!

Having run another of our one-day training programme, 'Conducting effective 360 degree feedback debriefs', I reflected on what was the key thing that most delegates appeared to take away from the day.

It centered around one of the first topics within the programme, which is to ask 'What is the purpose of the debrief?'; this in turn, has the delegates explore what their role is within the debrief.

The key fact is that the debrief is not a coaching session, although coaching skills may be deployed; similarly, it is not a counselling session, albeit that appropriate support of the individual is required; and finally, it is not a mentoring session, you are not there primarily to offer your insight or experience..

So, what is the purpose of the debrief?

It is to ensure that the recipient comes away with a balanced understanding of the feedback they have been given.

In doing this, you as a debriefer look to raise their level of self-awareness and ensure that there is a degree of acceptance of the feedback.

I think this is best illustrated with the following simple image:


Your role is to primarily allow the recipient to explore the feedback, raise their levels of self-awareness and take responsibility.

It is all too easy to jump over the line too quickly and try to have someone set goals, take actions, etc before they have had that chance to reflect and accept the feedback.

Resist this temptation in the debrief and the indvidual will reap the rewards.

 A recent survey published in Personnel Today highlighted how HR strategy is changing in the current climate with 72% prioritising performance management in businesses where changes were being implemented.

Those organisations that were adapting to the new environment, had shifted their emphasis from recruitment to retention - despite the overwhelming talk of organisations shedding jobs, there is a real effort for many companies to ensure they manage their existing employee base to best effect whilst imposing a recruitment freeze.

This means effective performance management, performance reviews, regular feedback and a need to fully engage employees in order to maximise their contribution and retain them.

The need to identify talent within an organisation, and then to successfully manage, develop & retain that talent should always be a priority; the current situation has simply brought this more sharply into focus.