What Are the Benefits of 360 Degree Feedback?

by David Ingram, studioD Google

The comprehensive performance appraisal system, 360-degree feedback, provides employees with feedback from people all around them in the organizational hierarchy: supervisors, co-workers and subordinates all contribute their input on the employee&amp;#039;s performance and behavior. A number of distinct benefits can be realized from this type of appraisal, and this technique has been gaining widespread popularity among small businesses.

Perspective and Impact

By using a wide range of perspectives, 360-degree feedback allows employees to gain a more thorough understanding of their impact on people they interact with every day. Individuals tend to judge others based on their own experiences and expectations, which can skew results. Supervisors, for example, may judge employees based on their output, while co-workers judge others based on their pleasantness, and subordinates judge supervisors based on their fairness. Combining perceptions from all of these viewpoints helps provide a more complete analysis. Multiple perspectives also lend credibility to the results of 360-degree feedback, making appraisal results more meaningful to the one being reviewed and increasing the likelihood that it will result in real behavioral change.

Relationships and Trust

Traditional review systems can damage superior-subordinate relationships through a number of factors, including superiors basing their appraisals on recent performance while subordinates base their expectations on the entire year. Unlike these traditional appraisals, 360-degree feedback fosters an environment of teamwork and trust. Employees work together, committing themselves to total honesty and helping each other gain an understanding of their performance and actions. This experience, especially when appraisal results are positive, can build trust among employees to foster high-performance teams and effective organizations.

Executive Appraisal

The 360-degree feedback is ideal for conducting appraisals for top-level executives. Executives have traditionally found it difficult to obtain genuine feedback on their performance, often assuming that the company&amp;#039;s success or failure is a reliable indicator of their personal effectiveness. While this is true to a certain extent, much can be gained by allowing lower-level managers and employees to provide feedback without the fear of retribution. Reviews can be conducted openly or anonymously. With executive appraisals, however, conducting an anonymous review can elicit the most honest, genuine responses.

Job Satisfaction

In addition to offering managers a closer look at their own performance by reading their appraisals, subordinates can derive added job satisfaction simply by assessing their supervisors. Asking a subordinate to rate a supervisor proves that management cares about employees&amp;#039; opinions and satisfaction. Watching a positive change occur in a manager&amp;#039;s behavior due to the results of 360-degree feedback makes employees feel they are valued and have the power to effect positive change in their workplace. This can help promote long-term employee loyalty.

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