360 Degree Feedback

360 Degree Feedback System

Introduction:

What is 360 Degree Feedback System?

360-degree feedback is a powerful tool that allows organizations to give employees and executives’
feedback from those who work with them, peers, managers, subordinates and even customers.
When done effectively, 360-degree feedback can transform individuals and organizations for the
better.

The 360-degree feedback process relies on information usually gathered through a survey using
self-evaluations, supervisor evaluations, and sometimes customer evaluations.

Responses are rated numerically. Higher scores represent strengths and lower scores represent
weaknesses. Gaps between your self-assessment scores and scores provided by other respondents
represent either hidden strengths or developmental opportunities and blind spots.

Evaluations are usually completed online or over the phone. Surveys can also be completed on
paper and submitted by hand or by fax. International or multi-cultural organizations can prepare and
conduct surveys in different languages.

Creation of Actionable Knowledge

Managerial effectiveness is always a concern in any organizational setting. Huge amount is spent
with an expectation to gain productive and effective manager. It becomes easier to identify the
progress with 360 degree feedback because pre and postassessments of managerial skills,
employee’s attitude and manager’s performance is incorporated in the system. Indeed, long lasting
performance in managerial skills and performance indicators have been found when 360 degree
feedback was implemented.

Current Study

Controlling skills enhance performance by facilitating control of details, use of goal pressure and
monitoring of results. Interactive skills represent supportive interpersonal behavior, that ensure
positive relation and feedback, participation, communication and coaching. Contolling and
interactive skills are similar to task behavior and relationship behavior common to the leadership
literature, except a focus in 360 degree feedback, is how well a manager does something than hoe
frequently he does something.

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To build trusting relation among managers, they can be asked to share problems and develop
solutions for them. Members of the team who most resembled the ideal manager, with balanced set
of interactive and controlling skills can be asked to serve as mentors to others

Hypothesis

Overall, 360 degree feedback will be associated with improvements in reactions, cognitions,
behavior and outcomes.

Culture is likely to affect 360 degree feedback. The nature of the process of seeking and providing
multiple sources of feedback is based on values and assumptions which are different.

Internalizing the 360 degree feedback process

Reactions are normally assessed by participants affective responses at a single point in time relating
to intervention. We can assess changes in employees attitudes, commitment, morale and tension
before and after the intervention to explore effectiveness of 360 degree feedback. The logic here is
two fold. First, most research on participant reactions to 360 degree feedback represents the
participant reaction is the function of favourableness of the feedback. Second, the feedback received
by a manager should spark a reaction consistent with the attitudes of data provided by the
subordinates juxtaposed against the expected versus unexpected nature of information.

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Hypothesis 2:

The 360 degree feedback will elicit stronger positive reactions in nations having uncertainty
avoidance and individualism.

Cognitions

Improvements in self awareness are expected with 360 degree feedback, as indicated by greater
agreement in manager-subordinate relation of interactive and controlling skills. As the participant
manager has the opportunity to compare self ratings, attention can be given to areas of
disagreement. An outcome of the learning process for the manager when feedback is gathered for
subsequent rounds is greater agreement or high self awareness. While self awareness per se is
hardly determined culturally, the ability and the desire to reconcile the differences in self other
perceptions is likely to be influenced by the culture.

Hypothesis 3:

The 360 degree process will generate stronger positive changes in self awareness of interactive and
controlling skills among managers in nations with low power distance, low uncertainty avoidance &
individualistic values.

Behaviours:

The predominant values of 360 degree feedback supports low power distance and individualistic
cultures. Improved managerial effectiveness would be expected in those areas. HR interventions
targeted towards individuals have found its more successful in nations with masculine values.

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Given the reluctance of people from high power distance value cultures to criticize or evaluate
those at higher levels, we can expect those effectiveness ratings to be further impacted by cultural
differences.

Summary (till now):

We have attempted to understand 360 degree feedback, a common management technique, which
creates knowledge for the participants and learnings take place. Secondly, cultural relevance during
the process is explored. We have noticed differences in reaction, cognition and behavioural changes
during the process.

Results:

Commitment, morale , tension self awareness of controlling skills, interactive skills and
effectiveness is rated by either superior or direct reports all improved. There can hardly any
improvement in controlling skills. Thus, 360 degree feedback creates actionable knowledge.

Hypothesis 2 predicted that affective responses (reaction) would be more positive where values
consistent with the 360 degree process prevail ( low power distance, low uncertainty avoidance,
individualism and control over environment).

Hypothesis 3 concentrated on greater improvements in self awareness which is expected in a culture

with low power and individual values.

While coaches and internal human resources, organizational development and training staff
members may have experienced this, many managers fail to be equipped with this. While a
feedback report may look simple and easy to understand, communicating the output in the report in
a balanced and thorough method can be complex.

Regardless of the objective of 360 degree, the number of topics, competencies and questions, the
type of scale used, or labels of different relations (manager, direct reports or peers), there are many
similarities that apply to most 360 degree feedback processes. While reports look different
depending upon the software used, there are usually similarities in some of the output.

While reviewing a leader’s report, we need to look for a balanced feedback. Balance is imperative –
it is important to identify the things done well and the areas of improvement.

For example, if a person is rated low on ‘teamwork’ but his profile requires him to work alone then
the rating is of little concern to this person. Therefore, he probably needs to work on some other
competencies.

Assuming that raters perform their job seriously, raters will generally share more constructive
feedback if the output of 360 degrees is hardly linked with compensation and succession planning.

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The meeting will be more efficient if he gets a chance to go through the report before the meeting.
An interactive discussion is the best. A leader may say something along the lines of : “ Someone is
really upset with me and I know he gives me bad scores.” Since the scores are anonymous, hardly
anyone knows what is the truth.

Response to this type of comment is to look at the relativity of the scores. Look at the four of the six
highest scores and ask the leader, “Do you believe this is where you excel?’’ Then look at the four
low scoring questions and ask the leader if the scores make sense. The conversation will go
smoothly, and the prioritization for action planning will be easier.

The Report Introduction

The report introduction should be read before the leader starts reviewing his scores. The report sets
a stage so that the leader can :

 Avoid trying to figure it what is said by whom

 Look for trends
 Look for balanced feedback, both on the high scoring and low scoring ends.
 Use the information to determine what the next steps will be

Implementation Models of 360 degree Feedback:

Effects on organizational context (culture and climate) from implementing a 360 degree system

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Department of Psychology, Abant Izzet Baysal University, Bolu, Turkey

The current study aims to investigate impact of 360 degrees on organizational context (culture and
climate). Results have shown that 360 degrees feedback has effects on organizational context (e.g.
employees perception about support and achievement culture). The results also have revealed some
significant impacts on participants perception of communication and performance appraisal in the
system

Keywords:

Organizaional context, Organizational Culture, Organizational Climate, 360 degree feedback,

multisource feedback, Organizational Communication, Performance Appraisal

Employees in many organizations have acquired greater autonomy with new work roles, as work
team members (e.g. in manufacturing), as Knowledge Workers (e.g. Software Engineers) or in other
ways (e.g. empowered customer service representatives in financial services). These changes raise
difficult questions about how to manage these workers. Older ‘’command’’ and ‘’control’’
techniques of management are inappropriate for both motivational and practical reasons.

In recent years, while there has been an increase in interest in the empowerment of the employees in
organizations, the practice of 360 degree feedback is widely adopted. Multi source feedback can
align in an organizations promotion of empowerment with organization’s performance measuremen
nd evaluation procedures. Much of the philosophy behind the multi source feedback is to manage
employees by instilling priorities (emphasizing ends such as affect on employees behavior on
customer) instead of closely supervising individuals (emphasizing means to ends)

This study, therefore sets out to explore whether the effects of adopting 360 degree feedback extend
beyond this immediate, intended effect of focusing employees efforts on the dimension of
performance contained in a 360 degree feedback instrument. Specifically, the study investigates
whether implementation of a 360 degree feedback, has an effect on employee’s perceptions of
workplace characteristics or context encompassed by the concepts of organizational climate and
culture.

The Present Study

Hypothesis 1:

The degree of perception regarding achievement culture would increase after the application of 360
degree feedback, as compared to the degree before application.

In a support culture, the employee is central and the aim of an organization having this type of
culture is to help and serve the employee;s needs. Because a 360 degree feedback tries to get mutual
feedback atmosphere and to reinforce the effective communication among members of an
organization, it emphasized that :

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Hypothesis 2:

The degree of perception about support culture would increase after the application of 360 degree
feedback system, as compared to that before 360 degree feedback system implemented.

Hypothesis 3:

The degree of perception about power culture would degree would decrease after the application of
360 degree feedback system as compared to that before the application.

In a hierarchy culture, work roles and rules are clearly defined. The tasks are given those who do
well in the organization. The position held by a person is more important than the person himself.
There is no rationale emphasizing the relation between the 360 degree feedback system and
hierarchy culture. Thus, no increase or decrease in perception of hierarchy culture after the
application is expected.

Hypothesis 4:

The degree of perception about the communication would be enhanced after the application of 360
degree system as compared to before the application.

Hypothesis 5:

The degree of perception about the effectiveness of the present performance appraisal system would
decrease after the application of 360 degree system, as compared to the degree before the
application.

Results:

In this study, the effect of 360 degree feedback system on organizational context (employee’s
perceptions on support, power, heirarchial, achievement cultures) and communication and
performance appraisal system, perceptions in the organizations were analyzed.

A second force driving the popularity of 360-degree feedback is the new work arrangements.
Specifically, as hierarchies have flattened and more work is performed across functions and in
cross-functional teams, peer input has gained in importance.

Today it can be argued that peers are better positioned to give insightful feedback than a decade
ago. In addition, effective leadership is defined in part around one's capacity to build and sustain
networks of relationships throughout an organization. Who better to assess this capacity than the
very members of one's network--peers.

We believe that 360-degree assessment is indeed at a critical juncture in its history. The underlying
premise of the 360-degree methodology--obtaining information from various sources--is sound
whether for development or appraisal. The dilemma is that employing one tool and one data-

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gathering process for such diverse purposes weakens the tool and its ability to deliver on its
objectives. In our view, two different tools are necessary to achieve these differing goals. One tool,
more qualitative in nature, should aim at providing richer data and in highlighting the differences in
views of the participant's strengths and weaknesses. This tool should serve the sole purpose of
management development. The second tool, with stronger psychometric properties (e.g., high
interrater reliability and accurate measurement of performance outcomes based on standards),
should be used for administrative decisions, such as performance appraisals, that drive promotions
and salary increases. Both should differ in their content and format.

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Team Members:

Pooja Bhatia (03)

Aayushi Maheshwari (24)

Malvika Virmani (25)

Harsh Thakkar ()

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References:

 360 degree assessment: Time for reinvention (Pg.2 ebscohost )

 Effects of organizational context from implementing a 360 degree feedback ( Topic 13 ebscohost)
 Taking the burn out of 360 degree hotseat (Database: Business Source Premier)
 Does the 360 degree feedback create Actionable knowledge equally across all the cultures? (By
Shipper, Frank, Hoffman)

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