360 degree assessments

360 degree feedback performance appraisals, training needs analysis, performance evaluation, or assessment of job skills, personality and behaviour. Call them what you will, '360' has become a popular product. Professionally delivered appraisals can start the process for building a strongly motivated workforce that performs well. They can create a positive culture throughout your business impacting on your reputation, performance and profit.

360 degree assessment may include:

• One-to-one review discussions with the candidate's key peers, staff, managers and even clients.
• Observation at work.
• Survey of colleagues.
• Psychometric tests and other behavioural assessments.
• Graphology (handwriting analysis).

Are you considering introducing 360 degree appraisals into your organisation? If you are OvationXL can support you at each stage. We'll help you select the most appropriate type of 360 degree process to meet your needs for assessing one or more of your team. When working with a team, or a whole organisation, we'll first pilot it with a few people to make sure it does what you expect. It's best to establish some simple parameters or KPI's by which you can make this assessment, rather than basing success on instinct or subjective views. When satisfied with the system, we'll help you launch '360' via a seminar or workshop, preferably including role-plays and/or practical demonstration. We'll support the implementation with ongoing training, (include an overview in your induction training as well), a written process guide/booklet, and also publish process and standards on your intranet if you have one. We'll establish review and monitoring responsibility. We'll ensure any 360 degree appraisal system is applied from top down, not bottom up, so everyone can see that the CEO is happy to undertake what he/she expects all the other staff to do. (As with anything else, if the CEO and board agree to undertake it first, the system will have much stronger take-up and credibility.)

The aim of 360 degree assessments is to:

• Increase self awareness and impact on others.
• Where necessary, confront any negative behaviour.
• Give constructive feedback to the candidate.
• Develop emotional intelligence.
• Develop situational management and communication styles.
• Consciously practice and integrate new skills or behaviours.
• Review progress and monitor change.

Your manager is more aware of his or her soft skills (these impact across the board - effectiveness, profitability, customers, suppliers, competitors, markets and team building). Difficult issues are identified, discussed openly and resolved before they become more serious. Intervention is accepted more readily - people rarely ask for help unless they see a good opportunity to do so. Assignments, tasks and objectives are agreed completed and reviewed quickly - longer term action planning reduces completion rates significantly for all but the most senior and experienced people.

Objectives, direction, and purpose is more up-to-date - modern organisations demand more flexibility than a single annual review allows - priorities often change through the year, so people need to be re-directed and re-focused.

Training and development actions are broken down into smaller more digestible chunks, increasing success rates and motivational effect as a result.

The 'fear factor', often associated by many with formal appraisals, is greatly reduced because people become more comfortable with the review process.

Relationships and mutual understanding develop more quickly with greater frequency of meetings between manager and staff member.

Your people are better prepared for the formal appraisal, giving better results, and saving management time.

Much of the review will have been already covered throughout the year by the time comes for the formal appraisal.

These are examples of a typical
commercial or management skill set:

• Commercial acumen.
• Product/technical knowledge.
• Time management.
• Planning, budgeting and forecasting.
• Reporting and administration.
• Communication skills.
• Delegation skills.
• IT/equipment/machinery skills.
• Meeting expectations, deadlines and commitments.
• Creativity (thinking outside of the box, disruptive innovation).
• Making timely decisions and solving problems.
• Team-working and developing/helping others.
• Energy, determination and work-rate.
• Steadfastness under pressure.
• Leadership and integrity.
• Adaptability, flexibility, and mobility.
• Personal appearance and image.
• Personal impact and effectiveness.
• Appreciation and application of social responsibility, sustainability and other ethical considerations.

Your new strengths and abilities

• Able to measure performance - short, medium and long term.
• Clarifying and redefining priorities and objectives.
• Motivating through agreeing helpful aims and targets.
• Motivating though feedback from different types of colleague.
• Identified training and learning needs through assessment and agreement.
• Identified personal strengths and direction - including untapped strengths.
• Providing structure to career path.
• Providing team role clarification and encouraging team building.
• Providing organisational training needs assessment.
• Offering candidate and manager mutual awareness, understanding and relationship.
• Resolved conflict and misunderstandings.
• Strengthened organisational philosophy, values, aims, strategies, priorities, etc.
• Delegated additional responsibilities to foster employee growth and development.
• Furthering the process of manager development.

Did you know?

360 is also known as 'multi-rater feedback', 'multisource feedback', or 'multisource assessment'. The feedback comes from subordinates, peers, managers and in some cases external sources such as clients, suppliers and other interested stakeholders. It may be contrasted with up line feedback, where managers are given feedback by their direct reports. 360 is often the basis for fine tuning ongoing learning and development.

Who would benefit?

Individual candidates or those involved with 'Learning and Development'.