360-degree feedback is used primarily for managers. The following sections explain why this comprehensive form of multi-rater feedback is generally used to assess specialists and managers, and what a lighter version of 360-degree feedback for employees might look like.
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360-Degree Feedback: Why Focus on Specialists and Managers?
360-degree feedback generally focuses on managers. There are three main reasons for this:
Economic / strategic reasons: Depending on the level of seniority, promoting a manager can have enormous financial and strategic consequences for a company, particularly given that management salaries are increasingly many times those of employees. Against this background, the supposedly considerable effort involved in a 360-degree survey appears justified. Our Helpdesk shows that online solutions such as LamaPoll have greatly reduced the effort required.
Methodological reasons: The idea of employees being assessed comprehensively by customers, colleagues and managers naturally gives data protection officers and works councils pause for thought (https://netzpolitik.org/2019/datenschuetzer-pruefen-mitarbeiter-scoring-bei-zalando/). However, this does not change the fact that conventional manager-to-employee assessments are nowhere near as informative as 360-, 270-, 180- or even 90-degree surveys. Please also see our article: 360-degree feedback for employees.
Operational reasons: Enter the words “my boss...” into the search engine of your choice. More than 100 million (!) results appear, but positive comments are difficult to find. Terms such as “incompetent”, “all style and no substance” and “help” stand out. Managers who are incompetent, or perceived to be incompetent, have the “potential” to bring entire departments to a standstill—not overnight, but gradually. This slow deterioration cannot be identified through conventional top-down feedback, so corrective action cannot be taken.
Is 360-Degree Feedback Also Suitable for Employees?
Combined, or even regular, computer-assisted multi-rater assessments of the workforce are generally not carried out, and there are good reasons for this. Just imagine: you assess your employees and they assess you, while you also receive regular assessments from customers and your own manager. It would be easy to introduce a scoring system: you receive a score and can compare yourself directly with your colleagues. You score 7.8 and your colleague scores 8.2—that is certain to increase your motivation and ambition, isn’t it? ;-)
From a purely economic perspective, companies increase profits through satisfied and motivated employees. However, satisfaction and motivation do not go hand in hand with constant monitoring and assessment. Employees therefore traditionally receive an assessment from above. This is naturally subjective and by no means as accurate or valuable as a 360-degree assessment.
Companies are therefore looking for the right balance and increasingly use 180-degree feedback or a lighter version of 360-degree feedback:
Employees do not receive a direct assessment from colleagues and customers, but they do receive enough general feedback to consider additional perspectives during an appraisal meeting, alongside their self-perception and feedback from their line manager.
As an HR policy tool, 360-degree feedback must be structured and conducted differently: The main areas of HR policy are remuneration and career progression. These require an overall view of all employees and the ability to compare them. The tool must therefore be simplified and standardised, with employees assessed and compared in equivalent groups.
An established form of multi-rater feedback for employees is the 90-degree assessment or performance appraisal: employees assess themselves and receive feedback from their line manager. This is particularly useful for preparing and setting priorities for employee appraisal meetings or staff discussions more generally.
IMPORTANT: Feedback is a gift! The purpose of an assessment is not monitoring or criticism, but employee development and support.
USER FEEDBACK
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