In 90-degree feedback, a person’s behaviour and performance are assessed from two perspectives: their own and that of another person or group. It therefore combines a self-assessment with an aggregated assessment by others. This feedback method is generally used to assess managers, but can also be used to assess employees. In the first case, direct reports act as the external assessors; in the second, line managers do. In traditional manager feedback, employees provide the feedback, which is why it is also known as bottom-up feedback.
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90-degree feedback for managers
In 90-degree feedback for managers, direct reports are asked to assess the manager’s competencies, skills, behaviour and performance. The manager also assesses their own competencies in the same areas. Both parties receive identical questionnaires. The areas assessed include observable or directly experienced leadership qualities, social, communication and interpersonal skills, professional expertise and the manager’s time management. The questions should be unambiguous and describe observable behaviour as objectively as possible. The questionnaire can also include comment or free-text fields for additional feedback. In this case, feedback providers should be instructed to submit factual, context-specific comments only.
Once the feedback process is complete, the manager’s self-perception is compared with how employees perceive them and examined for significant differences. Agreements and differences between these perspectives are carefully identified in the 90-degree analysis to determine the manager’s strengths, shortcomings, development needs and potential.
In 90-degree feedback, the anonymity of participating feedback providers—that is, the employees giving feedback—must be protected. A sufficiently large number of participants should be invited so that individual respondents cannot be identified. Participants should also be instructed not to enter any information in comment or free-text fields that could reveal their identity. As with other employee surveys, participation in 90-degree feedback should be voluntary.
Compared with 270- or 360-degree feedback, 90-degree feedback is the simplest feedback method. With 270- or 360-degree feedback, further groups of feedback providers are involved, such as more senior managers, peers or external parties including customers and suppliers. Find out more about these multi-rater feedback methods here: 180-, 270- and 360-degree feedback.
Create a questionnaire for 90-degree feedback: Use our free questionnaire template as a starting point. You can copy it to your account and adapt it as required: manager feedback questionnaire.
90-degree feedback for employees
The process for 90-degree employee feedback is similar to the manager feedback described above, except that the feedback providers are the employee and one or more of their line managers. Employees assess the skills, behaviours and performance relevant to their role using an online questionnaire with a rating scale. Their line managers generally receive an identical questionnaire and are asked to assess the employee. If there is only one direct line manager, it is advisable to obtain feedback from peers instead or as well to improve objectivity and validity. For employees with management responsibilities, feedback can also be obtained from their direct reports.
The questionnaire for 90-degree employee feedback covers various competency areas. These may include communication skills, goal and results orientation, professional expertise and teamwork. As with manager feedback, the assessment by others is then compared with the self-assessment to identify agreements and, above all, differences. This provides a basis for determining strengths, weaknesses, particular abilities and development potential.
Feedback from managers is often only of limited value because there are so few assessors—usually only one direct line manager—which makes it one-sided and subjective. In such cases, it is advisable to obtain feedback from peers and, where appropriate, direct reports as well.
90-degree feedback: guidance and tips
Explain the process and content of the 90-degree feedback openly and clearly. State why feedback is being collected, what will happen to the survey results, who can access them and for what purpose.
Protect the anonymity of participating feedback providers so that individual respondents cannot be identified. Ensure that the sample is sufficiently large.
As with other employee surveys, participation in the feedback survey should be voluntary. Employees who choose not to participate should not suffer any disadvantages.
Ready-made examples and templates for 90-degree feedback should be adapted to the organisation’s circumstances. Its philosophy, culture, roles and areas of responsibility determine which competencies are required.
Questions should describe observable behaviour as objectively as possible. Depending on their department, level of seniority and other factors, individual respondents or groups should only be asked about behaviour of the feedback recipient that they can genuinely observe.
Analysing the feedback can reveal not only strengths and weaknesses, but also untapped abilities and potential—so-called hidden strengths. These should be supported over the long term as part of employee development.
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