A 360 Degree Feedback Develops Better Internal Leaders & Efficient Employees

“We all need people who will give us feedback. That’s how we improve.” – Bill Gates

What is a 360⁰ Feedback?

A 360 Degree Feedback is a Survey Tool which provides an opportunity to a business leader to seek candid feedback on leadership skills for themselves and their senior colleagues/employees, in a constructive, fair, objective and confidential manner.

All business leaders at some point in their careers struggle to understand as to exactly what other stakeholders (seniors, peers, subordinates, customers) expect from them in terms of leadership behaviors and results. To seek feedback on this aspect, face to Face interactions may not be effective. This is primarily because many people shy away from giving frank and critical feedback on the face. This is due to several reasons such as- fear of authority, the anxiety of spoiling relationships, misinterpretation of feedback, concerns related to facing a backlash etc. This keeps leaders deprived of candid feedback, opportunities for leadership skills development and thereby learning skills of managing stakeholders’ expectations.

Through 360 Feedback Tool, the leader and a group of other raters answer specific questions about the leader’s observed leadership competencies/behaviors. These competencies are often aligned with the strategic priorities of the organization. The raters are chosen from the group of people with whom a leader interacts fairly often. The raters group typically includes immediate seniors, direct reports, peers, customers/suppliers, partners, mentor to mention few.

360 Degree Feedback Tool gives impactful results, especially when used at senior management levels. It is always advisable to develop critical leadership skills at senior management levels (MD, CEOs, VPs, and HODs) so as to improve motivation, retention and performance levels across the organization. The top driven approach of leadership development is critical for organizations to build strong, high performing leadership teams. The 360 Degree Feedback Process helps to achieve this aim as follows-

• Identifies strengths and improvement areas of the senior management group
• Increases transparency, trust, and cooperation in senior team members
• Increases self-awareness and sensitivity towards the impact of senior’s behavior on others
• Helps identify high potential candidates for promotions, high stake positions
• Help understand the perceptions and expectations of others
• Improves working relationships with teams
• Increases Accountability towards Self Development
• Enhances Team Performance
• Helps to create high-performance senior teams

When used for middle or lower management level employees, the 360 Degree Feedback process brings the following benefits-

1. Boosts Self-Assessment – Along with the conventional appraisals, 360-degree feedback can work as an added bonus in evaluating employees’ behavioral and performance levels on a monthly, quarterly, or annual basis. It boosts self-awareness by pointing out the blind spots and hidden skills and also gives an employee an insight into workplace interactions.
2. Improves Team Dynamics – Employees start interacting with each other right after the feedback results are out. This enhances team’s formal and informal interactions, thus boosting the productivity of the organization.
3. Kick-starts New Skill Development – As the managers, peers, teammates notify and appreciate the hidden potential/ skills of an employee, he/she feels motivated and committed to building on those strengths.
4. Shapes Vision of Organization – The feedback tool also effectively reinforces the critical leadership/ team behaviors, organizational vision, values, ethical code of conduct, and Quality Standards. Hence the tool helps management build a culture committed to business excellence.
5. Employees Opinion Counts – Irrespective of the designation an employee holds, each employee gets a chance to give feedback of his senior, peer or subordinate. By this tool, the management sends a clear signal that employee opinion counts in shaping the leadership culture in the organization.
6. Different Parameters are Evaluated – The 360-degree feedback system helps in assessing important parameters like leadership vision, business consulting services, communication skills, teamwork, remuneration, and accolades, among other things. The tool also points out some of the detrimental behaviors well in time and saves the organization from losses, risks, and brand value damages.
7. Removes Interviewer Bias – Since the feedback tool moves across hierarchies and remains anonymous as well as confidential there is no interviewer bias and the employees feel safe to respond in a secure forum.

The most important element of the successful implementation of 360 Degree Feedback Initiative is to partner with an expert third party consulting firm. Respondents would provide candid feedback only when they know that the feedback management process is being conducted by a third party and hence providing candid feedback will not jeopardize their interests. This is when you will need the best HR Consulting firm in Mumbai to help you make the best of this strategic leadership development tool.

At Cerveausys, we strive to bring out the best in your organization while preserving and respecting the core values of your organization. Together, we can develop high performing teams and take your business to new horizons of prosperity and well being. Do call us +91-7709992257 or email us at info@cerveausys.com to know more.