360 surveys are mainly used to serve one of two purposes, people use them to gauge performance which may be tied to compensation or people use them to support training and development needs. A 360 survey can provide some valuable insights to assist in either purpose for the employee.

Grapevine assists mainly two types of buyers, companies that come to us directly to use the 360 survey application on their employees or consultants that are using the application to serve their clients employees. Companies that come to us directly are of all shapes and sizes. Mainly the HR Department/individual is responsible for the deployment. This may be rolled out company wide or they may focus on the managers or just the executive team. Consultants typically use the 360 survey on their clients employees as a way to bundle it with other services such as training programs or leadership development.  It is a great way to identify someone’s strengths and areas of improvement. 

For Teams

1. Improvement in Communication: For teams, communication is vital and 360 degree assessments enhance it considerably by giving each member the opportunity to voice his or her feedback.
2. Enhancing Synergy: By providing feedback, members begin to understand each other better leading to improved collaboration. They start functioning more cohesively. Team synergy is improved as their goals and processes are aligned.
3. Improved Effectiveness: 360 evaluations allow each member of the team to understand the level and quality of contribution he or she is making to the team. They can work on any problems being suggested by the review to become more effective members of the team.

For Individuals

1. Boost in Self-Awareness: This is one of the most vital benefits that 360 degree evaluations provide to individuals. The reports and reviews provided by the evaluation highlight the areas in which they can improve in as well as their existing strengths. Individuals become more aware of themselves and their role in the organization.
2. Discovering Strengths: It is essential for the individual’s strengths to be recognized and acknowledged allowing him or her the scope for personal improvement. Recognition of strengths allows a development plan to be tailored for each individual.
3. Accurate Overview: Since the feedback is gathered from multiple sources at different levels, it provides a more accurate idea about the behavior, performance and capabilities of the individual.
4. Discovering Blindspots: Individuals can discover and understand the behaviors that they exhibit without them noticing. Proper steps can then be taken to overcome these blindspots.
5. Skill Development: 360 degree evaluations give each individual an idea of the skills that they need to work on or lack. A development plan can be tailored for each individual’s improvement.

For Leaders

1. Multiple Perspectives: Leaders are the most prone to getting less than honest or zero feedback from their juniors. However, the anonymity of 360 evaluations allows the feedback to be honest. Additionally, a more comprehensive report is generated since raters from different levels will be providing the feedback.
2. Encourages Evaluations: The most important benefit of 360 degree evaluations is that an atmosphere of learning and improvement can be created. Employees will be inspired when they see leaders actively participating in the feedback and implementing the necessary changes.

Employee feedback is a delicate matter and a process that should not be taken lightly. In order for a 360 feedback assessment to be productive, it must have actionable outcomes and follow-ups with employees, departments and management. 

1. Review Results One-On-One: Review every employee’s results with them one-on-one without bias, judgement or inferences. Offer a balance of both positive and negative feedback, and focus on keeping the employee motivated and engaged in the analysis of results.
2. Weaknesses = Opportunities: It is essential to address problem areas identified by the 360 degree assessment, but they do not have to be seen as failures and weaknesses. Instead, transform them into opportunities for personal and professional development.
3. Motivate & Engage: Use 360 assessment results to motivate employees and engage them in the success of the company. Emphasize the positive contributions the employee makes to the company, their value to their department, co-workers and peers.
4. Open & Free Discussion: Encourage open and free discussion without consequences. Allow employees to discuss their assessment results in a judgement-free, confidential environment, without any risk of repercussions (real or perceived).
5. Personal Development Plan: Following a discussion of results, have a list of competencies that each employee can focus on developing, and resources they can use (eg-training course, mentoring, etc.). Plan a personal development program with every employee to ensure they are engaged and willing to participate. The personal development program should focus on strengthening valuable skills, improving on weaknesses and putting any untapped skills to work.
6. Employee Follow-Up: Schedule follow-up meetings with employees to review their plan and ongoing development. These meetings are vital to keeping employees engaged and motivated to improve. With regular personal development meetings, employees can examine where they have grown and developed, get recognition for the work they have done, and identify areas they should continue to improve.

Grapevine allows you to customize the experience every step of the way. This goes further than just customizing the look and feel of the form. You can customize the content of questions by selecting from our database or add your own, you can customize the process on how you want the project to flow, the email communication to the employees and also the report structure and output.  You are in full control of the setup all in an easy-to-use interface. 

We do not limit the number of individuals any one person can have providing feedback on them.  This does not increase the cost.

It doesn’t need to be a traditional 360 survey, you can control what relationship categories you have such as Manager, Peer, Direct Reports etc., you can also call them what you like so you can tailor it to suit your needs. Grapevine can also be used for really any kind of evaluation such as performance reviews or team evaluations.