There are five main components of successful 360 evaluations implementation:
#1: Design
A successful 360 evaluation program starts with a well-designed survey. In the first place, the survey must have a clear goal. What organizational objective do you want to achieve with the evaluations? What information do you need to find out in order to achieve that objective?
Once you are clear about the goal of the survey, the next step is to use appropriate questions. When creating or selecting questions for 360 surveys, ask yourself:
- Are the questions clear or confusing? Specific, or vague?
- Do they focus on observable behaviours, or are they too personal or subjective?
- Are the questions about behaviors that are trainable?
#2: Promotion
When promoting 360 evaluations, it’s important to get buy-in from both senior management and the managers who are in direct contact with the employees who will be participating in the evaluations. The support of management is crucial for raising participation rates. Employees will not commit to the process unless they see that commitment from their bosses.
Other things to consider when promoting 360 evaluations:
- Do employees have a clear sense of what the organization hopes to achieve with the evaluations?
- Do they understand the value of the process for themselves?
- Do they understand how the feedback will be used?
- Have they been assured that the feedback is confidential?
#3: Delivery
Proper delivery of 360 feedback is absolutely essential. Employees should receive feedback on their strengths as well as their weaknesses, and any feedback on weaknesses should be constructive. Some organizations hire trained professionals to deliver the feedback and coach employees.
#4: Action
The point of 360 feedback is not the data; the point is what you do with the data. One of the factors linked to the failure of 360 programs is tying the feedback to merit pay or promotions. Accordingly, many organizations only use 360 feedback exclusively for employee development.
Simply receiving the feedback, however, is not enough to motivate most employees, as research shows. Instead, coaches or managers should create an action plan with specific, measurable goals for the employee’s development. The action plan is the link between the feedback and the desired results.
#5: Follow-Up
No action plan can succeed without follow-up. Follow-up is the key to a successful 360 evaluation program. 360 programs cannot be used to achieve sustainable change unless you follow up on the action plans.
Follow-up includes things like:
- Ongoing coaching
- Reviewing progress at particular dates
Follow-up ensures the sustainability of changes made in response to 360 feedback, but it also ensures that future 360 programs will be successful. If you do not follow up with employees after their 360 evaluations, they are unlikely to believe that the organization is committed to change. Accordingly, they are unlikely to take the process seriously the next time.