CLC Human Resources

Managing 360 Degree Feedback

A Guidebook For Managers
 Managing 360 Degree Feedback

How to use this guidebook:

Audience: This guidebook helps managers understand the importance of 360 degree feedback and the most effective ways to collect, evaluate,
and reconcile it.

Instructions for HR: Distribute this guidebook to managers before the performance review process to help them source and provide the most
relevant 360 degree feedback for their direct reports.

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 Importance of Effective Three Keys to
360 Degree Feedback Sourcing Effective
in the New Work 360 Degree Feedback
Environment

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 High Performance in the New Work
Employee performance
Environment
has changed, making
effective 360 degree Individual Task Network Enterprise
feedback more important. Performance Performance Contribution

 Greater interdependence of An employee’s An employee’s An employee’s

work, including an increase in effectiveness at achieving effectiveness at improving effectiveness at his or her
the number of stakeholders his/her individual tasks and others’ performance individual tasks, contribution
and remote staff, has led to assignments. and using others’ to others’ performance, and
changes in how employees contributions to improve his use of others’ contributions
get work done. or her own performance. to improve his or her own
performance.
 To perform effectively in
today's environment,
employees must demonstrate
Components of Individual Components of Network
“Enterprise Contribution,” the
Task Performance: Performance:
combination of individual task
and network performance.
• High output per hour • Introduction of improved
 Effective 360 degree worked processes
• On-time task completion • Implementation of new
feedback helps correctly
• Error-free work product or service ideas
identify these “Enterprise
• High quality work • Improved working
Contributors.”
methods, techniques, or
tools
• Transfer of great ideas
from other parts of the
organization
• Transfer of skills and
knowledge

Source: Driving Breakthrough Performance in the

New Work Environment, CLC Human Resources, 2012
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 Organizations Collect 360 Degree Feedback,
Current approaches to
But It Fails to Effectively Evaluate Performance
360 degree feedback fail
to identify enterprise Prevalence of Feedback Sources in Identification of Enterprise Contributors
contributors. Performance Evaluations by Feedback Source

 Seventy percent of managers Percentage of Managers Percentage of Enterprise Contributors

receive feedback from at least Receiving Feedback by Source Who Are Correctly Identified
two other sources when
evaluating their employees, Self Reviews Peers
including self reviews, peer 77% 80%
reviews, and reviews from
direct reports.

 However, only 35% of

enterprise contributors are
correctly identified through 360
degree feedback today.

Direct Reports Other Coworkers Multiple Sources of Manager-Only

62% 57% Feedback Feedback

70% of managers receive feedback from at

least two sources.

n = 23,339.

Source: 2012 CLC HR High Performance Survey

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 Importance of Effective Three Keys to
360 Degree Feedback Sourcing Effective 360
in the New Work Degree Feedback
Environment

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 Making 360 Degree Feedback Effective
Poor selection of 1 2 3
Three Keys to Right Sources Right Inputs Right Use of
evaluators, inability
Effective 360 Collected Inputs
to collect high quality,
relevant feedback, and Degree
ineffective Feedback
reconciliation of
feedback lowers the
effectiveness of 360
degree performance
evaluations. Common Identify evaluators Seek feedback on Overvalue the feedback
Approach based on the overly specific most consistent with
organization chart. criteria. their (manager’s) own
perspectives.

Best Select evaluators Source broader Reconcile anomalies in

Approach based on their feedback that can be collected feedback,
knowledge of work, not customized based on rather than filtering
just based on others the feedback provider’s responses.
you manage or peers work with the employee. (Page 10)
of your direct report.
(Page 8) (Page 9)

Source: Crowdsourced Associate Evaluations, W.L. Gore & Associates Inc.,

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 Select Feedback Sources Based on
Rather than limiting Knowledge of Work, Not Formal Structures
feedback sources to
direct reports’ formal Possible Sources of 360 Degree Feedback
relationships, identify
potential sources based Identify employees who can evaluate your direct report based on knowledge of their work rather than their formal
on their visibility into reporting relationships. Look for possible sources in the following four categories of peers in your employees’
peers’ work. networks:

 Enablers: Peers who have the same roles/skills as the employee and work on the same projects as the
 Identifying feedback sources
employee.
based on the organizational  Collaborators: Peers who make different contributions than the employee to the same projects that the
chart fails to include key employee is working on.
sources who have  Coaches: Peers who have similar roles/skills as the employee but work on different projects.
performance-related insight  Mentors: Peers who have different roles/skills than the employee and work on different projects.
into the employee’s work.
Questions to Determine If the Identified Sources Are Appropriate Yes No
1. Does the individual have regular work-related interactions with the employee
being evaluated?

2. Did the individual work with the employee being evaluated on a shared project or
toward a common goal?

3. Does the individual have a high degree of visibility into the work, skills, and
knowledge of the employee being evaluated?

4. Does the individual have knowledge of the impact of work of the employee being
evaluated?

5. Has the individual worked for a long period of time with the employee being
evaluated?

If you answered “yes” to at least one of the above questions, consider this employee as a possible source of
performance feedback.

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 Source Customized, Not Generic, Feedback
Use more broad or open Tips for Developing Effective Evaluation Criteria for 360 Degree Feedback
ended questions so that
each source can provide Ask for feedback on a few broad criteria, rather than a list of precise, specific criteria that are difficult for most
unique feedback based employees to address (e.g., skills, behaviors, competencies, specific strengths and weaknesses). Ensure that
on the type of questions achieve the following:
interactions they have
had with the employee.  Evaluate the overall quality of employees’ work
 Evaluate the overall value or impact of employees’ work on peer, project, team, or organizational success
 Using overly specific criteria
often fails to solicit feedback Obtaining the Most Relevant Information from Various Sources of Feedback
about the value of the Types of Information Various Sources Can Provide
employee's contributions to
the organization’s success. Peers Direct Reports Senior Colleagues

 How did the employee’s  How did your manager’s  How did the employee’s
contribution have a team-level contribution help you contribution open avenues for
impact? successfully execute your potential business growth or
 How did the employee projects? revenue?
generate new ideas to  How does your manager  How did the employee’s
improve processes and work proactively discuss your contribution have a function,
across the team? career development and business unit, or enterprise
 How has the employee’s day-to-day development with level impact?
contribution inspired you? you?  How did the employee’s
 How did the employee’s  What about working with your contribution result in significant
contribution make efficient manager inspires you? cost savings?
use of resources and time?  What specific challenges did  How did the employee’s
 What specific challenges did you face while working with contribution help develop a new
you face while working with your manager? product or service?
this employee?  How did the contribution align
with the organization’s long-
term objectives?

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 Reconcile Anomalies in Collected
Feedback, Don’t Just Filter Responses
Analyze and interpret all
collected 360 degree
feedback to surface any
divergent or Surface Potential Discrepancies in 360 If Anomalies Exist, Reconsider Sources’
contradictory feedback. Degree Feedback Before Finalizing Ability to Provide Relevant Feedback
Overall Performance Feedback and Gather Additional Feedback
 Overvaluing 360 degree
feedback that agrees with Indicators of Anomalies in Peer Inputs Considerations for Determining Sources’
managers’ own perceptions, Ability to Provide Feedback
fails to identify and address
the anomalies in the collected
For an employee being evaluated:  Do sources understand the employee’s
feedback.
contributions appropriately?
ˣ Significant improvement in feedback  Are the employee’s contributions sufficiently
from the previous review period visible to sources?
ˣ Significant deterioration in feedback  Do sources understand the contribution
from the previous review period assessment criteria?

ˣ  Are assessments being driven by the employee’s

Wide variation in feedback from
impression rather than actual contributions?
different sources
 Do sources understand the long-term impact of
ˣ Highly consistent feedback from contributions?
different feedback sources
 Do different groups of sources perceive the
employee’s contribution differently?

 Does the input reflect any unintentional bias?

Requesting Additional Feedback

 To clarify the anomaly, request additional
information on the area of anomaly directly from
the employee being evaluated.

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