360-degree Feedback - Frequently Asked Questions

Self-insight is the first step to change.

Self-insight specialise in providing 360-degree feedback.

What is 360-degree feedback?

Do you want to know how well you are doing as a manager? Or how you are really perceived by others? Do you want to learn where to focus your improvement in your personal effectiveness? 360-degree feedback can help with all of these questions. It is one of the most powerful tools in leadership development and is used by virtually all FTSE 100 and Fortune 500 companies.

First, a questionnaire is devised that asks, in a structured way, about the key aspects of your leadership role.

A group of people around you in the organizational hierarchy (boss, colleagues, direct reports, hence 360-degree, see diagram) are asked to provide feedback in the form of ratings and comments.

In terms of an appraisal, it is much richer and accurate than self-report, or just including a single manager's view.

Those who report to you feel they can give open and candid feedback, because the process is anonymous.

You receive a report, in which the data from people in each group is combined and presented as charts or lists of comments. The charts are intended to summarize and simplify what could be a confusing mass of data.

Receiving such feedback is a tremendously powerful and sobering experience. Because of this we insist that the report is provided by a trained facilitator, who can help the manager get the most out of the feedback.

To find out more please call 01628 674398 or email info@self-insight.com.

The benefits centre on improving managerial performance which has been demonstrated to have a substantial impact on productivity and profitability. Evaluations typically achieve 90% agreement rates that the results are useful. The benefits apply at several levels:

• Self-insight and learning. 360-degree feedback provides the opportunity to see ourselves as others see us. This is the first step to help identify strengths in one's management style, that can be built on, and areas of weakness that can be redressed.
• Focuses career development. Discussions around feedback, strengths and development areas are also useful for sharpening ideas about the future and potential career directions.
• Hard data. 360-feedback data provides quantifiable data on a range of leadership and personal capabilities, enabling comparisons to be made, both within and between managers.
• Motivational. A programme of 360-degree feedback can have a positive motivational effect on managers. The managers feel they are being listened to as individuals and that they are receiving support in their development and dealing with problems. Team members can similarly experience positive motivation if they too feel they are being being listened to, and positive changes that affect their working lives follow.
• Culture change. Introducing feedback can subtly change the culture. An atmosphere of open and honest feedback means decision making can be more rigorous. Unsatisfactory behaviour can be identified and addressed rather than swept under the carpet.
• Competency approach. The use of competencies to define the managerial behaviours valued in an organization helps integrate recruitment, leadership development and performance appraisal into a coherent framework.
• Broader perspective. Performance management becomes more rounded, taking a broader set of perspectives than just the manager.

360-degree feedback is superior to "just asking people what they think" because:

• Consistency. Everyone is asked the same set of questions in a structured way, which enables comparisons to be made between managers.
• Focus on key characteristics. The questions are designed to address the key dimensions that are important to the job.
• Quantitative. The feedback uses ratings which also enavle comparisons to be made between perceptions of behaviour, and between managers. soutput is quantitative (as well as qualitative).
• Qualitative. Comment questions are also used provide richness and to bring the ratings to life.
• Safety. More junior people feel safer giving feedback as they are protected by anonymity. That anonymity is guaranteed by using a third-party such as Self-insight, who can also handle the administrative burden in a quality way. In an ideal world no-one would need 360-degree feedback. Everyone would be able to give feedback in a well-intentioned and constructive way, and everyone would be able to take feedback without dismissing it or wanting to retaliate. But we're not quite there yet. In the mean time, 360-degree feedback is the best way of creating a feedback culture.

The steps are:

1. Sign-up. You or HR can complete an online form or you can simply send us an email.
2. Decide when you need the report by. We need to start requesting feedback at least 2-4 weeks before the report is required.
3. Decide from whom you would like to receive feedback.
4. Let us know who you have chosen. The list will include yourself. You can complete an online form, send a spreadsheet or send an e-mail.
5. Request feedback from respondents. We contact your respondents as they generally feel more comfortable dealing with a third-party. However you need to brief them as to:
   • What 360-degree feedback is
   • Why feedback is being collected
   • How people should provide feedback
   • How the results will be communicated
   • What will happen as a result
6. Feedback providers complete the survey.
7. We chase the stragglers who have not responded.
8. We produce the report and send two copies to the facilitator. The report is either an electronic (pdf) or a colour printed document.
9. You arrange a time to be given your report and facilitation.
10. You have a feedback session with a qualified facilitator.
11. Six months later we follow-up to see how things went.

• Ask the person if they are willing to give feedback. Don't just send them a request e-mail. It helps if you choose people who know you well.
• Explain how it will be of great benefit to yourself, and an opportunity for you to listen to what other people are saying.
• Stress that the feedback will be completely anonymous.
• Explain the process to them - particularly the dates and deadlines.
• Afterwards, thank people for giving their views. If you feel up to it, share the feedback with your team.

• Good intent. The purpose of the feedback exercise is to help the manager improve their management style and performance. It takes courage to for someone to open themselves up in this way. So they deserve honest, helpful feedback.
• Feedback should be based on observed behaviour. Each rating or comment should be accountable and defensible. It should based on what you have seen the person do or heard them say. There should be a sense that your feedback is about consistent patterns of their behaviour, rather than the last conversation you had with them or uncharacteristic, one-off episodes.
• No abuse. Feedback is not an opportunity for respondents to be hurtful or rude whilst hiding behind a cloak of anonymity. The consultant providing the feedback will proof-read answers to comment questions, and any abusive or sarcastic comments will be removed.

Receiving 360-degree feedback can be uplifting. It can also be traumatic. Here are some guidelines for how to get the most out of your report.

• Do read through your report first, to get an overview. Then re-read it. There may be wide differences of view, inconsistencies and discrepancies, as people see you in different contexts. It may be helpful to make notes. The Observations page provides space to note comments. Make a note of how you feel. Look for themes and areas you want to do something about.
• Do "listen" to what people are saying - even if you think it is incorrect. It is not meant to confirm your existing beliefs but give you a different perspective. Neither are people necessarily stating "the truth". They are giving perceptions. But "perception is reality" - so you may need to work on how these impressions are formed.
• Don't dismiss the feedback. This is amongst the most valuable information you will ever get about yourself. People have taken the time, with good intent, to try and help you improve your effectiveness. Do take it seriously.
• Do try to be balanced in what points you focus on. Don't get too emotional. Don't get depressed. But don't get complacent either. Don't fall into the trap of thinkig its all bad, just because a few items are disappointing. Most people's tendency is to get hung up on the negative comments and ignore the positive. Look at the feedback from both sides, and learn from it.
• Don't try to seek out and punish "the guilty". Don't even try to guess who said what. Accept the feedback as anonymous. People are often surprised to find that it is those who they think are most critical of them who give the most positive, insightful advice. And vice versa.
• Do work out what issues are important and you feel you need to do something about. The report covers a wide range of capabilities. In terms of your personal development, you can't focus on them all. So prioritise, come up with an action plan, and put it into practice.

360-degree feedback is primarily used in a developmental rather than an appraisal context. When salaries depend on what other people say about you, there are opportunities for unfairness or collusion. It can be used as part of a performance management system, but only provided it is done very carefully. Contact us for more details. Firstly you have to work out what behaviours you want to encourage and reward, and the balance between hard and soft aspects of the role. For example, how much weight should be placed on: the attainment of key performance indicators, financial targets, "people" targets such as staff turnover, building the capabilities of the organization (skills and knowledge), organizational citizenship behaviour, the 360 competencies. Various parameters of the 360-degree feedback have to be very carefully controlled, if used as part of an appraisal process: the psychometric properties of the questionnaire become critical. It has to be designed so that the items cover only key behaviours and no irrelevant ones, that the items are conceptually distinct and discriminating. the process for managers to nominate people has to be controlled to prevent the results being padded by those who are favourable while more critical opinions are avoided. careful consideration should be given to how the scores are compiled. Should each question be given equal weighting? Should each respondent's score be given equal weighting? For example should manager's feedback given additional emphasis? Should overall ratings be rank ordered, or split into bands?

When considering a person for a job, you may consider characteristics within the person themselves, such as personality, intelligence, experience, technical skills or qualifications. The idea behind competencies is to look at the what is needed from the other side: what are the behaviours a person successful in that role would demonstrate? An example of a competency framework is the SHL “Great Eight” Competencies. The top level constructs are:

• Leading and Deciding. Giving direction, initiating and driving action, taking control and responsibility.
• Supporting and Co-operating. Shows consideration, respect and positive regard for others; supportive; team player.
• Interacting and Presenting. Influences, persuades; networks; confident; creates a good impression with people.
• Analysing and Interpreting. Analytical, logical, rational; expert; learns quickly.
• Creating and Conceptualising. Comfortable with abstact ideas; thinks strategically; open to innovation; keen to learn; change oriented.
• Organising and Executing. Plans; organized; systematic.
• Adapting and Coping. Adapts to changing conditions; copes well with pressure and stress; resilient.
• Enterprising and Performing. Focusing on achieving goals; ambitious; interested in business, finance and organizations.

The Self-insight team has a great deal of experience in providing 360-degree feedback to a range of companies. We have the consultancy skills to deploy the technique in a business context to help achieve real performance improvements. We are also pushing back the frontiers in models that help us understand leadership effectiveness, and the use of technology to provide value-for money solutions.

• Experience. We are highly experienced in the feedback field and can offer a professional service. We follow a proven project management methodology. We aspire to the highest level of quality. We constantly seek to improve our processes and productivity.
• Value. We offer great value. By keeping costs to the bone we can undercut just about anyone. As it says at the top of the page "why pay more?" Many other 360-degree feedback providers charge several hundred percent more than us! Haven't you got better things to do with the money you'll save from your budget?
• Innovation. At the same time we also offer innovation and great product features e.g. adaptive surveys and social network analysis. There are a lot more exciting developments in the pipeline.
• Great reports. Our reports are as simple to understand yet very comprehesive. We try not to confuse managers with complex charts and tables. We generally supplement average scores with raw data, as averages can be misleading with the small sample numbers involved.
• Training. We can also offer 360-degree facilitation training, so you can bring the facilitation in-house to reduce costs.

• Data collection media. The basic data collection medium is the web. We can also e-mail questionnaires in spreadsheet format, as well as using the more traditional paper approach. If required we can also conduct telephone-based interviews.
• Competency framework. We can use one of our standard questionnaires or your own questionnaire. We can also work with you to design a questionnaire specifically for your organization.
• Question types.
• Rating scale (with radio buttons or a pull-down menu)
• Multiple-choice (choose one, or choose many)
• Text (a line, space for a number or a text box)
• Rank order items
• Combination items e.g. rating plus importance
• It is possible to specify items that are mandatory
• Conditional questions. We can design questionnaires that allow users to skip forward depending on previous answers. This means it is possible, for example, to ask managers different questions to direct reports. It also means we can ask people to expand on extreme scores.
• Multi-lingual questionnaires. We can create questionnaires and emails in any language. Either you provide the questionnaire, or we will have it translated (this does entail an additional cost).
• Logos / Colors etc. We customize these as part of the standard service.
• Reports. We provide clear reports either as a pdf file or a colour printed document. We can provide group level reports to compare the scores of individuals in a group or between groups.
• Feedback facilitation.Our consultants can:
  • provide feedback to your managers.
  • provide follow-on personal goal setting and tracking, in a coaching format.
  • embed 360-degree feedback in a wider assessment or coaching process.
• Training. We can train your managers or HR team to facilitate feedback.
• Validation. We can assess the psychometric properties of a new questionnaire, to ensure it measures competencies effectively.

The simple answer is "No".

Firstly, we do not store names with responses in the system, so we are technically unable to identify who provided specific responses.

Secondly, even if we could, we do not divulge respondent details as a matter of principle, under any circumstances. We offer anonymity precisely to encourage honest and open feedback from people, particularly direct reports, who otherwise may feel inhibited by fear of repercussions.

To go into a little more detail: we actually store responses against respondent category (e.g. Self, Manager, Report, Colleague, Other). Once we have collected the data, all that the manager, HR, or anyone else can see is a report, which for each question, aggregates the data by respondent category. Individual ratings scores are added or averaged, while comments are presented in a list, the order of which is randomised per category.

For sensitive categories (Report, Colleague, Other), if we have too few responses per category, we combine them with another category. We do not allow less than four people in a sensitive category.

For the Manager category, generally there is only a single member, so their responses are identifiable. However they are unlikely to be as concerned about the consequences of their feedback as a direct report. Obviously, Self comments are not anonymous either.

• All operational data is stored in a secure data centre.
• Data can only be accessed by authorized personnel.
• We store copies of reports for two years in case customers want an additional copy.
• We store anonymised data during the life of a questionnaire, for statistical purposes.
• We offer secure surveys.
• Self-insight is registered under the UK Data Protection Act.

If you have been invited to give feedback but feel you don't know the person well enough (for example you or they may be new to the organization, you or they may be new to the role or you may be geographically distant), please discuss it with the person who nominated you. We can only remove you from a manager's list of respondents if they explicitly request us to do so.

The simple answer is that your feedback will not be included in the person's report. For the standard monthly feedback cycle, the deadline is midnight on the last Saturday of the month. Reports start to be generated on the following Sunday.

© Self-insight Ltd. 2011