Frequently Asked Questions

What is 360-degree feedback?
What are the benefits?
What are the advantages over just talking to people?
How much does it cost?
What is the process?
What should I say to people when asking them for feedback?
How should I receive the feedback?
Can I use it for performance appraisal?
What are competencies and competency frameworks?
Why use Self-insight?
What features do Self-insight surveys offer?
What do you get in the standard 360-degree product and what can be customized?
Can HR or anyone else find out who gave feedback?
What about data security?
Why partner with Self-insight?
What are the pricing arrangements for partners?
What is Self-insight's relationship with my client?
What should I take into account when giving feedback?
But I don't know the person who has asked for my feedback very well.
What happens if I miss the deadline?

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.

What are the benefits?

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.

What are the advantages over just talking to people?

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.

How much does it cost?

The product comprises the following elements:
a questionnaire and survey set-up
data collection and report generation
report delivery
facilitated feedback

Extras

Questionnaires: The standard questionnaire provides broad coverage of the main leadership competencies. If you already have a well-established and validated questionnaire we can load that on the system as part of the standard fee. If you want a customised questionnaire designed, an existing questionnaire reviewed and updated or a competency framework developed, we can provide that service at our consultancy rate.

Data collection:
If data has to be collected by paper questionnaire, add £5 per questionnaire to be transcribed. Paper questionnaires do not contain comment questions. If you want comment questions, add £10 per questionnaire (hand-written comments are very time-consuming to transcribe).

Report delivery:
If we need to send a report by post, we charge postage and packing. We normally send it by Royal Mail Special Delivery with a guaranteed next day delivery. We can also courier reports, at cost.

Facilitated feedback:
Self-insight consultants also charge travelling expenses. Depending on location and capacity we may offer a partner consultant to provide the feedback facilitation. The price will be negotiable, and is unlikely to correspond to that listed above.

Additional reporting:
We also offer statistical analysis, aggregating over groups of managers, at our consultancy rate.

Cancellations:
Once the feedback data has been collected and report produced, we cannot offer refunds in the event of a cancellation. However we can offer refunds on a sliding scale commensurate with work carried out, up to that point.

Consultancy and Administration Fees:
Administration fees: £35 per hour.
Self-insight consultancy fees: £175 per hour.
Associate consultancy fees: Negotiable.

What is the process?

What should I say to people when asking them for feedback?

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.

How should I receive the feedback?

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.

Can I use it for performance appraisal?

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?

What are competencies and competency frameworks?

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?

Typical competencies include:

Judgement
Thinking strategically
Thinking analytically
Thinking creatively
Pragmatic problem solving
Effective decision making

Interpersonal skills
Influencing others
Motivating others
Supporting others
Networking

Intrapersonal skills
Drive and determination
Emotional resilience
Adaptability
Self-control
Self-insight

Delivering
Planning and organizing
Performace management
Ensuring high standards

Such competencies may relate to experience and theories of personality or intelligence and experience, but the idea is to focus on what managers actually have to do to be successful.

What is a competency framework?
A competency framework is a broad set of behaviours all managers are expected to demonstrate. The list above could be considered a competency framework. Each broad heading may be given a name that makes sense within a particular organization. And for each broad heading, a list of more specific list of behaviours will be defined. Most will be behaviours that managers are expected to demonstrate and some will be those that are not expected to be demonstrated.

Whilst there will generally be a wide-ranging set of behaviours that all managers, throughout the organization are expected to live up to, there may also be specific competencies for particular roles. The broad headings may also be broken down by seniority. For example, a junior manager may be expected to show an awareness of strategic thinking; a middle-manager may be expected to both think and act strategically, while a senior manager may be expected to create a culture where everyone thinks and acts strategically.

What is the value of a competency framework?
The framework provides a pragmatic set of behaviours, and a language, for thinking about leadership, that everyone in the organization can understand and buy into. It can be used to provide consistency and coherence across a range of HR activities, such as:
assessing new hires and for internal selection.
personal development and training (identifying where managers should improve their effectiveness).
appraisal (providing a clear set of benchmarks when making salary and bonus decisions).
A competency framework can also help drive a culture change programme within an organization by making it clear which behaviours will be rewarded and which not.
Lyle Spencer and Charles Morrow, in their book The Economic Value of Competencies, claim that instituting the use of competencies can have a 700% return on investment through performance improvement and efficiency savings.

Why use Self-insight?

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.

What features do Self-insight surveys offer?

Delivery. 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.

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 in any language. Either you provide the questionnaire, or we will have it translated (this does entail an additional cost).

What do you get in the standard 360-degree product and what can be customized?

Fees for customization are negotiable.

Can HR or anyone else find out who gave feedback?

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.

What about data security?

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.

Why partner with Self-insight?

In addition to those listed in the main benefits section, there are several reasons for consultancies to partner with us:

Lead generation. 360-degree feedback is an excellent means of making initial contact with prospective clients and offering an easy route to that first intervention. Once you have established that first useful working relationship, follow-on business may ensue.

Value. We offer rock-bottom prices that enable you to make a reasonable margin on your consultancy-led interventions.

Product innovation. We give you an edge by offering new products such as adaptive feedback and ongoing feedback. In addition to 360-instruments, we offer social network analysis, organization and culture surveys. We also offer value-add services such as statistical analysis, content analysis, validation and evaluation.

Scalability. Through the use of the web you can pitch for large-scale projects that require global data collection.

Customization.  You can use your own questionnaire. We can also add your own logo to all material to give it your own branding.

What are the pricing arrangements for partners?

See the main pricing section for details.

For clients you initiate, you would pay us the at the regular client rates but are free to negotiate your own prices with your client for providing feedback and any subsequent management development or value-added services.
For clients we initiate, the above would still apply except that we would take a 10% introduction fee on the whole package.

What is Self-insight's relationship with my client?

When Self-insight works with partner consultancies a clear line is drawn around the relationships. Your intellectual property is protected. If you wish to use your own questionnaire, it will be protected by a non-disclosure agreement. It will not be shared with anyone else.

Self-insight's relationship with your client will be purely as an outsourced administrative service provider contracted to yourselves. You will manage the overall client relationship. We will only manage the day-to-day administrative relationship. We will not discuss any further work with your client without your permission.

Any data collected using questionnaires you have designed will be your property, and not shared with anyone else. We do reserve the right, however, to store anonymised data collected using our own instruments, for statistical purposes.

What should I take into account when giving feedback?

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.

But I don't know the person who has asked for my feedback very well.

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.

What happens if I miss the deadline?

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.