Every HR Manager, and every well-informed CEO knows that the 360 Degree Method works wonders in employee evaluations. It is a crucial part of their performance assessment.
However, there are some companies for whom the process never yields any significan result.
You can also find articles online that talk about how 360 is an ineffective method, even though there are numerous studies that show this to be false.
However, it is very clear that for some companies it just doesn’t work.
Why is that so?
What separates a company that gets great results from the 360 Degree Method, and a company that gets no results from this method?
In our minds, the answer is pretty clear.
Poor implementation.
It is only when you misunderstand a part of the process and implement it in a wrong way, that you get a negative result.
We, as big proponents of the 360 Degree Method, have decided to shed some light on these mistakes.
We have identified top 4 mistakes that companies who get no results make, when conducting this method.
Without further ado, here they are:
360 Degree Method Mistakes
Measuring the wrong skills
There are certain skills that predict a person’s success in their job.
These are skills that have been well studied and observed. Skills like leadership, teamwork, communication skills, motivation etc.
When you are doing this assessment, you should focus on those qualities, and not on qualities that your boss thinks make a good employee.
So even if your boss is completely certain that having a sense of humor is what makes a good employee for example, this should not be what you are testing for.
Only test for the qualities that have been proven to influence the success of a company.
No explanation
Contrary to what some may believe, scared employees are not the best employees.
You must very clearly explain to your employees that the 360 Degree Method is not mean to punish them and expose their weaknesses.
This method is meant to empower them and show them the path to their further personal growth and professional success.
If any of the benefits are unclear for your employees, feel free to forward them our article 360 Degree Survey: Benefits for Employees.
Confidentiality breaches
You must be absolutely sure that you can protect the information of every participant.
You certainly don’t want some office drama because Jack found out that Sally rated him poorly. Everything should be completely confidential and anonymous.
You also want to communicate the confidentiality and anonimity of this procedure to your employees and everyone thaking the assessment.
They should be completely certain that they have an opportunity to give real, honest feedback and their opinion withou any negative side-effects.
No further instructions
This is something you definitely don’t want to do.
If you assess your employees, and then give them no further info on what they should do and how you will help them develop themselves, you will have accomplished nothing.
You can even have a negative influence on your employees this way. Telling them which traits they lack and what they are not good at in an uncalibrated way, without providing constructive advice and a development plan.
The purpose of this test is to know which areas your employees need help with. But you have to actually help them afterwords, or at least point them in the right direction.
These are the most common mistakes when using the 360 Degree Method. If you want to minimize the amount of mistakes you are making in your assessments, there are online tools and softwares that do almost all of the work for you, automatically.
If you are interested in one such software, check out Best360, and you won’t have to worry about making any mistakes with the 360 Degree Method.
If you are wondering what questions you should ask when conducting this method, check out our other article 360 Appraisal: What questions should you ask?
