How 360 Degree Feedback Can Improve Performance

How 360 Degree Feedback Can Improve Performance
By Callcentrehelper.com
Anthony Carranza
Updated:

According to Businessdictionary.com the 360-degree feedback is a collection of performance appraisal data about an employee´s peers, subordinates, supervisors and others in order to assess accurately their effectiveness within the organization. A lot of information we browse or read about on a daily basis is mainly centered on the launch or success of a company´s products, services, tools, etc.

What may be often overlooked and disregarded is the moral of employees who are working in a business, entity, enterprise, organization, or corporation. In addition, we safely assume that the working environment is positive and productive. Is it possible that 100 percent of staff who work at top tech companies like Apple, Google, General Electric, Microsoft and others completely satisfied? It is impossible to say for certain however these companies have massive influence and managed to build an empire with their portfolio of services transforming people´s everyday lives.

To start out on the right foot companies must do the basics and really invest in people because after all they are the backbone to the business. Investigating how people are performing is a start, yet finding out what their actual goals are helps the organization position them down the path to success. In other words, feedback is an instrumental source of information and lots can be done with it. Feedback is paramount to a business and an online tool to use to gather these details is Appraisal 360.

Appraisal 360

The self-assessment once gathered and analyzed thoroughly can be extremely vital to a group working together towards a goal. The Appraisal 360 can be described by the following characteristics: fast, easy-to-use and robust.

Whether you do use the 360-feedback system or not it can make the difference between succeeding and failing. Why? It opens up the lines of communications making them more transparent, and maps out what strategies need to be implemented for an individual to cope well within his or her job position. Integrating this multi-rater feedback is just one step of the process because too often we focus on results instead of supervising and boosting employee morale.

Background, history and present day of 360-degree feedback

The first documented uses of this concept of feedback can be traced back to World War II. Specifically the German military started to put this into practice and gather information from multiple sources that would evaluate as you may have guessed the performance of officers.

In the United States military a similar appraisal performance system was implemented during World War I. Nevertheless, according to Ehow.com the feedback did lack the appraisals of subordinates that the Germans incorporated into their concept.

The eventual growth and application of this management system came into play when the invention of the typewriter took place. Before that all feedback was recorded by hand making this process too long and mundane to document. But this technology at the time started to cut down time and recording of feedback commenced.

It wasn’t until the 1950s that Esso Research and Engineering Company put the technique into use in a commercial setting. The most noteworthy story of success for the 360-degree feedback was by retired CEO of General Electric Jack Welch.

It is estimated by Fortune Magazine that 90 percent of Fortune 500 companies use this system.

Case study and application for 360-degree feedback

The point of using feedback is about exposing the strengths and weaknesses of people. It is after all about improving and leaving room for growth. It should not be used as a retribution tool but more as a general guide of where the person needs to be.

A philosophy a company can aim for is objective feedback or fearless feedback. Just looking at the person´s track record and cover as many facts as possible about the overall performance.

An article or case study written by Jacqui Burke, director of people development business at Flourishing People, explains in great detail the challenges a middle manager faced upon receiving his Appraisal report. For his own self-assessment he could be described as a strong leader and a good motivator. That all changed when other respondents described him as being a bully, harassing staff about targets, stressing people out because of his tone and demeanor, etc.

The analysis went on to explain how the manager, Jeff, rejected the observations made about him naturally. And during this precise moment Burke offers insight that support is the first fundamental step post-evaluation followed by tips on how to discuss the findings. What he needed to do is shift the perceptions of others and change a bit his management style.  

Takeaways and conclusions

There is an overwhelming consensus that management or the leaders of a business must take care of their staff for everything to run smoothly. These processes of this comprehensive feedback system are designed to uncover what is working and what is not. What may or may not be reported from one division of a company or department to filter out what sort of problems may exist with staff or with people in leadership roles.

Appraisal 360 is a product that has been tested in the field. Its been deployed in countries like Australia, New Zealand and others. The point of this service is to level the playing field and improve the working environments. This will make most of the staff and its leaders trust one another so they can work more effectively as a unit rather than a pyramid scheme.

Feedback is central and essential within practically any organized group of people. When they are brought together they may have the mission of generating money or making a meaningful difference in the lives of others without a financial reward. 

You can explore more information about how the service works and specialists will cover in great detail all of the aspects. 

 

Digital Media Journalist! Existing contributor for Examiner and Social Media Today with a track record for web news. A former freelance writer for CBS Local Minnesota. Writing and reporting on the latest social media happenings.
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