Online 360 degree appraisals

Online versus paper

As a provider of online 360 degree appraisals it will come as no surprise that we see value in moving the process away from paper-based. If you are having to make the case for an investment in a 360 system then here is a list of what we see as the key benefits. Some obvious, some less so.

• Reduced administrative overload - the key reason people approach us
• Flexibility on questionnaires - it is very simple to have subsets of questions for peers compared to direct reports, say. You could do this on paper, but I wouldn't recommend it!
• Able to monitor and chase progress easily
• Higher completion rates. I'm sure someone has worked out why, but people respond to email better than they respond to paper.
• Great flexibility on reporting - and reporting is instant
• Reduced ongoing cost
• Simple routes to get consolidated reports - that analyse strengths and weaknesses over a range of demographic information
• Integrate into your performance review process - or even your course delegate management system.
• Repeating the process is trivial

Frankly, for more than 10 people I would not consider a paper-based 360 process. And even for smaller numbers, solutions like our self-service 360 www.myown360.com make more sense than paper.

Brendan

360 degree appraisals from Bowland Solutions

Releasing the report

The big moment

Another client, another day. Today the topic was - when should the recipient get their feedback report and, more importantly, should the manager get to see it first.

For budgetary reasons and straightforward resourcing issues it was not feasible for an external or non-line manager to run the debriefing session and so the question came; should my manager see my 360 degree feedback before I did?

I boldly recommended that the manager should see it first, prepare for the debrief session, and then take the recipient through their feedback during a meeting. But our client was adamant that the recipient should be in control of the process and should not find themselves meeting their manager in the corridor and getting a "you should see what's in your 360" comment.

The ideal is, I believe, that a non-line person gives a debrief and that is the first time the person sees the report. Two key reasons; it allows the report to be understood and it allows a context to be provided. A third consideration is it allows a trained person to observe whether the recipient is emotionally affected by the feedback.

This couldn't happen here. I'm frankly uncertain. I am always nervous of someone reading their report without any assistance on understanding and context. Yet, having the recipient in control of the process is also one of our recommendations.

The client chose to have the recipient remain in control and "release" the report to their manager in advance of the feedback meeting.

Brendan

Find out more about 360 degree appraisal solutions with Bowland Solutions