Who should pick the respondents in 360 degree feedback

They'll pick their mates!

I've touched on cultural influences on 360 feedback processes before. Who picks the respondents/raters is another classic debate we get into where the organisation's culture drives much of the debate and the answer.

Our baseline position is that the recipient should pick the respondents. They are best placed to understand who can give accurate feedback on themselves and engaging them in the process is crucial to overall success and ensuring a high response rate.

Many clients believe that recipients will pick their mates - pick people who will give them favourable ratings.

The purpose of the 360 will be influential. If there is any link to pay then the 'rating' on the 360 becomes something of value outside of the intrinsic development process. The recipient has an interest in getting high 'scores'. We would recommend avoiding such a link but if it does exist then some form of managerial review of the selected respondents is inevitable.

But, all of our experience is that people approach this from a development perspective - and actively seek balanced feedback - as long as the systems / processes surrounding the 360 are supportive and used for development rather than evaluation. If you see 360 as a long-term process then even those people that in the first year are suspicious and load their selections with favourable colleagues, over time they will move to selecting an appropriate mix of colleagues and direct reports.

Brendan

Find out more about 360 degree appraisal solutions with Bowland Solutions