The uses of a 360 Feedback survey

360 feedback surveys are an instrument to diagnose and ultimately improve individual employees’ competencies and skills. At the individual level, a 360 feedback survey can increase self-awareness and self perception accuracy. Individuals will gain a better understanding of their strengths and of the areas that need development and that are critical to the organization. They will also understand how different groups in their work environment perceive them in each area and if those perceptions correspond to their own.

Common goals pursued by organizations in conducting 360 feedback surveys are:

Strategic alignment - When the competency model is correctly aligned with the organization’s objectives, employees understands which competencies are critical for the accomplishment of corporate objectives. This common understanding, shared by all employees, strengthens the work teams as it focused their effort toward a common goal.

Succession planning - 360 feedback surveys also play an important part in succession planning by helping identify high potential individuals and promoting their long-term leadership growth and development.

Rationalization of development resources - When looked at in aggregate, the results of 360 feedback surveys can point to group deficiencies in critical areas. Progressive organizations will use this information to tailor training and development programs that are better aligned with organizational objectives.

Interdepartmental relations - A 360 feedback process is useful to assess the relations among departments contributing to the same operational process or, for performance appraisal purposes, when an individual has worked for different managers or within different teams during the evaluation period.

Performance appraisals - 360-degree feedback surveys can also be used within the context of a performance appraisal process, if this is done carefully. A pure 360 feedback survey should never be used as a basis to evaluate an individual’s performance. The reason is simple, if respondents know that they have a way to directly influence a performance assessment, they may feel tempted to provide feedback that is either too positive or too negative depending on their personal relationship with the individual being evaluated.