The use of 360° Feedback in Performance Management
I happened to have a question whether 360° feedback shall be used as an “unequivocal” instrument in evaluating performance of managers.
Although at the first sight seems quite a good idea I have my doubts as whether it will provide a real value in evaluating performance of managers, especially in creating a link between rewards of managers for their activity and 360° feedback results.
Here there are a couple of reasons why:
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Creating such link will encourage bias in respondents’ mind (especially subordinates) leading to more and more positive results. Once we give any additional meaning to such feedback process, other than genuine intent to find strengths and areas for improvement, we give it a good start to playing political games.
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I also believe that such feedback is a sum of perceptions from various people at one single moment in time. I believe we shall carefully evaluate how much we reward the status-quo and how much we encourage actual progress or development. Focusing on actual development we are actually pushing people to go beyond their comfort zone and still develop. Don’t you have people who think they know it all and do not have anything left to develop (while waiting for a well deserved promotion)?
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There is one more reason for it: undermining the authority of the manager of evaluated manager (or simply making his life easier). He is rather likely to rely more on the tool than on personal observation and prompt intervention. In addition the responsibility for communicating eventual not so good news is taken away from the manager and dissipated towards many anonymous respondents.
I believe that 360° feedback can be a valuable tool for performance management purpose, meaning a tool to find future directions to develop. However, actual evaluation of progress has to be done with clear developmental goals and continuous behavioral change observations. But the role of direct manager to monitor these cannot be simply outsourced to a tool like 360° feedback.
2 Responses to “The use of 360° Feedback in Performance Management”
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this is by far the most interesting article I ever seen on this topic!
Interesting as always, the subject can be debatet more. Is everyone involved in the feedback to have the same weight in evaluating the manager? Peers are to be considered equally important for all the compentencies and abbilites evaluated? I understand that populsim may lead to an “excellence” pool of managers (seen it myself), but the instrument has it’s own advantages that cannot be negated (and in the process, its hinderances).
Nice one Nicu, keeop going!