360-degree assessment

360-degree feedback, also called a 360-degree review, gives an employee a view of performance from several directions rather than from one manager alone. The circle can include direct reports, peers, supervisors, customers, suppliers and other stakeholders, usually alongside the employee's own assessment.

When to use it

• To understand how people around you experience your performance and management style, then convert that evidence into a personal development plan.
• To contribute to an organization's assessment of performance and, where policy permits, decisions about pay or promotion.
• To examine leadership standards or patterns in organizational culture across a wider group.

Origins

The broad principle of drawing on several observers has a long history. An imperial rating system in third-century China under the Wei Dynasty assessed people serving at court. During World War II, the German military used evaluations by peers, supervisors and subordinates to inform performance improvement.

Modern 360-degree assessment developed alongside the 1950s interest in motivation, job enrichment and intrinsically rewarding work. Organizational psychologist Clark Wilson is often credited with an early formal instrument, the Survey of Management Practices, which he used while teaching at the University of Bridgeport in Connecticut. DuPont adopted the instrument in 1973, followed by organizations including Dow Chemical and Pitney Bowes. By the 1990s, multi-source feedback had become common and numerous survey instruments and consulting services were available.

What it is

A traditional annual appraisal depends heavily on the immediate manager. If that person has limited visibility of the employee's work or poor judgement about people, the review can be superficial or biased. Multi-rater feedback broadens the evidence by gathering perceptions from the employee's working circle.

A typical assessment combines the employee's self-evaluation with feedback from supervisors, peers and direct reports. Customers, suppliers or other interested parties may be included when they observe relevant behaviour. The result is not an objective verdict on personality; it is a structured account of how the individual's behaviour and effectiveness are perceived by people in different roles.