360 surveys Getting meaningful feedback for results

360 surveys

Getting meaningful feedback for results

by Erin Saunders, Leica Geosystems

Getting feedback from multiple sources can help you understand how you are perceived in the organization, how that perception may line up with your own self-perception, and skills or competencies you may want to focus on developing.

Feedback is one of the most important things

we can be given to be able to grow and develop in our careers. One of the tools that can be used to get feedback from the team and stakeholders is a 360 evaluation.

Getting feedback from multiple sources can help you understand how you are perceived in the organization, how that perception may line up with your own self-perception, and skills or competencies you may want to focus on developing.

Steps to success

Here are some guidelines on how 360 feedback can be administered to be most effective in employee development.

1. First, decide who will administer

the 360 evaluation. This should be someone in the organization who can compile the results to keep the responses anonymous and who will keep the feedback confidential. 4 If the 360 is being administered for individual participants, this can be their manager or HR. 4 If it’s a manager in a smaller organization looking for feedback from his or her team, it’s typically administered by someone neutral and trustworthy in the organization.

2. Next, identify what questions to ask. In general, you want to ask about skills that are important for someone to be successful in their role. It can be a very tactical skills-based evaluation, or feedback on some of the softer skills like communication and interpersonal connection. 4 Some common areas in which individual contributors want feedback are communication effectiveness, responsiveness, passion for the work, customer focus, decision quality, presentation skills, and problem solving. 4 Managers typically want feedback about their leadership style, people development focus, communication, accessibility, and support for direct reports.

3. How you would like to collect the

results? It can be done via Excel or Word, or automated slightly using Google Forms or a survey service such as Survey Monkey.

4. Next, decide who the target

audience for feedback is. This can vary depending on the type of information you’re looking for. 4 Managers may want feedback from their direct reports on their management style. 4 Individual contributors may want feedback from their teams, stakeholders, or customers.

Managers and participants of the survey should align on their target audience before sending out the 360 feedback.

5. Once you’ve established who will be providing the feedback, give each of the survey participants some

background on the process. Help them understand the purpose of the 360, let them

know their responses will be anonymous, and that in order for the process to be useful, it’s important that they are honest in their feedback. You may want to consider having a call to help them understand the purpose of the exercise as well.

6. Once the survey participants have responded, the administrator

should compile the results. This is a critical part in the 360 process.

It’s important that the employee receiving the results is open to the feedback and that the message is framed properly. 4 The manager or administrator should look for themes. She/he may want to consider ranking the feedback from highest to lowest. 4 Before sending the participant their feedback, help them understand some guidelines of how to best interpret it and what to expect next in the process. 4 Reinforce that feedback is one of the most important ways in which we grow. We all have areas that are strengths for us, and we all have areas in which we can improve.

When you sit down to discuss the results, probe for more information.

Some good questions to ask include: 4 4 What surprised you about the results? Were there any results that were different than what you were expecting? How so? 4 4 Which of the results were not surprising? How did the results align with your selfassessment? 4 What are the areas you would agree are your key strengths? How are those important in your role? 4 What are the areas that scored a little lower? Are those skills or competencies that are needed for your job? 4 Is there anything based on this feedback you want to try and work on or add as a development opportunity?

7.

In general, people are going to be happier and more effective at their jobs if they are using and playing to their strengths. Consider spending a good portion of the conversation talking about how to better leverage the employee’s strengths.

For areas that rated lower, first ask “do we care?” If it’s a skill that isn’t needed to be effective in the employee’s role, it may not be something you want to work on developing.

If it is critical, focus on how you can help the employee build that strength.

8. As you create development plans, leverage free and existing tools

online. Coursera, Udemy, and LinkedIn Learning all have free or low-cost courses around technical skills like financial acumen as well as soft skills like communication and building interpersonal relationships. Using a course like that along with 1:1 coaching can go a long way in building your team’s skills.

The payoff

Feedback is one of the most important ways we grow and develop personally and professionally.

When carefully administered, a 360 evaluation can be a great way in which to understand how our self-perception lines up with how we are perceived by others we work with and support.

About the author

Erin Saunders is Regional Human Resources Business Partner with Leica Geosystems, part of Hexagon.

P: 770.326.9517 E: erin.saunders@leica-geosystems.com