Once you’ve done all the good work of creating your 360 Degree Feedback statements and scale ratings, communicating the benefits and the reasons for doing it, and setting up an robust online system that’s going to take all the admin off your shoulders, don’t forget about training. You can destroy all your hard work if the managers who are going to discuss the feedback with staff don’t understand how 360 works, and how to get a clear message across.
Training doesn’t have to be a huge project, but you do need to make sure that managers:
- Don’t just focus on the negative, talk equally as much about the positive, and start and end the conversation with a forward looking plan for action
- Look at where there are clear and consistent messages coming from the 360 Feedback about strengths and weaknesses, and also where there are significant differences between self-review and the feedback from colleagues.
- Use the 360 as a tool for discussion, and as part of the wider appraisal or training process, not just an end in itself.