In this article, 360 Degree Feedback and Forced Ranking, the author states that 360 Degree Feedback should only be a minor part, if at all, of the Performance Appraisal process, and argues for Forced Ranking as the main tool that should be used.
Certainly, I agree that 360 Degree Feedback on its own should not be used to provide Performance Appraisal, and that anonymous comments must be used very carefully in either performance or development discussions. Line manager appraisal, forced ranking and balanced scorecards are all key tools, along with 360, that should be used as part of the Performance Appraisal package.
However, 360 Degree Feedback has a major role in:
- Helping people to become aware of the effect of their behaviours and management styles on their colleagues and teams. Reseach has shown that, the more senior people rise in an organisation, the less likely they are to receive honest, constructive feedback. Self-awareness is the first step in making conscious changes in behaviours.
- Providing a wider view of the employee's performance than just that of his/her line manager. After all, line manager feedback can be just as biased as feedback from other colleagues.
- Feeding an additional layer of information to the organisation about overall skill levels (good 360 is based on example-based observation of specific behaviours).