What Makes 360 Degree Performance Appraisal Potent For Employee Development?

Evaluating employee’s performance in the organization is a tricky task. The holistic appraisal process which encompasses every aspect of the employee’s performance has become the necessity of organizations. For this purpose, the 360-degree Performance Appraisal system was brought into action. Also known as multi-rater feedback, this process is a comprehensive and effective system for running performance reviews at work.

All the elements surrounding the employee in an organization are evaluated. This system provides leaders with powerful insight into the performance of the employee’s and behavior in an organization. By filing an anonymous survey, opinions and reviews of the employees are analyzed. Once the performance feedback is captured and analyzed, the compiled result is shared with the employees to contribute to their personal development.

Earlier, every employee was accountable to both scenarios; if he did his job well, he kept it. If he performed badly, he was handed over a pink slip. The performance of the employees was assessed by his boss and the final decision used to take place. This has been the traditional approach to evaluation. But the emergence of a 360-degree performance appraisal system eliminated this traditional approach. This system focuses on constructive employee growth, rather than pointing out one area that requires improvement.

“Feedback from your peers gives birth to agility and improves your
performance.”

The main objective of this appraisal system is to focus on employee’s strengths, and weaknesses, the skills they can enhance and the areas where they require training to work better. These reviews help the individual to understand what they need and how they can perform to make the best of the situation.

A 360-degree performance appraisal is a powerful tool for employees to grow within the companies. It boosts the engagement, assists employees in growth, and identifies training options.

Some more benefits that individuals can experience with the implementation of 360-degree performance appraisal are as follows:

1. Identify employee’s strength

360 feedbacks are elemental in discerning the employee’s strength. Identifying the hidden strength helps the employees in tailored development and training plans. These strengths become their source of motivation and guide them to implement a change to go a long way. These strengths are important for their holistic growth and for a company’s effectiveness.

2. Increase Self-awareness

For every individual, it is necessary to understand beliefs, competency level, motivations, etc. This 360-degree performance appraisal system provides them with the report which includes their strengths, weakness, and areas of improvement. It acts as a powerful insight tool giving the employees a deeper understanding of their behavior and how it is perceived by the organization. For this purpose, self-awareness has become an important part of an employee’s development.

3. Develop Skills

After the successful implementation of the 360-degree performance appraisal system, employees have a clear picture of their working skills. 360 feedback provides employees with an initial point for the development of new skills and behaviors. They have clear thoughts on the basis of which they create customized development plans for their improvement. Thus, 360 reviews also increase the engagement of employees, along with the development of varied skills.

4. Create a Balanced View

360 reviews turn out to be effective for employees, as they are provided with a proportionate view of their skills and behaviors. It enables them to analyze their skills appropriately and find which area requires improvement. The reviews are provided from multiple people working in an organization, so employees have a fair and accurate assessment of their behavior and what initiatives can be made to improve it.

The key to the success of the 360-degree performance appraisal system is to look at it as a valuable tool to help employees in realizing their potential. Employee feedback is one of the most critical resources of an organization that helps them decide their future course of action. Many companies have adopted this hoping it will magically solve all the management problems. But some measures have to be taken along with it to bring a positive impact on the company. Exercising caution and using the latest technological advances is an effective way to improve the efficiency of such systems.

Therefore, with workplace culture rapidly evolving, it has become the need of the hour to implement an all-round review mechanism to successfully develop both employees and their organization.