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Getting more out of 360°

A whitepaper examining the role of fl exible 360 degree reviews in embedding feedback culture in organizations

Expanding the scope of 360° feedback programs

2QUESTBACK 360° FEEDBACK WHITE PAPER.

When 360 degree feedback follows best practice guidelines and has actionable outcomes, it is an excellent development tool for employees. However, it is also resource-intensive for organizations, which can limit its widespread use.

Extending the type of in-depth review offered by the 360° process can help to embed a feedback culture within organizations, supporting high achievers, developing leadership talent and reassuring more junior staff that feedback offers an opportunity rather than a threat.

Technology is providing a route to a new kind of 360° feedback – self-service 360° – that makes this level of expansion possible. 

This paper will look at the changing face of 360 degree feedback and consider how extending and making the model more fl exible through technology can help organizations embed a feedback and leadership development culture among all their employees.

QuestBack is a global leader in enterprise feedback management, already working with a number of leading companies around the world to deliver technology for their 360° feedback programs.

Key fi ndings

3QUESTBACK 360° FEEDBACK WHITE PAPER.

Poor managers are not only an obstacle to employee engagement they actually drive employee disengagement with an estimated cost to US organizations of $355 billion annually in lost productivity (McKinsey, 2012).

The Harvard Business Review found nearly 60% of companies face leadership talent shortages which impede performance (HBR 2010). Leadership development was found to the the top priority for 65% of respondents in a recent McKinsey study (McKinsey 2012).

360 degree reviews are used by the overwhelming majority of Fortune 500 companies (Carruthers, 2003) to improve leadership and capability with good reason. When done well, and used as a development tool to help employees recognize their strengths and weaknesses and to work on them, the 360° feedback tool is personal and powerful. It focuses on the individual – their behaviors, skills and competencies – from the perspective of those around them, particularly their managers and peers. A good 360° feedback review will include a follow-up roadmap for self-development, enabling the employee to revisit the feedback, respond with changes and refl ect on their progress.

360° feedback works best when some basic ground rules are respected. These can be seen as straightforward best practice. The 360° feedback should have:

» The buy-in of all managers rather than being seen as driven by the HR department

» Precise questions that can be translated into measurable actions

» Clear understanding of confi dentiality for all parties

» A focus on strengths as well as weaknesses

» A clear follow-through plan of action that is revisited periodically

However, these requirements – ownership, time, commitment, follow-up – also mean that effective 360° feedback can be demanding on an organization‘s resources. It is undoubtedly a time consuming process to carry out, with high admin requirements as well as subsequent action planning. It also requires investment in trainer coaching and ensuring that all the parties involved understand what they are doing and why.

The result is that this valuable feedback tool is generally restricted to the upper echelons of an organization, principally senior management.

However, at a time when leading consultants are urging a greater emphasis on staff development at all levels (McKinsey 2012), there is an argument that the benefi ts of 360° feedback should be realized more widely, throughout organizations, rather than limited to those already at the top.

One model for extending the benefi ts of 360° is to use technology to reduce the overheads of the process and create a less resource-intensive „self-service“ 360° option. We‘ll be exploring this idea further throughout the white paper.

Introduction

4QUESTBACK 360° FEEDBACK WHITE PAPER.

One of the most commonly reported issues with 360 programs is ensuring follow-through – encouraging individuals to take ownership of their review actions and change their own behavior (Chng, 2010). Too often, the review itself is seen as both the beginning and the end of the feedback process with too little time, thought or commitment given to the action plan and the behavioral change needed to see it through. Rather than a one-off appraisal technique, 360° should be viewed as an ongoing process that requires continued momentum from all involved to ensure that manageable action plans are delivered, fulfi lled and revisited.

The failure to follow through can contribute to a more general failure of feedback culture in organizations. Feedback is one of the top issues that comes up in employee surveys and is a particular area of anxiety for junior and middle managers. If they are not well prepared in how to deal with feedback, how to interpret it, how to act on it and in understanding how it is going to be used, they are likely to be nervous about it and resist buy-in. Similarly, those who are giving feedback to others need to have a degree of comprehension and buy-in around these topics so that the process is a constructive one rather than, at worst, a demotivating, mud-slinging exercise.

When the principle and practice of constructive feedback is embedded in an organization there is an under-lying acceptance that it offers opportunities rather than threats and that the outcomes benefi t not just the individual but also the wider organization.

The importance of extending feedback culture beyond the executive level and infusing it more widely is high-lighted in a recent McKinsey report. It identifi ed leadership development as one of the top priorities for HR in the face of a looming talent crunch, the splintering of traditional corporate line positions and more fl exible, virtual working (McKinsey, 2012).

According to the Harvard Business Review, nearly 60% of companies are facing leadership talent shortages that are impeding their performance. Another 31% expect a lack of leadership talent to impede their perfor-mance in the next several years (HBR, 2010). Supporting high achievers means understanding and extending staff development throughout the organization - as organizations engage in more complex, dynamic, and creative work, they have to rely more and more on leadership from all levels: „leadership is not about position. If that is true, then why do most leadership development programs focus on senior executives? We need to expand our focus to fi gure out ways to effi ciently and economically develop leaders throughout the organization“ (HBR, 2010b).

360° – embedding the feedback culture

»» Savvy senior Savvy senior executives will executives will recognize that recognize that managing the shift managing the shift currently under currently under way is analogous way is analogous to leading a major to leading a major change-manage-change-manage-ment program and ment program and that managers, that managers, at all levels, will at all levels, will be the ones most be the ones most keenly affected. keenly affected. The fi rst priority The fi rst priority for executives seek-ing to lead their organizations into the new world of work should be helping their man-agement teams improve - or in some cases develop

- abilities…«

MCKINSEY REPORT

5QUESTBACK 360° FEEDBACK WHITE PAPER.

But how are companies to expand 360° and, through that expansion, embed feedback culture in an organi-zation when traditional 360° review is so resource-heavy? Introducing fl exibility into the feedback system and having the option of a „self-service“, less highly centralised route is one answer.

Self-service 360° is a commoditisation of the best of the 360° process that exploits technology to make it effi cient and effective for organizations to roll it out much more widely than a traditional 360 degree review and make it accessible to all employees, if desired.

The difference between traditional 360° review and self-service 360°, is that the latter is much more scalable. Controlled by the organization‘s HQ but distributed online at a departmental level or localized, it offers customer-specifi c and relevant implementations combined with fl exible location and role focus. It is easy to set up and provides a homogenous process for the whole enterprise.

It can all be embedded into an enterprise HR feedback strategy aimed at reducing churn, supporting high achievers, identifying poor performance and promoting engagement. Importantly, as constructive feedback culture becomes embedded, more junior staff learn how to appreciate the opportunities it offers rather than fearing criticism. The easy, rolling nature of the review enables them to monitor their progress over time as they seek to work on their weaknesses and improve their performance.

Of course, developing self-service 360° within an organization does not mean abandoning the existing high-level approach, which is fully administered, drives corporate incentive programs and requires a high degree of consultancy. There will always be a place for this gold standard feedback mechanism.

The future of 360° - fl exibility

6QUESTBACK 360° FEEDBACK WHITE PAPER.

QuestBack offers highly customizable services for HR designed to assess and develop employees from top managers and executives to general staff. For example, the QuestBack 360° Leadership Compass is a complete and fl exible tool, used by some of the world’s biggest brands, that helps organizations measure and maximize the development of their leaders using 360° feedback.

QuestBack has discovered that the benefi ts of developing staff in this way are signifi cant from an ROI point of view, ranging from reducing management turnover and improving customer retention to reducing staff absence due to sickness.

3 TYPICAL USE CASESHere are three ways our customers use QuestBack 360° Leadership Compass to enhance leadership development.

QuestBack’s 360° experience

Deutsche Lufthansa AGGlobal aviation group Deutsche Lufthansa AG replaced their paper-

based 360° employee feedback procedures with an online system based

on QuestBack technology. The entire survey process is now automated with

the questionnaires designed fl exibly, resulting in a considerable reduction in

costs. The adaptive structure of the questionnaire offers a choice of modules

that allows users to provide more details on a topic and provides the

feedback recipient with the option of defi ning the relevant areas of his

or her feedback. This way, maximum information is gained

with minimum processing time. The platform allows

managers to prepare their feedback process themselves in just a

few steps, monitor the response and download their personal fi nal

report. The good response rate shows that feedback recipients and

feedback sup-pliers trust the online system. A statistical check of

the anonymized results revealed that the quality of the collected

information meets the high expectations of Lufthansa’s

employees.

»» A great success… A great success…has helped boost has helped boost innovations innovations

successfully«successfully«

DEUTSCHE LUFTHANSA AG‘S DEUTSCHE LUFTHANSA AG‘S

HEAD OF MANAGER TRAININGHEAD OF MANAGER TRAINING

1. 2. 3.

INFORMAL AD-HOC OPINION GATHERING Situation: A forward-thinking manager in

a new role wants to conduct a quick ad-

hoc review of team morale, expectations

and goals across his team, his peers and

his manager.

Solution: The manager uses the intuitive

survey setup wizard to quickly create a pro-

ject, upload a standardized questionnaire,

defi ne respondents and distribute a survey,

all in just a few clicks.

IDENTIFICATION OF EMPLOYEE-SPECIFIC TRAINING OR DEVELOPMENT ISSUESSituation: An HR director wants to set up a review

among account executives, their line managers and

customers to map customer satisfaction against

managerial performance, identify gaps in leadership

development or training, and defi ne corrective actions.

Solution: The HR director sets up a centrally-

controlled review using a customized questionnaire.

The system automates the rollout of the survey,

collates the results, and presents them and proposed

next steps in an attractive, easy-to-interpret and

high-impact way.

AN ENTERPRISE-WIDE 360° LEADERSHIP SURVEYSituation: The Executive Board of a large

enterprise wants to run an anonymous annual

audit of senior managers’ performance, and

align the results against specifi c KPIs.

Solution: QuestBack 360° Leadership Compass

enables the HR department to develop an

effective audit questionnaire, distribute it simul-

taneously in multiple languages to hundreds

of managers around the world, and generate

clear, attractive reports, customized to the

priorities of specifi c stakeholder groups.

7QUESTBACK 360° FEEDBACK WHITE PAPER.

QuestBack‘s 360° solutions recognize that different customers have different needs. That‘s why QuestBack offers both the centralized and the self-service versions of 360° programs. The traditional high-level, adminis-tered 360° review is ideal for senior managers, while self-service 360° is superbly scalable.

With QuestBack‘s 360° Leadership Compass, organizations are enabled to discover, assess and develop their managers’ leadership capabilities in a transparent and objective fashion. All participants benefi t:

QuestBack – the fl exible, scalable 360° feedback solution

Leaders enjoy greater involvement in their performance reviews and accelerate their career progression through clear identifi cation of existing strengths and opportunities for improvement.

HR departments can conduct leadership reviews easily, quickly and more frequently, saving time and money while simultaneously increasing the value of the HR function.

Senior managers are empowered to maximize business impact and human capital ROI by aligning leadership more closely with strategy, measuring development of leadership capabilities over time and correcting or eliminating poor leadership.

Organizations can enhance their image as forward-thinking employers by demonstrating their commitment to leadership development.

Having the fl exibility to move between 90 and 360-degree feedback – which can be used at all organization levels, from board to staff - provides a more realistic, balanced picture of qualitative performance (the “how”), effectively complementing the traditional quantitative measures of performance (the “what“). It is a power-ful catalyst for change and an excellent personal development tool – the process encourages individual ownership, increases self-awareness and presents the need for change (where it exists) in a compelling way. It achieves an alignment of behaviors with the organization’s values and preferred leadership style and can be the catalyst for improved teamwork

THE DIFFERENCE IN QUESTBACK‘S FLEXIBLE 360° SOLUTIONS LIES IN ITS» Flexibility: 90-180-270-360° feedback

» Ease of administration and use

» Anonymity options

» Enterprise readiness

» Data security

» Multi-language facilities

» Tailor-made nature

» Scalability

» Links to corporate strategy, ROIs and KPIs

Having one online tool for all surveys and all stakeholders in the company offers scalability, cost savings, synergies and increased effi ciency.

SOURCES

ASHFORD, S, DERUE, S (2010), FIVE STEPS

TO ADDRESSING THE LEADERSHIP TALENT

SHORTAGE. HARVARD BUSINESS REVIEW

(2 JUNE 2010)

http://blogs.hbr.org/2010/06/5-steps-to-

addressing-the-lead/

ASHFORD, S, DERUE, S (2010B), LEADER-

SHIP — IT’S (MUCH) MORE THAN POSITION.

HARVARD BUSINESS REVIEW (29 APRIL 2010)

http://blogs.hbr.org/2010/04/leadership-its-

much-more-than/

CARRUTHERS, F (2003). NOTHING BUT THE

TRUTH. AUSTRALIAN FINANCIAL REVIEW

(NOVEMBER 14 2010): 78.

CHNG, J (2010) ORIGINAL INSIGHT: 360-DE-

GREE FEEDBACK: TACKLING THE THREE

BIGGEST CHALLENGES (ETS PLC: SURREY)

LUND S, MANYIKA J, RAMASWAMY S, (2012)

PREPARING FOR A NEW ERA OF WORK.

MCKINSEY QUARTERLY (NOVEMBER 2012)

8QUESTBACK 360° FEEDBACK WHITE PAPER.

Enterprise-ready: Integrated with QuestBack’s proven, enterprise-class EFS and Data Voyager feedback solutions, enabling alignment with overall corporate feedback strategy.

Complete: A single, complete, scalable solution for leadership reviews and surveys between any combination of stakeholders, ena-bling greater effi ciency and lower costs compared with running separate systems.

Flexible: Usable as a centralized solution, or an intuitive self-service tool, enabling standardized or bespoke ad hoc reviews between any combination of stakeholders.

Anonymous: Allows respondents to express honest opinions, and helps employees/managers treat feedback more objectively.

Secure: Employee data held in state-of-the-art facilities in Germany, eliminating potential ex-posure to foreign data regulations e.g. US Patriot Act.

Customizable: Use built-in ques-tionnaire templates or create your own, and conduct surveys simul-taneously in multiple languages.

Reasons to choose QuestBack 6

QuestBack GmbHGustav-Heinemann-Ufer 72a50968 KölnTel +49 221 271690sales@questback.de

W W W . Q U E S T B A C K . D E

COMPANY PROFILE

QUESTBACK IS A GLOBAL LEADER IN ENTERPRISE FEEDBACK MANAGEMENT, MARKET RESEARCH SOLUTIONS, SOCIAL CRM, CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE MANAGEMENT, AND HR MANAGEMENT. THE COMPANY‘S SOFTWARE SOLUTIONS ENABLE ORGANIZATIONS TO GAIN ACTIONABLE INSIGHTS AND BUILD STRONGER RELATIONSHIPS WITH CUSTOMERS AND EMPLOYEES.

FOUNDED IN 2000, QUESTBACK IS HEADQUARTERED IN OSLO, NORWAY AND PRIVATELY HELD WITH 17 OFFICES WORLDWIDE. MORE THAN 4,000 GLOBAL CUSTOMERS RELY ON QUESTBACK – INCLUDING VOLVO, ERNST & YOUNG, COCA-COLA AND GENERAL MILLS.