A 360-degree feedback program is a powerful way to help your employees and your organisation grow. When used correctly, it can help inform important business decisions and guide your people strategy.

Let’s start with a basic definition of 360-feedback… 

What is a 360-feedback programme?

360 feedback is an appraisal system that gathers feedback on an individual from a number of sources within the business, including direct reports, indirect reports, as well as colleagues and team members. It provides leaders and managers with a better understanding of an individual’s skills, performance and working relationships through qualitative feedback from all angles within an organisation. 

What are the benefits of a 360 programme? 

• Improves team dynamics 
• Strengthens peer relationships
• Identify where training might be needed
• Increases accountability
• Improves performance

Articulate your purpose

Before running any 360 programme, you need to be clear on why you’re doing it and what information you want to extract from it. 

Consider the following questions: 

• How will a 360-feedback programme help us?
• What are the objectives of the programme?
• Why now? What’s made this a priority?
• Who is this for? Is it company-wide or just for key teams? 
• What outcomes do you expect?

Outline expectations

Asking for people’s opinions of other people is never easy, and it’s important to recognise that most people aren’t comfortable telling their leader what they are doing well, and areas they can improve. It’s important to educate people as to what good quality feedback looks like so that they feel confident in giving it themselves and provide some examples. 

Choosing the right tools

There are many tools you can use that will help you configure the right 360 programme for your business, but before you choose one, it’s important to ensure it provides the outcomes and information you want. 

Ensure that it offer the right customisation for your business and that you are able to control anonymity to make your team feel comfortable when giving and receiving the feedback. 

Work with a third party 

We can help advise on the right 360 tool and set up the programme on your behalf to ensure that instructions are clear and easy for all employees to understand We will also ensure that feedback questions are meaningful and worded in the right way for your organisation’s culture, and that confidentiality is maintained at all times. 

Finally, we can help to dissect and analyse the information given from the surveys to help you improve team dynamics, identify issues before they become and problem, and facilitate feedback. 

Fostering a strong and open feedback culture can provide numerous benefits for your organisation, including employee engagement, improving performance, as well as promoting a culture of equality and openness – all of which are vital to retain the right talent and help your business thrive.  

Contact us for more advice on choosing the right 360 programme and how to implement it successfully to your employees.