360º Employee Appraisal

MarilynR · May 2003

Has anyone had experience with a 360º evaluation? If you have, how well was it received? Also, does anyone have an evaluation like this that they could pass on?

scottorr · May 2003

We are also looking at changing our current review system to the 360 degree system. I found a few resources at the SHRM web site. [url]www.shrm.org[/url] You will need a membership to access the info. If you find any info else where please let me know.

MarilynR · May 2003

Thanks for the info. Unfortunately in January in order to cut back my departments expenses, I only renewed 1 membership for the year, and this forum is the one I renewed. I cancelled all the rest, and SHRM was one of them.

Balloonman · May 2003

Marilyn,
Be careful with these 360 degree performance reviews, I did a bunch of them one morning and got so dizzy I had to lie down for a while! x:D
They are very paper intensive also.
My $0.02 worth.
DJ The Balloonman

Rockie · May 2003

Marilyn: If your group is one that keeps up with their reviews on a timely basis and is "deadline" friendly, then this is an excellent evaluation tool. Most companies, however, do not seem to put this type of emphasis on reviews. Managers hate them, employees hate them and on and on and the more paperwork involved in them, the more resistance there is.

We are considering a system where everyone gets an across the board increase and each employee will be eligible for additional increases by amassing points by contributing to the organization in some way (extra committee work, community work, cost savings, continuing education, etc.). It will be up to the employees to keep their points and documentation to turn in with their reviews on an annual basis.

MarilynR · May 2003

Balloonman: I'm pretty dizzy in my natural state - how do you think I survive in HR?

Rockie:I agree with you. Our new engineering manager (from our home office in Australia) has successfully implemented this method in Sydney. He is here to 'clean up the US office'. He wants to do this in his department, and also with upper management. However, he has mentioned that I would be on the "anonymous" panel that completes these evaluations. My fear is that this type of review will cause a lot of animosity. (besides a TON of work!!!)

Rodney · May 2003

Wow! I can see how this can make your head spin (as many review systems do).
I would suggest you do some additional research. It seems to be agreed by most that 360's are not good for evaluation/appraisal purposes. They create just what you suggested. However, they are good if used strictly for development purposes.

There are many appraisal systems that have come and gone because not many are found to be very effective. You do the best with what fits your culture (if you need one at all). Exxceed (can go to their website0 has a good system which is on-line and requires more communication. (Sorry it costs $$$) The latter (communication & feedback) are really what can help performance.

Sorry to put a damper on your efforts but you should be aware of what you may be putting in place & if you are creating a monster.

360º Employee Appraisal

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