Leadership Assessment with 360-Degree Feedback: Ensuring a High-Quality Rater Group

This time of year, many of Censeo's clients turn their attention to leadership assessment via 360 degree feedback.  It's a great time to take stock of the past year, establish a new benchmark of leadership performance, and use assessment results to identify and prioritize goals for the coming year.

One important factor in conducting an effective and accurate 360 degree feedback process involves the selection of high-quality raters - raters who are well positioned to provide candid and objective feedback.  So how can organizations accomplish this?  If 360 participants are given full control to assign their own raters does the quality of the process suffer?

In this short video, Censeo's Director of Consulting, Dr. Michael Zia Mian addresses this issue, and offers a specific best practice of ensuring a high-quality 360 rater population.

360 Degree Feedback in M.B.A. Programs – Helping to Deliver on Skills Employers Value Most

There has been a lot of press recently focusing on the curriculum in MBA programs.  To summarize, employers have been quite vocal in demanding a curriculum shift at the B-schools. Hard core quant skills are less in vogue as corporate recruiters are placing more emphasis on the skills employers value most - like the ability to write and speak clearly and persuasively, brokering compromises, and managing change. Business schools are reacting by bolstering their soft-skills training and adopting popular corporate employee development methods, like the use of psychological (personality profiling) and behaviorally (360 Degree Feedback) based assessments, and professional coaching.

At Rollins College Crummer Graduate School of Business, Dr. Susan Bach, the Executive Director of the Leadership Center, has been using 360 Degree Feedback for several years with her students. Dr. Bach believes "that 360 assessments are an essential leadership development tool. Many MBA programs across the country are beginning to focus on this approach as a way to call attention to the importance of soft skills."

In peer-oriented MBA programs, 360 Degree Feedback might be a new experience for students. The process at Rollins has students rating themselves and each other on their performance and effectiveness as team members. The competencies and behaviors assessed in the 360 align with what's needed to be a successful manager in any corporation today. "I have found that students see the process as an eye-opener and the feedback as the wake-up call," reports Dr. Bach. "The experience of seeing the ratings and reading the feedback makes students pause and take notice.  I think it's rare that a student is totally surprised by the information, however, seeing it on paper creates a heightened awareness that oral feedback can't always achieve."

For some schools, the assessment process also includes feedback from the student's employer. The resulting feedback report provides the framework for designing a development plan and for identifying subsequent coaching sessions - all common techniques in corporate development programs. Thoughts and reactions to the feedback are also captured in student journals, which are maintained throughout the program.

A recent graduate from the Rollins' Corporate MBA program, Tanya Juarez, is the External Affairs Manager for TECO Energy, a power company in Tampa, Florida. "Because my company incorporates a 360 assessment already, I was familiar with the process. The experience of the assessment during the MBA program only furthered my understanding of the strengths I needed to leverage more and the areas I needed to continue to work on.  This entire exercise, if you allow it, will provide clarity of how to become a more effective worker, manager, and leader."

Dr. Michael Zia Mian, Director of Consulting for Censeo Corporation, has worked with schools in developing post-360 processes for the classroom. "While students might have already been exposed to assessment instruments like the MBTI or the Birkman, the 360 feedback report is different - it is eagerly received, relatively easy to understand, and provides students with actionable development resources early on in their program. It is the one report they seem to revisit throughout their MBA experience as they monitor their progress." 

Are MBA programs meeting the needs of employers?  Don Davidson, founder of The Davidson Group (www.davidsongroup.com), a full service executive recruiting firm based in Novato, California, believes that business schools could do more.  "We deal with a very educated clientele.  There is very little tolerance for people with poor communication skills both written and oral.  Negotiation is a key skill that is highly valued among most of our clientele." A good 360 process can help identify weaknesses in these areas and provide the school and the individual with a road map for development.

The Graduate Management Admission Council's 2009 MBA Recruiters' Survey provides further support for the development of soft skills in MBA programs. Results indicate that employers hiring MBA graduates, are primarily looking for good oral and written communication skills (89%), a proven ability to perform (73%), strategic skills (69%), and sound core business knowledge (67%). In addition, initiative (82%), professionalism (81%), and integrity (81%) were among the most demanded intangible traits and abilities sought in MBA candidates."

While personally pursuing an MBA several years ago, the impact of the 360 assessment in my program became obvious. As the program went along, I became keenly aware of how I could more effectively engage people on my project team. I also noted the reaction of my peers to the process.  When the resulting reports were delivered, the common reaction was, "Wow...the insight into my performance gave me the opportunity to reevaluate and change my approach to more effectively use my leadership skills and to develop additional skills where I was lacking." Indeed, the 360 process proved to be one of the most rewarding parts of the MBA program. I'm hoping incoming students will have the same opportunity I had, to really jump start their soft skill development and growth!

Censeo Corporation strongly embraces the mission of business schools and their need to properly prepare graduates for their role as our future leaders. Contact us about our special educational pricing.

Should 360 Degree Feedback be used in Performance Appraisals? (Part 2 of 2)

It's hard to refute the basic logic of arming both the manager and the employee being appraised with the most accurate data possible, and to use that information intelligently to help understand past performance and determine how performance can be improved in the future.

360 degree feedback can provide such data. Here are three suggestions on how to capitalize on that opportunity, while minimizing the risks:

1. Initially use 360s only for development - If 360 degree feedback is new to your organization, focus on using the process for development purposes only for a couple of years. Give people time to get used to the whole concept of 360 degree feedback, and to appreciate how valuable such feedback can be. Then consider the possibility of using it in some fashion as part of the PA system.

2. Don't tightly link 360s to the PA system - This means several things. First, 360 degree feedback should be only one of the data sources used by the manager in evaluating performance. Second, 360 degree feedback results should never be hard-wired to PA ratings in the sense that there's any kind of mathematical relationship. Third, don't link the timing of 360 degree feedback to the timing of PAs. Most PA systems use an annual cycle tied in with the company's fiscal year, but conducting 360 degree feedback every year is too often. Conduct 360 surveys when it makes sense to do so for development purposes. Then use the results as one of the inputs to the PA system, if they happen to be timely enough.

3. Clearly communicate how the 360 tool will be used - Clearly communicate to participants and raters how the 360 degree feedback will and won't be used with respect to the PA system. Don't underestimate the challenges in communicating these matters, particularly if you're announcing a policy change (e.g., a shift from "strictly for development purposes" to something else). It will take numerous and repeated communications to allay the fears and concerns on the part of all stakeholder groups - participants, managers and raters.

A reminder to those of you thinking that I've just provided great rationale for you to now quickly integrate your 360 and PA systems, or maybe you've been integrating them for some time and this just validates your stance - the success of the integration really will depend on following the guidelines mentioned and paying close attention to what happens during and after the performance review. A well planned structure is still necessary to ensure that employees actually engage in developing their competencies. While there is too much to cover in this post, some critical questions you should be asking include - Do employees understand your performance review process and how 360 ratings will be used? Are managers equipped to conduct effective feedback discussions in the review? Is there a development planning template and is regular follow-up part of your process?  

It's the age old question ... how effective is your system in helping people change behaviors? Essentially.... that's the bottom line!

Should 360 Degree Feedback be used in Performance Appraisals? (Part 1 of 2)

In the second half of every year, as annual performance reviews approach, I'm frequently faced with the client question "is it appropriate to integrate employee performance appraisals (PA) and 360 results?" There is considerable debate and controversy about the relationship between the two, but from where I stand, 360 degree feedback can play a beneficial role in PA systems, if several issues are carefully managed.

Before covering those issues, let me first describe the broader context of PA systems and one of the reasons they often don't work very well. Most PA systems include two components - evaluation of operational/business goals to be achieved and evaluation of performance factors (how the job is accomplished and the competencies required). Typically evaluations of both components are then integrated into some overall "score" or rating, and there are usually consequences linked to those ratings, such as merit salary increases, bonus allocations, and so forth.

The rationale for looking at performance factors is that companies want managers and their employees to place an emphasis on improving competencies and skills, in addition to operational goals, because improving them increases the potential for future business success.

Let's now talk about why this traditional PA process often doesn't work very well. The one most relevant to my post is that evaluations of performance factors (the behaviors and competencies demonstrated) are not as accurate when the assessment information comes only from the manager. (This is usually less of a problem for operational objectives because more quantitative, objective measures are available.) In an effort to improve this important part of their PA systems, some companies use 360 degree feedback to increase the accuracy of assessments and evaluation. Why? Because having several different perspectives on an individual is better than just one - this is the driving premise of the 360 tool. So, what's the problem and why is there controversy? Here are the four main issues:

1. Decreased rater honesty and accuracy - When they know that significant consequences are tied to their ratings, people providing 360 ratings may be less honest and accurate (i.e., positive or negative bias could be introduced).

2. Participants focus more on ratings than development - Participants might be less inclined, not more, to proactively engage in developmental activities when their PA ratings are influenced by the 360 process. In fact, their main motivation could be to do everything possible to select raters who will be predisposed to give favorable ratings, versus those who will give honest feedback.

3. 360 results lose their "future focus" - 360 degree feedback surveys are more focused on the future (using feedback to improve future performance) whereas PAs are more focused on the past (evaluating goals accomplished and behaviors demonstrated over the past year). Therefore, when put together, there's a risk of the 360 degree feedback process becoming "tainted," and losing its positive focus on the future.

4. 360 tool loses its positive appeal - Associating 360 degree feedback with the PA system (which typically has a very negative reputation in the organization) could jeopardize positive views people hold about the former.

My general advice to clients is to be very careful about incorporating 360 degree feedback into appraisal systems. The advantages of making modest improvements in the PA system could be outweighed by the potential damage done to the 360 degree feedback program. Carefully think through what you're trying to accomplish and why, and evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of moving in that direction.

Looking ahead to next week, I'll dive deeper into how 360 degree feedback can be leveraged while, at the same time, minimizing the risks.

Conducting an Effective 360 Leadership Assessment (Part 6 of 6)

With today's post, I've reached the end of my series on Conducting an Effective 360 Leadership Assessment... and in many ways, I've saved the most important topic for last.

Why? Because after working with clients on 360 degree feedback initiatives for almost 15 years, THIS is the area I see most often falls short.  The final step in the process is skillfully providing feedback and facilitating long-term positive change.

Here are just a few tips to keep you on track, and help you avoid the pitfalls that so many companies fall victim to...

Whatever you do... DON'T simply email reports out to participants and assume positive things will happen.  Instead, conduct 360 feedback workshops, facilitated by an internal or external consultant. These sessions can be used to clarify reports, answer questions, and get people thinking about development. In addition, they can help participants more openly receive 360 degree feedback that may have challenged their self-perceptions.

Structure the process so that participants receive scheduled one-on-one feedback and action planning sessions with their managers. Sessions should occur after feedback reports are delivered and workshops have been given - typically within 1-3 weeks. This is long enough for participants to digest the feedback, but short enough that momentum is not lost.

Provide managers with the skills and expertise necessary to conduct one-on-one meetings with subordinates. This includes being able to explain the purpose of the 360 degree feedback process and provide necessary coaching. During these meetings, managers and participants should work together to devise a mutually acceptable development plan.

Conduct follow-up 360 assessments to measure improvement. Typically this should occur in 12-18 months to allow participants time to develop.

Provide a structure that will ensure accountability. Communicate the importance of both 360 degree feedback and action planning to managers. Make leaders aware that they need to continually follow up and reinforce their staff. This is extremely important in driving employee development.

I know... I just threw a lot at you.  So take the time to re-read this post, take some notes, and put some effort to ensuring you have a solid game plan for what happens once the reports are in the hands of survey participants.

With that... I conclude this series of posts and wish you all good luck as you embark on your next 360 degree feedback adventure!

Conducting an Effective 360 Leadership Assessment (Part 5 of 6)

Ahh... you thought this day would never come.  You've created a great survey instrument, communicated clearly to all the stakeholders, and the survey administration went like clockwork!  Now the fun begins...

In this post, I'll briefly cover a few points I believe are important regarding reporting of 360 degree feedback data, and next week I'll wrap up this series by addressing some critical issues around delivering feedback and creating leadership development plans.

So what makes a good 360 degree feedback report?

In addition to pinpointing the strengths and development needs of participants, a good report indicates the initial steps participants might take to begin developing skills. The key point here is about the process. It's critical for reports to be generated and delivered to the appropriate parties as soon as possible (1-3 days after survey close-out). Extended delays between the end of the campaign and reporting will reduce momentum, and result in a loss of focus on development.

As for the reports themselves, simple and intuitive is best. When creating or evaluating 360 feedback reports, always attempt to view them from the line manager's perspective: Is the information presented in a clear and understandable way? Can I quickly identify my strengths and opportunities for improvement? Does the report point me toward specific actions I can take to improve my performance?

Conducting an Effective 360 Leadership Assessment (Part 4 of 6)

If you've been with me over the last few weeks, we've spent a good deal of time discussing several important pre-survey considerations:  planning your manager assessment process, developing your survey, and conducting pre-survey communications.  Now you're ready for the forth step... Delivering Your Survey Online.

The majority of companies today use Internet-based 360 platforms. Web-based platforms are preferable for reasons of speed, cost, and ease of production. Most companies use vendors for survey administration and report generation. Find a vendor that has fast and reliable technology, an easy to use platform, and a staff that will be 110% focused on your needs (shameless plug for www.censeo360.com!).

Beyond technology, there are a number of suggestions for making survey administration more effective. One suggestion is to provide specific guidelines to raters. Most people who participate in 360 surveys have little experience giving this type of feedback. At a minimum, provide documentation that explains how to use the rating scales, how to avoid rater bias (halo, leniency, severity, central tendency, etc.), and how to make honest, but constructive, open-ended comments, if part of the leadership assessment.

Another suggestion is to include assurances of confidentiality in participant instructions. Explain to participants that only they will be able to view their feedback results. In some cases, however, the process is set up so that managers receive the reports first, or at the same time as participants. This practice is okay as long as it is communicated up front.

Also, make sure to provide instructions and include assurances of anonymity. Let raters know that their names will not be associated with their individual ratings and comments on the final report.

OK - that covers things for this week.  Next week we'll shift our attention to 360 degree feedback reporting.

Conducting an Effective 360 Leadership Assessment (Part 3 of 6)

Ok.. let's jump right in to Step 3: Communicating Your Plan

If you want to position yourself for success, make sure you provide sufficient communication well in advance of survey delivery.

Communication reduces participant anxiety around the 360 process, improves your response rate, and increases accountability for development. Communications should state the intent of the 360 degree feedback process (how it will and will not be used), any linkages to strategic objectives, benefits to participants, and the timelines involved.

As a quick aside... don't assume your participants or rater population even know what a 360 degree feedback is!  Including a simple graphic in your communications, like the one shown below, can help folks quickly get their arms around the high-level process.

To be most effective, I believe this type of communication is best delivered both verbally in work-team or company meetings, AND via email to reinforce the key messages. Depending on the size and purpose of the initiative, consideration should be given to who delivers the initial communication - a senior executive or a line/HR manager.

In some situations, it may be more impactful if initial communications come from the senior ranks. It's also important to communicate the leadership assessment process not only to participants, but also their managers and raters.

Until next week...

Conducting an Effective 360 Leadership Assessment (Part 2 of 6)

Last week I kicked off my 6-part series by raising some important questions that you should consider before jumping into the tactical elements of your 360 leadership assessment process.   Assuming you've had a chance to do this, let's move ahead to step 2, Developing Your Survey.

Without a doubt, the survey instrument itself is critical to the success of your project. The survey instrument includes instructions, competencies, items, and the response scale, as well as any open-ended items that may be included. Complete coverage of how to construct a good 360 survey is beyond the scope of this post (don't you feel lucky!...), but here are some of the most important criteria to consider when writing items and developing your 360 assessment:

Clarity: Employees must understand the meaning and generally interpret the item similarly. Keeping the reading difficulty level low and writing shorter items can help in this regard.

Single Focus: Avoid items that deal with two or more topics or have more than one meaning (e.g., "Provides regular feedback to employees and promotes the right people into key positions"). Raters will be confused and feedback will be ambiguous.

Behavioral in Nature: Items should be written so that the raters can envision the participant performing the behavior. It helps to start items with a verb.

Applicable to the Chosen Response Scale: Different response scales require different syntax for the items. Ensure that there is a fit between the two.

So what are you waiting for?  Get writing!

 

Conducting an Effective 360 Leadership Assessment (Part 1 of 6)

While leadership assessment through the use of 360 degree feedback has several advantages, they are often not fully realized due to flaws in the survey design and/or poor implementation of the assessment process.

This is the first of my 6-part series designed to offer practical suggestions on how to create a high quality survey instrument, and how to conduct an effective process that truly adds value to your leadership  development initiatives.  Big picture... over the next few weeks, I'll be walking you through the following steps:

1. Planning Your 360 Assessment Process
2. Developing Your Survey
3. Comminicating Your Plan
4. Delivering Your Survey Online
5. Producing Individual & Group Reports
6. Giving Feedback & Facilitating Action Planning

Ok... with the tee-up behind us, this week we'll focus on planning your 360 process. It's essential to develop a solid plan before implementing your 360 initiatives.

Assuming that a clear purpose for the assessment has been developed, support from leadership established, and a vendor chosen, some critical questions should be considered in the planning phase:

• Which groups/jobs will be evaluated, and when?
• How will the survey be developed?
• How will reports be delivered and feedback facilitated?
• What role will the managers of participants play?
• How will raters be assigned?
• How will the overall process be communicated?
• Who will manage the process?

I know... I know... I raised more questions than I've answered in this post, but this is were it all starts - and only you can answer these questions.  Take some time to consider these issues first, and your process will be better for it.  More to come!

 

Technorati Profile