Individual Improvement =
Organizational Improvement

Robin Throckmorton, M.A., SPHR

If you could find a tool that would provide beneficial feedback to employees that would lead to performance improvement and bottomline results to the organization, would you take advantage of it? Many organizations have found such a tool and found many uses for it. For a number of years, this tool was viewed as a fad but it has survived that first impression and become a tool for organizational improvement. This tool is multi-rater feedback or 360 degree feedback.

Let's start by defining multi-rater feedback so we are all on the same page:

Multi-rater feedback is a behavioral assessment focused on obtaining feedback on an individual's performance relative to key behaviors from those around the individual including direct reports, peers, customers, supervisor, and even themselves.

The concept of multi-rater feedback is that everyone who is interfacing with an individual has perceptions of how they feel the individual is performing. Too often, the supervisor is relied upon to provide this feedback. Not all supervisors have the opportunity to see the employee perform on a day to day basis or in all situations that the employee's peers, direct reports, or customers may. Plus, by focusing the feedback on the behaviors needed to succeed on the job, the individual will have a better chance of identifying and implementing changes and improvements to those behaviors like communications, team orientation, or customer service.

But, before we get too far, we need to realize that multi-rater feedback is not necessarily the right tool for everyone. To begin with and most importantly, your organization must have a very high trusting culture. If employees don't trust each other or the organization, they will either not participate in the multi-rater assessment or fail to provide the open and honest feedback necessary to benefit the individual and ultimately the bottomline of the organization. Some other issues to consider are:

1) Do employees feel like their input is valued?

2) Does everyone feel like they are treated fairly and equally?

3) Is there cooperation between units, teams, and/or departments?

4) Do the employees want this feedback?

Finally, for multi-rater feedback to succeed it must be championed and fully supported by management. This means managers must feel that multi-rater feedback does support the strategic goals and values of the organization. Therefore, they will support the time and resources needed through implementation and long-term development of behaviors.

Before we get into more specific details, there is one more thing we need to address. Will you be using the multi-rater feedback for appraisal (employment decisions) or development? At least in the beginning, if not always, multi-rater feedback must be used for development only. Even if you have the most trusting and supportive environment, your data / feedback from others will be corrupted if it impacts an employment decision (i.e. merit increase, promotion, termination). If you use it for development only, employees feel more comfortable providing open and honest feedback that will help someone else improve performance, which ultimately improves everyone's performance. After time, you can assess whether or not your organization is ready to move from using the feedback for development to appraisal but it is definitely not recommended in the early stages.

So if your organization is ready for multi-rater feedback and is initially using it only for development, there are a number of ways that you can use the tool including: individual development, organizational culture change, teamwork, indirect input on an appraisal, customer input, or succession planning. Below are a few examples of how I have used multi-rater feedback with my clients:

Management Team: I designed and administered a multi-rater feedback tool to the top management team. The goal was to help the managers develop their management/leadership behaviors and obtain input on how the employees in the organization viewed each manager as well as the team. Each manager confidentially received their data and immediately used it to help improve their leadership. The feedback was exactly what the managers needed to move forward and gain the support of their employees!

New Team Leader: I had an individual who was taking on a new role as a team leader. In order to ensure he was effectively leading the team, I facilitated input from the team members to identify the expected behaviors of the team leader. He was then assessed every 60 days to see how he was doing as their new team leader. The motivation and support he received from the team through this effort was priceless; plus, he became the leader that they needed to succeed.

Employee Development: I've used multi-rate feedback for employee development in two different ways. First, I designed and administered it to all employees as a development tool to help employees continue to grow and develop in their careers with the organization. It was received by both management and employees as a win-win opportunity for the entire organization. Another way I have used multi-rater feedback is to help employees who don't realize how others perceive their performance. By using the tool, we were able to identify some areas for improvement that would lead toward removing some of the negative perceptions others had of them.

Succession Planning: Every organization should have a succession plan for at least their key positions. To determine the readiness of an individual for a position, I have used multi-rater feedback to assess the individual's behaviors relative to the key position they were being groomed for. We then began developing the areas of improvement so the individual would be ready when the succession plan was enacted.

As you can see, there are many ways that you can use multi-rater feedback to help improve an individual's behavior which in turn improves the organization's performance. To implement a multi-rater feedback program, you'll need to do or think about the following:

1) Do you want to create your own instrument or buy one off the shelf?

2) What are the key behaviors of your organization or each position that you want to assess?

3) How will you define each behavior to ensure the quality of the assessment?

4) How many questions will be on your survey? (Note: It's easy for this number to grow but depending on your organization, you want to keep it as low as possible while still providing quality results. Generally, between 20 - 50 questions is about right).

5) Do you want an outside organization to administer the process to enhance confidentiality or is there enough trust to do it internally?

6) Will the instrument be paper and pencil, computer based, web based, telephone service, or face to face interview?

7) What training or communications will you provide to the individuals being assessed, to the raters, and to the supervisors?

8) Who will choose the respondents: the employee or the supervisor?

9) How will you ensure the utmost confidentiality of the entire process?

10) What will the results look like? Will you provide one overall average for each behavior or break it down by type of respondent (i.e. peer, direct report, supervisor)? Will it be graphical and/or numerical? Will you identify the strengths or developmental needs for the employee?

11) Who will get the results: the employee, supervisor, or both?

12) Will a copy of the results be maintained in the employee's file?

13) Who will discuss the results with the employee? Supervisor? HR? Internal Consultant? External Consultant? (No matter whom you select, be sure they are trained to provide effective feedback).

14) What supports will be available to help coach the employee through the development and implementation of an improvement plan?

15) How will you evaluate the entire program to ensure it is meeting its intended goals for the organization?

Multi-rater feedback takes a great deal of time and thought to been done correctly and effectively. You don't want to spend all that time and effort and have the program fizzle. Organizations that have been able to use multi-rater feedback successfully have:

• A commitment and link to their business goals and values.

• An effective communication plan to ensure everyone understands and is comfortable with all aspects of the program.

• An emphasis on confidentiality that is never breached.

• Clear accountability and follow-up plans that are created to ensure development.

Many organizations have already begun to reap the benefits of multi-rater feedback through its many uses. You too can benefit! With the dramatic improvements in technology, many new off the shelf tools are coming available daily. Plus, with all this enhanced technology, it viable for you to create a customized tool yourself or through an external consultant for not much more. As you evaluate your organization's effectiveness, be sure you consider how multi-rater feedback can help improve your organization's performance. Isn't it worth checking it out?

(Written by: Robin Throckmorton, MA, SPHR - President of Strategic Human Resources, Inc. and Partner with e-HResources.com).