360° evaluation: Promoting self-awareness and behavioural change for better outcomes

EN

Michael Steffens, Alessandro Liamine

While first dismissed as a fashionable trend among HR professionals, 360° evaluations are now more widespread and have become a tool to provide valuable feedback to managers. In a best-case scenario, the feedback allows managers to improve their daily work and to adapt their management style. A number of pilots were conducted at Headquarters and in Delegations. However, to date there is no structured approach to roll out 360° evaluations on a larger scale. USHU is in favour of scaling up and ensuring the right type of assessment is applied and wisely.

Most 360° evaluations are based on a questionnaire administered by an HR professional who collates the information, analyses it, and then shares a summary with the person evaluated. In many cases, however, this process will not alter the mindset of the person under evaluation. S/he will not change their behaviour towards others. If this is the case, the 360° evaluation will have limited impact. Organizations that take the process more seriously tend to organise it differently. They ensure that the 360° evaluation becomes part of a larger effort to transform management skills and that the manager in question, must confront the evaluation of peers and others.

The principles of a more engaging 360° evaluation could include:

·       The manager chooses who participates as evaluators. These can be superiors, peers and subordinates.

·       The manager directly communicates with those respondents, asking them to provide their candid observations. In addition, the respondents then fill out a detailed survey.

·       The report is presented to the manager directly. This can happen either in a group setting (if several managers are taking the instrument at the same time) or in a one-on-one coaching conversation.

·       The manager is provided with context and guidance to understand the report better.

·       Finally, a customized set of developmental recommendations is provided all adapted to the organisation’s leadership competencies.

·       A follow-up session takes place after a given period to ensure that recommendations are taken seriously.

There are a number of benefits that derive from such an approach to 360° evaluations. This should be seen as part of a process and not as a silver bullet. If the person in question is not undergoing a larger process of transformation, it is unlikely that they will alter their behaviour as a result of such an assessment. This is why 360° evaluation should be complemented with management coaching and training. Secondly, assessments of this type should open up opportunities rather than demotivate the person under evaluation.

Expanding self-awareness

Assessments collect the opinions of various people that directly interact with the manager on a daily or weekly basis. At the same time, asking for candid observations opens up the floor to real feedback and honest assessments of the managers’ engagement with colleagues. The observations from colleagues will help the manager to situate how they are seen by colleagues, what makes it easy to work with them and what makes it difficult. It’s an opportunity to learn more about their own strengths and weaknesses, and to tackle what they see as misconceptions or misunderstandings of their own behaviour.

If the process is run in parallel for several managers in the same entity, a group session allows the leaders under observation to compare their ratings and can therefore even better situate themselves in the overall organisation.

Important messages are recognised

The other important element is that managers may come to recognise patterns that have been pointed out to them before. “I have been told before that I can be stubborn”. There lies an opportunity in such recognition because important messages get reiterated. If an observation resounds with various counterparts than this is a clear sign for the person under evaluation that things need to change. The process itself underscores the reliability and credibility of the feedback provided.

Feedback can be varied, but may indeed be familiar to the manager in question: “You are not a good listener”, “You don’t communicate about priorities, everything is important right now”, “You are not accessible enough”, “You are simply too busy to listen” – all of these are sentences that we might have encountered when we discuss about our managers. However, without an honest process to address such weaknesses we will hardly find a remedy. 360° evaluations have the potential to make a real difference. After all, our managers should have the opportunity to adapt and change.

Change processes are initiated

Behavioural change – we know this from our development cooperation – is often the hardest to achieve. Not only because human beings are creatures of habit, but also because behavioural change is hard to achieve in a busy workplace where self-reflection often has to be pushed to the back to attend to other priorities. A 360-feedback process, when done right, greatly increases the chances that change will occur. Managers’ self-awareness will drive them towards changing their behaviour if they received messages that were surprising for them. They are more likely to achieve their ideal image of themselves by altering their behaviour if feedback received is not in line with how they want to be perceived.

Good managers lead to better results

Improved individual behaviour by managers leads to more employee engagement and effort. If managers understand this as part of the 360-feedback process, they are more likely to follow through. Behavioural change becomes then a key element for business outcomes. Fostering self-awareness improves communication skills, empathy and conflict resolution abilities leading to strengthened relationships and enhanced performance based on increased productivity and satisfaction.

Given the obvious benefits, USHU believes we should promote 360 degree evaluation in every working place until it becomes a standard for managers and will help all to achieve a more purposeful and meaningful professional and personal life.