360® is a full circle appraisal system. In this your appraisal is not done just on the basis of your work but views of your colleagues, subordinates, customers etc is also taken into consideration. In this type of appraisal system a questionnaire is given to all people involved in the process. The employee himself also fills the questionnaire and sends to HR department for review. For e.g.: If you call a mobile company’s customer care, you receive a questionnaire through sms after you disconnect the call asking for the feedback on quality of service provided. The companies providing home delivery of its product also send a questionnaire when you get something delivered at your home. The form contains questions related to performance of the delivery boy. On the basis of this the employee is given promotion or salary hike or may be some monetary incentive.
In today’s corporate world for the growth of company, effective communication and good quality management is of most importance. Performance appraisal not only improves communication within the organization but it also aids employee to portray his achievements in front of the management. One also gets a chance to know his/her shortcomings and other work related deficiencies which could help in initiation of a process of eradicating these deficiencies.
The process of 360® appraisal is purely transparent and employee does not sense partiality. This in turn enhances teamwork. Involving customers in the appraisal system also helps in improving production and operation management. The knowledge of short coming of an employee helps in implementing a training program for his improvement and promoting the better ones. This process is also known as multi source feedback or 360® profiling. It’s an organizational development tool. In normal appraisal system only reporting manager is involved but in 360® format colleagues, subordinates, customers etc are also involved. Actually due to its transparency this appraisal process is gaining recognition.
Some important points which should be considered are
- Support of top management is important.
- The confidence level of employee should be high.
- The feedback form should have classified and organized space for mentioning requirements to improve performance.
- There should be good coordination between senior and subordinates.
- The appraisal process should be followed strictly as per organizational policy.
The advantages of 360® appraisal process are
- It reveals the eligibility and capability of an employee which aids in strategy formulation for different departments.
- Due to involvement of so many people there is no scope for partiality.
- The identity of people providing feedback is not revealed hence there is no scope of conflicts.
- Analysis of an employee is done on multiple aspects.
- Employee’s need and achievements are revealed.
The disadvantage is that it takes time since it involves multiple people and also development of feedback form for different department takes time.
This appraisal system also helps management in recognizing one’s capabilities and hence he can be transferred to the particular department in which he would be able to perform better.
This appraisal system came into existence long back during World War II.
Prateek Kumar Singh
Towards Sustainable Development
SocialVibe