We’ve written a lot about confidentiality and 360 feedback recently. Partly because its been a topic under discussion in various places, and partly because we think it’s extremely important to protect reviewers who are potentially vulnerable. We’re not talking about people’s managers here, but we are concerned about their peers and direct reports.
We feel strongly about this because we won’t compromise the integrity of our system. We believe in delivering the best feedback for candidates and that can only be done if everyone involved feels safe to say what they believe. And we’re concerned that there are some 360 systems on the market that don’t deliver that sort of quality standard.
So, we took the trouble to have a run through some of the free 360 feedback offerings out there to see whether they are up to scratch.
Imagine our thoughts when the first one fell short of that standard almost immediately. Having received an email assuring us that the feedback we were about to give our manager would be confidential, we then realised this was complete nonsense when we saw the report. The direct report feedback was as transparent as a sheet of glass, and colour coded to boot. Anyone – even a first time recipient of 360 feedback – could see exactly what this person’s direct report had said: chapter and verse. So what happened to the guarantee of anonymity? What happens when someone uses this freely available system – because it has no financial cost – and the direct report who trustingly gives honest feedback is then potentially hung out to dry? And all to sell a few more 360 reviews to people who want a cheap option.
Here’s a scenario:
Jim is a senior manager. He decides he wants some feedback on his performance so, ‘boom, bang’, he signs up for a free 360 review. Because it’s free he doesn’t have to get approval, and he doesn’t need to ask HR for support.
Hal works for Jim. He gets an email asking for feedback on Jim for his 360 review. The email tells him that his response will be anonymous so he should be completely honest. Hal doesn’t realise that the free version only allows feedback from 3 direct report and/or peer reviewers, and that Jim has chosen to ask 2 peers. (* see footnote). He has no reason to question whether this is being done through the company. In fact, he thinks it is, and complies with the request. He would like to be helpful so he gives feedback that he thinks will be useful.
Jim gets his report. He can see exactly what Hal has said in the comments and what his ratings are for every question. Jim is irked by some of Hal’s comments and thinks his lower ratings aren’t justified. Hal is blissfully unaware that Jim is now more than a little peeved at him. Jim’s report is pretty sketchy because it’s a cut down version of the full 360. He feels disappointed and slightly defensive about some of the feedback, and quite pleased about other parts of it. Sadly, because he hasn’t involved the HR department, he doesn’t realise this report isn’t the ‘real deal’ and furthermore, he doesn’t know quite how to turn any of it into positive action.
So, he puts it in his drawer, decides not to think about the uncomfortable bits, and never feels quite the same about working with Hal again.
What’s been gained? Nothing
What’s the cost? The 360 review – nothing. But for Hal, a huge price. And for Jim, some loss of confidence, a spoiled relationship with a direct report, and less faith in the value of feedback.
Telescope this up to the organisational level and the long term financial consequences of getting it wrong are even greater:
- potential grievances,
- internal politics that become unmanageable,
- and untold damage to internal reputation.
If you fail to implement a successful 360 review programme first time round then people will always view it with caution and be reluctant to use it to it’s fullest potential in the future. This in turn can slow down organisational development and success. One seriously failed HR initiative can have a massive impact on other organisational initiatives.
It’s always possible to recover from a botched first 360 review. In fact, this is sometimes when we’re called in as experts who have the experience to manage the process well and rebuild confidence in the process. But it does take time and patience, so better to go for quality in the first place.
Lessons we think are important here:
- Make sure people get the protection they need when providing feedback. Some of them will only be honest if they know they’re anonymous
- Don’t think that ‘free’ always is without cost. In fact, in this sort of instance it’s almost always very expensive in the end
- Companies are in business to make profits. How they do so may give you an idea about their way of operating overall
- Check the claims made by suppliers before diving in and using a system that could put your people at risk
- Just because it says so on a website, doesn’t mean it’s always true!
* Footnote: There are ways of retaining anonymity even with very small numbers of reviewers. This will be the case with high quality solutions from experienced suppliers.
Article by Vandy Massey
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