What is 360-Degree Feedback Software?

360-degree feedback providers enable a review system wherein employees are rated not only by their managers but also by their team members, cross-functional colleagues, subordinates, and sometimes clients or customers. The goal is to gather as much honest feedback from as many perspectives as possible. Feedback reports can show trends in company culture and performance.

Some companies use this type of feedback to replace or supplement traditional performance reviews in determining pay and assessing performance. We don’t recommend tying 360s to raises and promotions because the results are skewed by bias. Instead, this method of feedback is a useful tool for the following reasons.

The best 360-degree feedback programs provide immediate, actionable input. In this section, we’ll explore the top advantages of these programs, as well as common use cases.

The primary pluses to a 360-degree feedback program include:

• Employee Development: One of the greatest values of 360-degree feedback is the potential to apply it as a tool for personal development. With greater, more diverse feedback, individuals can better understand their strengths and weaknesses. This is good for the business, too. Armed with a more complete view of employee challenges, HR professionals can better identify training needs and advise top talent how to boost their performance.
• Record of Timely Feedback: Performance reviews can be greatly hindered by the problem of recency bias. You can help eliminate it with an ongoing track record of 360-degree reviews from colleagues, managers, and customers. It’s easier to curb human bias with quick access to peer reviews, past feedback, goal performance, and 1-on-1 meeting notes. Bolstered by more information, annual performance reviews become focused on employee development and constructive feedback.
• Open Feedback Culture: Colleagues often know more about how their teammates are performing than their supervisors. Of course, some employees may feel nervous being rated by their coworkers. Your HR staff is responsible for rolling out a well-planned, managed process that focuses on open communication and professional development. 360-degree evaluations have the potential to encourage a culture of transparency and growth. Because essentially, multi-rater feedback is about sharing knowledge. A well-implemented 360 program can help nurture teamwork and accountability.
• Centralized Information: Gathering 360 feedback can be extremely valuable to admins and managers. Instead of juggling multiple documents or pages for different reviews, data is contained in one place. This is helpful for managers completing performance evaluations and admins reporting on employee performance data.

There are many reasons why companies utilize 360s in addition to their standard performance management cycles. For example, 360-degree feedback tools are extremely helpful for:

• Remote Work: For dispersed teams, 360-degree reviews can provide useful and timely insights to performance. Say someone bungled a big project done remotely. This method of feedback allows colleagues to provide focused, constructive insights that can be 1) used to improve performance and 2) revisited during performance reviews.
• Managerial Reviews: A good boss can make all the difference for employees. Gathering workers’ input can not only identify needs for leadership development but it can also help hold onto talent. Case in point: one company found that managers’ 360 scores indicated how likely their subordinates were to leave or remain at the company. What’s more, as lackluster managers improved through coaching and team discussions, so did their workers’ desire to stay.
• Project-Based Input: Some companies utilize multi-rater feedback systems for larger, cross-functional projects. In this way, 360s provide feedback from unusual sources — colleagues from other departments, customers — and employees receive timely, specific input that they can put in their back pocket for the next big project.‍
• Competency Ratings: 360-degree feedback allows employees to understand how others see them as an employee, colleague, or service provider. The most effective multi-rater processes provide actionable feedback based on skills and behaviors that your company has deemed important. The feedback is planted in competencies that help your organization accomplish its mission, vision, and goals.