Using The 360° Appraisal Method For Motivating Employees
In order for employees to grow in their role you’ll need some way of looking at and measuring their performance and then setting goals to increase not only their abilities in their job but also their happiness in the workplace. In this guest post Paul Gilbert takes a look at what a 360° appraisal is, and what its benefits are.
Employees are usually evaluated by the board of directors or the chairman of an organisation or a company. This can lead to adverse effects which can have a negative influence on the motivation of employees and their willingness to work. There are different ways to evaluate and appraise staff and workers that allow them to feel good about themselves and correct any potential mistakes which might be costing their company or themselves. Considering that people should always move forward and try to improve, being able to receive criticism from multiple sources is a good way to ensure that people can understand what they are doing right and what they are doing wrong – which is exactly what the 360o appraisal method does.
The 360° appraisal method
This approach enables employees to receive constructive criticism and feedback from multiple people inside a company, and even outside of it. Humans are much better at receiving criticism and feedback from various directions because it’s much harder to tell a multitude of people that they’re wrong, instead of only one person. Also, taking into account that certain directors and bosses are simply bad people and will tell you that you’re a bad worker, this method can help employees notice if the boss is simply mean and unprofessional, or he’s correct and helpful.
If your boss happens to be unprofessional with you, you can contact a workers compensation attorney that will help you with this issue.
Stakeholders in doing 360° assessment
Stakeholders are also an important part of this assessment method. Stakeholders or suppliers can evaluate the work of certain employees and workers because their work can influence the stakeholders either positively or negatively. Suppliers evaluate the employee’s ability to communicate and do tasks correctly and keep things smooth.
How to conduct the appraisal
The people conducting appraisal are the following: Superiors, Customers, Peers, Suppliers, and Subordinates. Superiors conduct appraisal and evaluate workers for their ability to perform given tasks, respecting the choices of the superiors, etc. Customers usually rate employees for their kindness and friendliness, and how helpful they are when it comes to something that they need help with. Peers evaluate communication and relationships between the employee and themselves. We already talked about how suppliers/stakeholders conduct the appraisal. Last, but not least, Subordinates evaluate employee’s ability to communicate, motivate and delegate work.
Advantages of 360° appraisal
There are multiple benefits to this type of appraisal such as:
- Improved credibility – You’ll more easily listen to multiple people than only one
- Motivate individuals who undervalue themselves – people who don’t think they work well will get motivated when others speak positively about them
- A more precise view on performance – Superiors and people who are in charge will be able to get a more detailed view of employee performance
- Idea mixing – the more people that give feedback, the more ideas that come from their minds. This allows for a much more creative work environment
- Organization – This method allows everyone in a company to appraise everyone else. This leads to a much more honest environment where workers and superiors feel more connected to each other.
Recommendations for implementing 360°
For starters, be sure to organise the way you will be conducting the appraisal. Try to keep reports on staff and the results on the first page of the entire report (list only the necessary things on the first page – you probably won’t have time to go through all of the reports). Keep it professional and don’t try to compare employees to others – it will only create competition and a negative attitude from everyone. In the end, organisation is key so take some time and organise the entire method accordingly.
Editor’s Note: If you’d like more information on running performance appraisals you can check out my article on How To Run An Appraisal Here