Benefits of 360 Degree Feedback Explained

According to recent research, there is a 98% drop in employee engagement at work when there is little or no feedback.

Now this is a number big enough to make you reconsider your approach to employee feedback. A yearly feedback survey here and a weekly pulse survey there won't cut it anymore. Employees are looking for proper and actionable feedback from their employers, the absence of which leads to severe disengagement.

So what could be a possible solution? A comprehensive feedback method that gives employees a chance to evaluate their work from multiple perspectives is what we need.

360 degree feedback is the all-time favorite of HR professionals, and rightly so. In this blog, we will take a close look at the benefits that proper 360 degree feedback can offer and how it can up the employee engagement game of your company.  

360 Degree Feedback: The Prodigy of the HR World

360-degree feedback is a huge improvement over traditional performance reviews that come from the 'top down'. One can even say that the HR world took a quantum leap from the old methods of feedback to land on this superstar.

360 degree feedback includes getting feedback from all sides, including bosses, coworkers, subordinates, and even clients and customers who are not part of the organization. The feedback data can be used to better evaluate an individual before 360 degree performance appraisals.

This all-around method gives you a full picture of an employee's skills, knowledge, and social skills. One-dimensional reviews have their flaws, but 360-degree feedback, which includes feedback from multiple sources, gives a more complete picture of an employee's work.

360 degree feedback helps firms adopt an open and transparent culture. It facilitates communication by encouraging honest and constructive input from many sources. Open communication promotes trust and respect between team members and management, improving the organizational culture.

Only 1% of employees who received positive feedback said they were actively disengaged, compared to the 40% who did not receive feedback.

There is no denying the fact that employee engagement is the cornerstone of a happy workplace that thrives. But how do you know if your employees are actually doing well?

Collecting comprehensive feedback is the only solution. One cannot exist without the other. Proper feedback leads to identifying areas for improvement. It leads to helping employees work on their pain points, which then paves the way for increased employee engagement. Employees might lose interest in their job without regular, helpful feedback. 

That's when an employee experience platform can help. There are several employee engagement platforms in the market, but let's start with ThriveSparrow.

ThriveSparrow is built with the sole purpose of elevating employee experiences. The platform allows you to conduct various employee surveys from engagement to eNPS surveys. Data from survey results can be used by top level executives to gauge engagement and drive informed decision-making.

Empower your managers with a clear picture of their team's engagement with ThriveSparrow.

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[Source: EnterpriseAppsToday]

There is a huge possibility for employees to feel underappreciated without feedback. This feeling of being neglected can lower morale and enthusiasm. Without feedback, individuals could struggle to meet their goals, resulting in directionlessness. They may miss out on significant learning opportunities because feedback typically identifies growth and development areas.

360 degree feedback encourages organization-wide communication. Employees are more willing to voice issues, thoughts, and proposals after receiving feedback. There is a culture of openness that gets created in the process, making the workplace an excellent hub for creativity and engagement. 

Let’s get to the point already! There are so many benefits to implementing a 360 degree feedback system to your organization, but nobody likes a super-long article. So lets keep things simple and look at the top 10 benefits of 360 degree feedback:

1. Thorough evaluation of employee performance 

360-degree feedback evaluates employee performance from several perspectives. This technique gives you a complete view of an employee's abilities, talents, and social skills. Employees, subordinates, managers, and even consumers weigh in, completing the picture.

With this amount of information, organizations can identify what their employees perform well and what they need to improve. It goes beyond the top to address behavior and work attitude. This extensive assessment sets fair success requirements, helping staff fit with business goals.

360-degree evaluations' multiple feedback channels teach employees about their teamwork. They discover how their actions and decisions have an effect on others, their departments, and the firm. Understanding how these components interact, nurtures collaboration, compassion, and respect. As employees learn to appreciate other perspectives, collaboration strengthens. They increase their problem-solving, dialogue, and common ground abilities. 

360-degree feedback equalizes top-down rating biases, making it super unique. Including comments from diverse organizational levels and regions makes the evaluation technique fair and balanced. Different perspectives reduce personal biases and narrow viewpoints by providing a more full picture of an employee's job.

This balance ensures a more accurate and fair 360 performance appraisal by examining each employee's strengths and flaws from multiple angles. Employees feel recognized for their honest efforts, which fosters trust in the feedback process and the firm.

This may also interest you: 9 effective 360-degree feedback examples to improve employee engagement and performance.

As a through detailed feedback, 360-degree assessments allow employees to reflect and progress. People can better themselves with detailed and meaningful comments. Self-reflection helps people identify their strengths and faults, motivating them to grow.

This feedback can influence personal development strategies to help employees achieve life-changing self-improvement. This process makes people more self-aware, confident, and resilient, enabling them to solve challenges and succeed at work.

360-degree input magnifies even the tiniest skill deficits. Using various feedback techniques, companies identify employee skill and knowledge gaps. These disparities are obvious in technical, leadership, and speaking skills.

Identifying specific issues enables organizations to invest in training, seminars, and mentorship programs to bridge gaps. Once employees recognize these, they can enhance their skills to remain relevant and competitive.

Here's a quick guide on developing relevant job competencies.

A 360-degree review gives feedback that is used to plan learning and development activities within the company. Companies come up with ways to make classes, online courses, mentoring meetings, and coaching programs that are more specific based on the feedback.

This customized method to professional development makes sure that employees get the help they need to improve their skills and abilities. Also, employees are more likely to learn when they see a clear link between the training they receive and the feedback they give. This makes the learning process more effective and powerful.

Jobs that require communicating with clients benefit the most from 360-degree feedback. Consumer reviews offer a new perspective on the consumer experience. Employees can address client demands by knowing what they want, how happy they are, and what they anticipate.

Customer feedback can be used in personal development plans to improve customer service, communication, and problem-solving. This customer emphasis strengthens connections with current clients and opens new business opportunities. Happy customers remain with a firm, improving its image and its financial line.

360-degree feedback examines how individuals communicate, collaborate, and solve issues. Employees will definitely improve their emotional intelligence and social abilities now that they know this.

They learn to handle challenging colleague interactions with sensitivity and empathy. Fixing communication issues and other interpersonal issues can help employees get along with coworkers, managers, and subordinates. Healthy workplace connections increase cooperation and make employees feel supported and valued, making them happier and more productive.

Organizations can use the wealth of information they get from 360-degree comments to make smart strategy decisions. Companies can make smart choices about managing people, training programs, and leadership development by looking at feedback trends, finding similar problems, and recognizing good practices.

Making choices based on data improves the efficiency of an organization and makes sure that resources are put where they are needed most. This way of thinking about analysis also helps businesses guess what will happen in the future and prepare for problems before they happen, which leads to long-term growth and survival. Win-win!

360-degree feedback naturally decreases workplace prejudice. When peers, employees, bosses, and clients provide feedback, the evaluation process is fair and objective. Multiple perspectives eliminate prejudices and better represent employee work. This objective appraisal promotes justice and equity by awarding increases, bonuses, and professional progress based on performance and ability. It makes everyone feel valued, welcomed, and able to work in an engaged manner. 

Harness the Power of 360 Degree Feedback

360 degree feedback incorporates insights from various sources. This approach fosters enhanced self-awareness and skill-development. Reducing workplace bias promotes a fair-evaluation process.

Thus 360 degree feedback emerges as a key tool in driving organizational growth and employee satisfaction. If you have any doubts or queries regarding 360 feedback, don't hesitate to contact ThriveSparrow. We're happy to assist you in any way we can. Just click the chatbot in the corner and ask away.