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A 360-degree quest...

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DQI Bureau
New Update

Top-down management style is as much a relic of the past as the dinosaur.

Which is why feedback has become an imperative for enlightened management

practices. Increasing employee influence on management practices has become

popular, more so as this has been found to yield significant results, especially

in terms of motivation. But the process of getting the feedback remains one of

the more difficult tasks of organizational change.

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When we at HCL Infosystems began our Quest for Excellence programme in late

2001, one of the first initiatives to be undertaken was the 360-degree feedback

system for manager appraisals. The thought arose that managers ought to receive

management style feedback from more than one source, from those who knew them

best: their subordinates, their seniors, their peers and themselves.

“The objective of the final appraisal process was purely

developmental



– for the only motive was to help identify tomorrow’s leaders”

ML Taneja

The objective of the appraisal was purely developmental—the motive being

"to develop leaders for tomorrow." But management style being a very

personal issue, implementing a system that gives feedback on that had to be done

with caution, given the sensitive nature of the data.

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A 360-degree questionnaire is usually open-ended, and the Human Resource

Department at HCL Infosystems worked hard to ensure validity, putting together a

set of over 40 questions that would yield an assessment as much of the personal

style as of objective dealings. Each appraisal involved feedback from at least

five colleagues’–two peers, two subordinates, and one senior–in addition

to the self-appraisal. The questionnaire also indicated a competency standard,

ensuring that the feedback was concrete and constructive. All too often,

appraisals are conducted against a vague set of guidelines and lead to no useful

end.

The investment in the massive exercise, begun with senior managers and

expanded to cover all management employees, involving several briefings by the

HR team, has proved worthwhile. The quality of the resultant development plan

confirms that. Based on gap analysis, this is a surefire measure for building on

strengths and overcoming weaknesses.

The 360-degree appraisal also has the supreme quality of being a motivational

tool, the exercise ensuring that people are heard seriously. All too often,

employees are heard only as they walk out of the door, taking with them all that

the company has invested in them.

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This assessment tool also has the advantage of balancing the highs and lows

of feedback from various members. Sometimes referred to as the multi-rater

appraisal, multi-source feedback, or 360-degree profiling system, this process

enables a person to receive feedback from a number of people on behavior, skills

and competencies.  

Research has shown that the most important management practice in predicting

profitability and productivity in an organization is people management.

This includes making sure employees’ get the feedback they need to continually

develop their skills and competencies and improve their behavior.  The

360-degree feedback appraisal has proved a highly effective way of providing

accurate feedback.

BY ML Taneja



The author is vice-president (human resources) at HCL Infosystems

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