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.
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.
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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.
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.
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