How Can We Ensure Honest 360-Degree Appraisals When Employees Fear Reprisal?

Hi all, I am a student working on performance appraisals. I was supposed to collect information for a 360-degree appraisal. The assessment part requires the subordinates to appraise their superiors. Most of them fear their superiors due to a threat possibility and hesitate to appraise them. Even most of the star performers of the organization have the same feeling. They are willing to appraise them only if promised anonymity. However, this itself hinders the idea of appraising. How should performance appraisals be conducted in such situations or how can such situations be handled?

Regards, Pankaj MHRM

360-Degree Appraisals: Ensuring Effective Execution

360-degree appraisals should be a well-thought-out execution, or else you will have more issues at hand than benefits. Appraisals cannot be foolproof; judgment is not devoid of prejudices.

Anonymity in Subordinate Evaluations

Coming to the point of "subordinates" evaluating superiors—if there's not an imminent need to know "WHO" is appraising, ANONYMITY may bring in FAIRNESS and serious PARTICIPATION from people.

The Importance of Data in Performance Management

BOTTOM LINE—we need data to evaluate performance, identify areas of improvement, chart developmental plans, and devise compensation and reward strategies. The FOCUS should be on how the data collected aids in achieving your organizational objectives on performance management, career development, compensation, and reward management.

Hope this helps.

Hi! Anonymity in appraisals may create more complications than expected. People who are afraid to be identified when they rate someone (especially subordinates rating superiors, or employees rating friends, suppliers rating contact employees) within their organization can be properly protected by HRD. In fact, the appraisal sheets are supposed to be confidential, and the identities of raters are supposed to be known only to HRD. Only summaries of feedback and results of the evaluation are supposed to be shown to the ratee.

Anonymity can be a cause for people to malign others or accuse peers they want out of the organization for various allegations. Organizations must ensure that the PA or PMS is not used as a tool by unprofessional employees for vengeance or to serve their ulterior motives.

Best wishes,
Ed Llarena, Jr.
Managing Partner
Emilla Consulting

Hi Pankaj, I understand your anguish, and to some extent, my colleagues have given their views which are pretty helpful. I have a suggestion: as 360-degree appraisal requires a sense of maturity on the part of the employees and factors like trust and understanding in the organization take time depending upon the cultural values.

Having said that, it is recommended that you conduct 180-Degree Appraisal in which both the rater and ratee assess themselves and then compare the results, leading to meaningful discussions. This is a good tool to start with.

Cheerio,
Rajat Joshi

Subordinates appraising the bosses is always a problem area. A number of approaches have been tried before, successfully. If there are more than one subordinate, you can remove the individual names and summarize the core factors. [OPTION]

Secondly, the subordinates should be trained to use descriptive words in appraisals and not judgmental words.

EXAMPLES

DESCRIPTIVE
- Boss did not provide feedback on performance at any time.

JUDGEMENTAL
- Boss is a poor manager of people.

BECAUSE WHAT WE ARE SEEKING FROM APPRAISALS
- Not criticism, but critique.
- Not focus on personality, but focus on improvement areas
- Not focus on faults, but on development for the future.

THE WHOLE PURPOSE IS TO MAKE EVERYBODY LOOK GOOD.

REGARDS

LEO LINGHAM

Sir very true that 360 degree require a sense of maturity on the part of the employees in the organization.
What i think is even a great amount of maturity is required in 90 degree since the only asseser is "The Boss". He need to understand how greatly or badly it can affect an individual whether rated high or low.
Company where i am doing my summers is one of the biggest company involved in various sectors. They realy have a good PMS, but still employees come up with same.
I really have a question: Is it really possible not to be biased?
Here I saw people doing Performance assessment online; Boss was in Goa and subordinate in Mumbai, L is not got assessed but his L+1 is done with his PA.( Here in this company they have a tradition not to be recognized as boss or subordinate its L+1 and L and L ‘s bosses boss as L+2 and so on.)

Regards
Neha

Duncan,

Technical skills or capacities may receive good feedback. Behavior is context-specific, so disclosure in QL and QN form is not harmful if built upon strength rather than weakness.

Secondly, does Li+ work in downward directions only?

Pankaj,

This concept is working well in my company. To begin with, we were also cynical about its efficacy. We have to reassure subordinates writing a 360-degree report that the information will remain only with the management and in no way will it be shared with the concerned seniors (HR has a very serious role here). While discussing with the concerned seniors on whom this report has been written, it is not required to divulge who wrote what! Seniors know that this is a process in the organization and will accept it as a natural process. Go ahead. It will work well.

Regards,
Prem Goswami

360 degree feedback can be either anonymous or open. The basic formula in deciding what is right for your organization is use open if there are high levels of trust and maturity. If there are low levels, use anonymous.
360 degree, as with all other aspects of a performance management system, must be professionally implemented and conducted, otherwise you will get more trouble than benefit. A part of this is that the 360 degree results must be debriefed by a competent manager/supervisor or an independent professional supervisor. We are talking about people's sense of self-worth, a highly charged emotive area. Please appreciate the risk risks involved.
Vicki Heath
http://www.businessperform.com

Since the discussion for performance appraisal, the discussion to be kept confidential is going on. I would like to put forth my doubt.

As you know, in the Performance Appraisal process, there is something known as the Peer Appraisal Rating form, where the peer of the employee will be rating him on various parameters. Can any one of you help me in how we can keep the peer or ask the peer to keep the information (whatever he has rated confidential) and not to be shared with the employee.

As you know, almost all the people will be close to each other and will divulge out information, stating, "this is what has been stated there, this is how I rated you." How can we prevent the information from being passed or from being divulged out? Responses are awaited.

Regards,

Julie