As we have addressed in previous posts, there are certain pitfalls that can be detrimental to a 360 Degree Evaluation. There are clear ways to overcome these obstacles, which we have also discussed here, but it's also important to address the broader context of these barriers.
One such issue that is inherent to all successful 360 Degree Evaluations is employee participation. This encompasses all of the following: the scope of employees invited to participate, the rate at which they choose to partake, and the value of their feedback.
EI will work with you to decide upon the number of employess you should invite to your 360 Degree Evaluation. We find that sometimes the best feedback comes from those who work closely with the entity being evaluated, but it is also important to be broad enough to have several perspectives, so we want to find the right balance between the two.
We are also very committed to high levels of participation in all of our 360 Degree Evaluations. EI handles all of the outreach and follow-up, and we aim for a 90% participation rate, which means we work hard to get everyone's viewpoint.
And lastly, as for the value of employee feedback, this is the one element in which EI cannot help to handle or improve. It is entirely up to the employee to decide on how much time to commit to the 360 Degree Evaluation, how harshly to rate the evaluated entity, and how many extra comments to provide. But you can make sure the employee will do his or her best by emphasizing exactly how important this process is to your organization's success. You must lead by example and take the 360 Degree Evaluation seriously so that your employees will feel the same way, therefore ensuring a valuable and useful evaluation process.