360 degree feedback is a method where you ask for feedback from different people. These can be both colleagues and external people, such as customers or suppliers. For several years, different organizations have experienced the benefits of this method of asking for feedback. In the beginning this was done with pen and paper, later in excel files and nowadays it is done very easily in an online tool like Treams . Asking 360-degree feedback gives you a complete picture of the development each employee is going through. Although 360 degree feedback has many advantages, unfortunately it is not yet used in many organizations. In this infographic we list the benefits for you. Want to know more? Then be sure to read on below the infographic.
1. 360-degree feedback increases self-awareness.
Have you ever heard a leader say they got to the top by "just doing what they thought they had to do"? Probably not. Besides probably having the drive and ambition to get to the top, they wouldn't be where they are today without feedback from others. Feedback helps bridge the gap between how employees think of themselves and how others think of them. By getting a full report and comparing your own image with the image of others, you can see where your strengths are, but certainly also where your development points are. This gives the employee insight into their behavior and performance and how this comes across to others. Based on this you can put together your personal development plan.
2. Through 360-degree feedback, managers know better how employees are performing.
After all, managers are not (in most cases) on your ass 24 hours a day. By asking 360-degree feedback from colleagues and external people (e.g., customers and suppliers), managers get a better and more complete picture of each employee's performance. This allows them to better understand the personal and organizational development needs within the organization and to discover earlier why a collaboration is going well, or not so well. Moreover, many employees find that 360-degree feedback is much more accurate and reflective of their performance than feedback from a supervisor alone. Finally, it saves managers a lot of time when feedback comes from different angles. This is because they then no longer have to make their own "judgments" about each employee.
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3. Through 360-degree feedback, employees discover their blind spots
When you think you're doing something right, but no one ever tells you you're not doing it right, you're not going to adjust it either. Because in 360-degree feedback you get feedback from multiple people, employees can discover where these blind spots are. Uncovering the blind spots are important for improvement. Do you have an understanding of the blind spots? Only then can you focus on how to improve these behaviors.
4. 360-degree feedback creates more openness and trust, leading to better team performance
Through 360-degree feedback, teams learn to work together more effectively. The fact that they have to "judge" each other creates more accountability and trust. When there is more trust within a team, it is better able to achieve goals more quickly. In addition, 360-degree feedback ensures that communication within the team gets a huge boost, which in turn ultimately leads to better team performance.
5. 360-degree feedback creates more personal growth
Organizations are no longer responsible for employee growth and development. This responsibility increasingly lies with the employee themselves. Through feedback from different angles, employees know better where their development needs lie.
6. 360-degree feedback reduces discrimination
When feedback is given by only one person, that person may still give you feedback based on personal preference. If you don't have a good rapport with that person, you may just end up getting bad feedback, even though your performance may be very good. When feedback comes from different people in different positions and from different departments, discrimination based on race, age, gender and so on is reduced. This way, people are really judged on performance and not the person themselves.
7. 360-degree feedback improves employee performance
All of the foregoing points lead to this final, and perhaps most important point. 360-degree feedback, if implemented properly, is one of the most powerful tools for improving employee performance. Indeed, research by Gallup shows that employees who receive good feedback achieve 15.9% better turnover rates than employees who do not receive feedback. By giving employees ownership of their own development, it ensures higher engagement. In addition, by constantly knowing where you stand, the assessment moment becomes a lot less exciting than it was without 360-degree feedback. So we do say that an employee should be able to write their own assessment. There should be no surprises in there. Asking 360-degree feedback gives employees a starting point for their development of new skills. For example, they know which (strengths) to build on and which (weaknesses) to further develop or improve.
8. How can a tool help you do this?
Obviously, you want this whole process of asking for 360 degree feedback to be made easy and can be recorded so you can look back at it at a later time. A 360 degree feedback tool like Treams can help you do that. A few benefits of an online tool like Treams:
- All feedback is recorded in one online environment. This allows you to review your past feedback at any time.
- Reminder emails are sent when the other person has not yet answered the feedback request. This ensures that a feedback request is almost always answered.
- When all respondents have responded to a feedback request, both the employee and the manager receive a report with the feedback given. This gives you an overview of strengths and areas for development, which serves as the basis for each employee's personal development plan.
- Through a tool, you can ask for 360-degree feedback at any time. Using Treams' mobile app , you can do this anywhere you want, such as on the road or at home on the couch.
- To use Treams, you don't need any complex software to be downloaded onto your computer. All you need is an Internet connection and a browser. In fact, Treams is completely web-based.
- Through more than 100 sample questions, software helps you ask the right questions, giving you the most valuable feedback.
- In Treams you can prepare different templates with questionnaires. For example, templates per department. This makes it even easier to send a feedback request.
- Personal emails! With your feedback request, you can type a personal message explaining, for example, about the request.
- Treams' software is completely built based on users' needs. It is easy to understand so you can request feedback with a few clicks of a button.
- Do you use the feedback module together with the goals module ? Then you can easily ask for feedback on your set goals.