One of the keys to making better decisions within your company is to measure the performance of your employees on a frequent basis. Various tools can be used for this and one of the most useful is the 360 degree evaluation method . In this post we will talk about its advantages and disadvantages.
What is the 360 degree evaluation method?
To understand what this evaluation method consists of, we must take into account the importance of human resources for a company. Since this is your most valuable capital, it is development of the skills and abilities of each employee it is essential for the company to be successful.
What is the 360 degree evaluation method, advantages and disadvantages for companies?
But to make an employee's full potential blossom, you need to evaluate it and know its limitations. This is where 360-degree evaluation becomes useful: a method that allows you to evaluate the full performance of the employee based on the opinions and judgments of the people who work directly with him.
To get this type of evaluation, you need to get feedback the immediate bosses of the employee, his colleagues, his subordinates and the customers who have contact with him. With this it is possible to measure how the employee works (his behaviors and attitudes), and how much he works (how much he produces, in how much time).
What do you get with this evaluation?
- Measure the employee's skills , to know exactly what he is good at and what he should improve And not only in terms of technical work, but also in terms of his ability to work as a team, how he handles information and whether he is empathetic or not.
- Design programs that promote it employee development, as we already know the effects of motivation on job performance. To plan this type of strategy it is essential to know the current situation.
- Evaluate employee performance within the company and identify those who, although they have potential, do not make the most of it to carry out their tasks. Also, it's always important to motivate these employees so they know it's going to be worth it.
What are the advantages and disadvantages of this method for companies?
When implemented correctly, the 360 degree evaluation method is very useful to complement the performance appraisal system you use in your business. Whether it is an assessment using questions and answers or with rating scales, the 360 method can be applied to all of them.
Benefit
- It is a highly objective method , as it evaluates each competence in its own context. For example, the ability to work in a team will be evaluated better by a colleague than by a client, and therefore the client probably should not provide this type of information in the evaluation.
- It allows you to avoid bias in the evaluation, as information is received from very different sources, with different responsibilities, different roles within the company and with a different relationship with the employee to be evaluated.
- As it collects a large amount of information, it allows you to assess each employee's strengths and weaknesses and take advantage of them to forming more productive work teams .
- As it involves several departments, this type of evaluation favors horizontal communication within the company, even within a vertical organizational structure.
- It ensures that promotion processes are fairer, as it allows each employee to be evaluated from all their angles, putting all their pros and cons on the table when making the decision.
disadvantages
While this valuation method has positive aspects, it also has its negative side. For starters, it can be hard to handle , requiring extensive advance planning and synchronizing many people on a single task.
On the other hand, analyzing all the information collected can be extremely complicated if you don't have software suited. And, if not applied correctly, it can generate an environment of non-constructive criticism that, far from helping collaboration between departments, will make relationships between them more difficult.
We hope that with this article you have learned what the 360-degree evaluation method is, and what are the advantages and disadvantages it offers to companies that decide to apply it. Don't forget to share it if you liked it.
