If your company is considering overhauling its employee assessment program, you might be thinking about implementing 360 degree feedback. There is a great deal of information out there about 360 Degree Employee Evaluation Software – how can you tell what’s reliable and what isn’t? Read on to learn about the advantages and disadvantages of 360 degree employee evaluation software.

What Is 360 Degree Feedback?

Before we explain the pros and cons of this evaluation method, it’s helpful to understand exactly what 360 degree feedback is.

In a traditional performance review, the boss meets with employees individually once a year. He or she assesses how well or poorly the employee did his or her job over the past year. The employee doesn’t have a chance to appeal the rating, which is based on one person’s opinion.

During a 360 Degree Employee Evaluation Software, an employee receives feedback on his or her performance from a variety of sources, including his or her peers, supervisors, subordinates and clients.

The Advantages of 360 Degree Reviews

There is one significant advantage to a 360 degree assessment: it provides a breadth of perspective that traditional performance reviews lack.

A supervisor only sees a certain aspect of an employee’s performance. He or she can’t see how an employee interacts with his or her peers, subordinates or customers. Maybe the employee slacks off, leaving his or her colleagues to carry the burden. Perhaps he or she has developed a strong relationship with a customer. A 360 Degree Employee Evaluation Softwarebrings those issues to light.

The Disadvantages of 360 Degree Assessments

Every evaluation tool has its pros and cons. When it comes to 360 degree reviews, the disadvantages have more to do with how this model of feedback is implemented.

A 360 degree assessment won’t accomplish its goals if the team responsible for designing it doesn’t ask the right questions. What are the wrong questions? Eric Jackson , contributor to Forbes, points out that many companies ask vague questions that don’t have anything to do with the employees’ performance (“Are you red or blue?” “What’s your personality type?”). What you need to ask are questions such as “What are this person’s duties?” “What has this employee accomplished this year?” “How is this employee furthering organizational goals?”

This can be avoided with a bit of guidance and research.

Find a 360 Degree Review Program that Fits Your Needs

What if there was a way to ask the right questions during a 360 degree review and not spend too much time or money doing it? Grapevine Evaluation’s software gives HR professionals the option to create, distribute, analyze and manage the entire 360 degree employee evaluation software process so that it’s efficient and cost-effective.

Grapevine Evaluations are trusted by such companies as Pandora, Macy’s, and Thomson Reuters.

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