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The Top Questions Not To Ask An Employee In A 360 Survey

360 surveys can be powerful tools for employee evaluation. However, as with any kind of performance evaluation tool, 360 surveys can fail toget the desired results if they’re not used correctly. Research shows that asking the wrong questions in a 360-feedback survey can actually “demoralize workers.” It can also confuse them about the kinds of behaviours that are desired from them (Carson, 2006). That’s why it’s important to make sure that the survey questions clearly convey company values and goals.

In addition, the purpose of a 360 feed back program is to uncover information that will help the feedback recipient identify their areas of strength and weakness. Then you and the recipient can come up with a development plan for them.

Sometimes it’s easier to look at examples of what not to do. With that in mind, here are the top questions not to ask an employee in a 360 survey. Learn to dread these types of questions!

The Over-General
Imagine if a 360 survey asked the respondent to rate an employee, Claire, on the following attribute: “Embodies the company mission.” This seems to have the desirable form for a 360 survey question. It starts with an action verb. It’s phrased positively: embodying the company mission is a desired behaviour. So what’s the problem?

For one thing, “embodying” is an abstract concept. Have you ever seen anybody embody something? Well, yes, perhaps you have. But if you have, you’ve seen them do it in the form of specific behaviours. How does Claire embody the company mission? By delivering outstanding customer service? Then that’s the behaviour that you want the question to be about.

Of course just about any question can be broken down further into even more specific behaviours. “How does Claire deliver outstanding customer service?” You don’t have to take it too far, but it’s good to keep the following things in mind:
  • Is this behaviour something that can be witnessed?
  • If not, can it be broken down into more specific behaviours?
Another benefit of narrowing down the behaviour is that it will be less open to interpretation. Remember that the ultimate goal of a 360 survey is to collect data about the subject – not opinions. The more you concentrate on simple observable behaviours, the less room there is for confusion and misunderstanding.

The Untrainable
The behaviours the survey identifies must be trainable if the subject and company are to benefit from the process. The purpose of a 360 performance evaluation is to improve performance. If the areas of weakness it identifies aren’t subject to training, there was no point in identifying them.

Recipients may be frustrated if they are told that they’re performing poorly in certain areas but not what they can do to improve. They will then start to feel that they’re under attack. The last thing you want to do is make the feedback recipient feel like the point of the exercise is to criticize them. As Martha Duesterhoft wrote, coaching is “about a dialogue (asking), not a monologue (telling).” According to Duesterhoft, one of the characteristics of a good coaching question is that it’s focused on useful outcomes. Whether it’s a quick coaching session or a 360 review, remember to make it clear that the point of the activity is a result.

Say that Claire got a low rating on “Embodies the company mission.” Clearly, “embodying” is not a trainable behaviour. However, breaking down the trainable behaviours that go into “embodying the company mission” will be uncovered.

Things like:
  • Motivation
  • Problem solving
  • Accountability
  • Patience
These are all areas where employees can improve with coaching and practice. Because they are specific and narrow, they are not overwhelming. Now Claire understands what’s being asked of her and can participate in her development.

The Personal
The personal question makes it about subject’s personality rather than about their behaviour. That’s the reason it’s a good idea to use action verbs instead of linking verbs when creating 360 survey questions. It’s pretty easy to understand what an action verb does: it tells you what the subject of the sentence does. Linking verbs aren’t such a common concept. But the name gives it away: linking verbs link the subject to the information in the sentence.

Linking verbs describe states of being, not action. A very powerful linking verb when it comes to feedback is “is,” as in “Claire is a great employee.”

When giving feedback it’s important to avoid personalization as much as possible. That wouldn’t be the case if all feedback were positive all the time. But the purpose of employee evaluations is to identify areas that need improvement as well as areas of strength. That’s the tough part of giving and getting feedback.

It’s not just that it’s an unpleasant experience. If feedback is handled incorrectly, it will not achieve its purpose of improving performance and may even make things worse.

Usually if there’s a way to phrase something with a linking verb, there’s also a way to phrase it with an action verb. The psychological difference it makes should be clear even from a very simple example. “Claire is punctual” describes the way Claire is. If in a coaching session you let Claire know that she’s not very punctual, there’s not much either of them can do about that. However, if what Claire is doing is not coming to work on time, that’s a behaviour, and a behaviour can be changed. Now Claire and her coach have something to work with.

360 survey questions should not ask for opinions or guesses. But just because the feedback is not opinion, that doesn’t make it fact. It’s important to make people understand that the feedback is based on others’ perceptions. Just as employees must be able to separate behaviour from self, they must be able to separate how they appear from who they are.

If how they appear to others does not reflect how they see themselves, which is something they can work on with a manager. A behavioural change will produce a different perception.
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