360-degree employee evaluation software has been all the rage these past few years, especially thanks to recent technological innovations which make it easier to collect, analyze and share large amounts of data than ever before. It’s certainly a great way to improve the way 360 degree employee evaluations software are undertaken and can help businesses create a great corporate culture. However, besides simply considering the benefits, there are a few things that businesses should consider before implementing 360 feedback:

What are your goals?

360-degree feedback isn’t right for every business. While it is certainly used across a different range of industries, and in businesses both large and small, 360 reviews must be undertaken with specific goals in mind for them to be remotely effective. For instance, businesses must establish what skills, behaviours and competencies they deem to be important within their organization. It’s also important to consider what factors are going to be measured, how they will be measured, and how they will be used.

Don’t forget to consider that 360 reviews are meant to be forward-looking, and are not actually meant to be used as a way of punishing or rewarding employees in terms of things like sales targets or the number of absences. It should rather be implemented with the intention of helping employees to gain more insight on themselves, so that they may develop a personal career plan enabling them to grow and contribute to the company in a more effective, meaningful way.

How will you communicate with your employees?

Evaluations are always nerve-wracking, and nothing is more important than clarity when it comes to dealing with touchy subjects like implementing new review processes. It’s extremely important to consider how you’re going to train employees to participate in and make use of 360 reviews. Part of this includes justifying why you even want to implement a new review system in the first place, which goes back to the first point we mentioned earlier – having clear goals. Employees need to be reassured as to why new reviews are implemented, and how they will be personally impacted by the results. By failing to adequately train employees in the review process, you may end up doing the company a bigger disservice than anticipated. Be clear and upfront about how data will be used and by whom, so that employees are not anxious, suspicious or confused. You might consider providing a platform for employees to express their thoughts and concerns so that you can take any prevalent concerns into account when implementing a 360 review system in your organization.

What do you expect from your employees?

When communicating with employees about how 360 reviews work, you should also explain to them what exactly you expect from whom. Many people will be unfamiliar with the 360-degree employee evaluation softwares process and might be quite surprised to be asked to review a supervisor or a close friend. On the other hand, others might be very intimate with the 360 processes and have some pretty vocal feelings about it – positive or negative. When training your employees on the 360 review system, you’ll want to give everybody a clear understanding of what is expected of them when giving out reviews, walking through their own results, or helping a subordinate to understand and make use of their review.

Make sure that employees are hyper-aware of what the goals of the review are – what is being measured and how they are being used. Employees should also have a clear understanding of what a review should look like in terms of quality and quantity. This will ensure that reviews are of an appropriate nature and that everybody gets a fair, useful assessment. Don’t forget to let employees know when they should be providing reviews, and when they should expect reviews and results in turn. Managing employee expectations is just as important as articulating your own in order to ensure that everybody is satisfied with how the process is operated.

What is your current corporate culture?

While corporate culture may not seem like an important factor to consider when implementing a 360 review process, it can actually play a significant role in determining how employees participate in the system and make use of their review results. For instance, in some companies, employees may not actually be used to getting reviews at all and may regard a 360 system with suspicion, or consider it particularly intrusive. Other companies may have a culture that is strongly tied with productivity and the optimal use of time, where employees may feel that participating in 360 reviews will take away from their “actual” work. They may even feel resentful if it is implied that participating in reviews means having to take on more work into their already packed schedules. As such, you should be honest about addressing your company’s values when considering how to best implement a 360-degree review process in a way that is useful without being disruptive.

Conclusion

Ultimately, as with many things in business, the biggest problems that a company may face when implementing a new 360 employee evaluation software may be adequately addressed through clear, upfront communication. Keep an open channel of communication with your employees so that you can be sure there is a strong baseline of understanding as to how a 360 review can be beneficial, and so that you may address any major concerns prior to actually implementing the new system. By communicating your expectations clearly and by showing an understanding of employee expectations, implementing and managing a new 360degree feedback system should go quite smoothly.