It is mandatory for every company to appraise or evaluate their employees’ performance. After all, any non-performing worker is a certified liability. One of the best types of feedback available is called the “360-degree feedback”.

What Is It?
Also called multi-rater feedback, it is a system of evaluation where different kinds of people assess an employee. These include the manager, fellow employee, and customer. The general objective of this system is to generate a wide range of opinions, so employee development can be holistic. This way, he or she can also be an excellent team-player and company-representative to customers.

The Benefits
Many have believed on the benefits of this feedback that it is already adapted by more than 85 percent of Fortune 500 companies. For one, employees are forced to exert effort not just for the pleasure of their supervisors but also of their co-workers and customers.

Since customers are an integral part of any business, it is essential that their voices are heard and their expectations are met. The 360-degree feedback will allow the employee to provide or even exceed the client requirements. This system ensures excellent customer service and thus encourages loyalty.

Are you really faring well with your fellow employees? Sometimes certain issues are left buried or unsaid, but the 360-degree feedback gives you a better idea on where you stand. There is a huge possibility that some may not like you. Nevertheless, you can already settle these issues before they begin to blow out of proportion or out of hand. This will also motivate you to further cooperate with the rest of the members of your department.

On the other hand, your supervisor or manager can develop a coaching or training system that will fit the areas you need to improve.

Most of all, a 360-degree feedback can remove whatever doubt an employee may have over the evaluation since he or she is getting feedback from different types of people.

The Downsides
As good as it may seem, this type of assessment also has its downsides. Some are in doubt of the effectiveness of the system for a number of reasons.

First, it has encouraged animosity among employees, especially if the level of confidentiality is so relaxed. If they received a negative feedback from their co-workers and they did not like it, there is a huge chance retribution is on the way. Some employees also don’t like to be evaluated badly by customers and will exact revenge in some way.

Since there are multiple feedback forms that have (and need) to be gathered, it will take a while before a summarized feedback can be given to the employee. It is also time-consuming since there are many people you have to appraise and may even leave a possibility of creating a less-than-honest feedback such as creating the same assessment for multiple individuals just to speed up the process.

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