June 2008

360 Degree Performance Appraisals It goes without saying that every member of every organization needs feedback on his or her job performance from every possible source (boss, boss's boss, coworkers, subordinates, team members from other departments, customers, the customer's customers, suppliers). But how do you successfully provide a 360-degree performance appraisal.   Want to achieve real success?  Try these strategies. Key Strategies 1. Set The Stage As a leader or decision maker it is your job to provide a complete explanation of what you want, why you want it, how it will be used, how it will help the individual to improve and meet their goals, and how it will help the company to improve and to fulfill its mission and vision. The process will feel uncomfortable at first, and maybe for a while.  Being clear up front will help to relieve much of the anxiety and fear. 2. What You Want Honest, clear, well thought out, results oriented comments about how an individual's performance and actions impact on every other individual in and around the organization.  Numerical (on a scale of 1-5) and verbal (phrases and sentences) input from first hand sources. 3. Why You Want Input Your business can improve only if every person carries an equal share of responsibility.  Part of the responsibility is to help others improve; part is to commit to improving themselves.  If anyone on your staff doesn't want to help others improve and/or doesn't want to improve himself or herself then the first thing to do is to consider some personnel changes. 4. How the Input Will Be Used You need to compare all views of each individual's performance with the results you expect that individual to produce.  Each input remains anonymous, which requires averaging the numerical scores, and grouping the verbal input.  The individual being assessed should know only what each group has indicated about the value of her/his contributions. 5. How This Helps The Individual The only way to improve an individual's effectiveness is to develop open, honest communication with the people affected by their performance.  The ratings give input about actions and behaviors (not attitude) that are under the direct control of the individual being rated. 6. How This Helps The Organization When everyone shares in the process, and each person takes responsibility for their own self-improvement, then the organization is lifted easily and carried rapidly toward the fulfillment of its mission by a team of dedicated supporters.

For information concerning SMBC Incorporated contact: Lou Carloni lou@smbcinc.com

Web Page Updated by: Shannon Hansen shannon@smbcinc.com

© SMBC Incorporated  2007