Bowland Solutions
Why are doing Performance Appraisals and Performance Management?
This was a key question at a recent client meeting, where the desire was to find a new way to implement performance appraisals and performance management in a way that was productive and engaging.
We often find that when talking to clients about another area of our expertise, namely, 360 degree feedback, that this question of ‘Why are we doing this?’ is more readily discussed and easier to identify.
This is because the concept of conducting a 360 degree feedback process is a conscious decision for the organisation; it might support a leadership development programme or be part of an assesssment centre initiative – in any case, it is evaluated with a specific purpose in mind.
Leading Unstoppable Teams; using 360 degree feedback
I attended a great event last night courtesy of one of our partners, Clarity Leadership, who had a number of speakers discussing their experience of leading high performing teams; Clarity have started using our new ‘Partner360′, a 360 degree feedback platform which enables such leaders to get a rounded view prior to the programme.
It was interesting to hear how they succeeded through setting a clear, simple vision and then inspired high performance by leading by example and engaging wholeheartedly with their team as they embarked on the journey; regular communciation and feedback was critical.
What I enjoyed most was the honesty in the presentations which not only highlighted their successes but shared where things didn’t go so well; it was clear that quickly learning from inevitable mistakes along the way was just as important as the things they did right first time.
3 tips for discussing a 360 feedback report with a recipient
Taking a recipient through their 360 degree feedback report is a key moment in the 360 feedback process. It is multi-faceted and requires a good amount of skill and effort. I just wanted to note down my 3 top tips. There’s more to the job, but here is my recommendation.
1. Read it, read it again, and read it one more time
The first time you read the report you get a feel for it. No more. As you read the latter parts of the report it perhaps hints at themes from earlier in the report. You can’t get these in the first reading because you need to have read the whole thing.
Then you read it again; this time you draw out where you think there may be strengths, development areas and themes. I make my notes of areas I’d like to explore in the debrief meeting. This is only an aide memoire, it most certainly isn’t you working out what the report is saying – it just hints at areas you may want to explore in the meeting.
And finally I read it once more when I am with the recipient to refresh my memory and get into the moment of the debrief session.
2. Look at the self feedback
The self feedback hints at the self-perception. How does it compare to the other feedback? Are they aligned, high, low? You should avoid judgment of why you are seeing what you are seeing but make a note and explore it with the recipient in the meeting. All of the 360 feedback is important of course, but the self feedback is the most important.
Trends; what will Performance Appraisals look like in 2011?
With all the different customised performance appraisals solutions we delivered in 2010 and those projects we are about to start in this year, we can see some new trends developing in what organisations want to achieve through the performance review process.
1. There is more and more emphasis on competencies within the process; the desire to assess how people behave as well as what they achieve – furthermore, feedback on these competencies is being solicited from more than just the Line Manager.
2. Longer term development needs and career aspirations are more prevalent in appraisal forms as organisations seek to manage their talent more effectively, retain people and promote from within.
3. There is a greater understanding of how setting objectives is absolutely key in the whole process; poorly set objectives lead to a poor perfomance appraisal process – we are seeing more guidance in this section of the form.
4. There is more attention being given to interim performance appraisals, be they quarterly or more, with some ability to capture achievements and progress in a performance journal or log within the online system all throughout the year.
360 degree feedback; Aussie football style…
A neat little article from the world of sports touching on 360 degree feedback, regarding an award handed out each year by the AFL Player’s Association; the MVP Award is given to the player rated most highly by fellow players.
It’s a great example of how ‘what’ is achieved is sometimes only half the story; in aussie football, this may be the statistics that are churned out on kicks, marks, handballs, etc, but as is pointed out in this article, it is “what they do for the team is more value than what the media or supporters understand”.
360 degree feedback and peer review allows a broader picture to emerge of where contribution is being made by an individual; it is clear that how people go about their role and tasks is important.
Authentic Leadership starts with 360 degree feedback and Lao-Tzu…
There has been a spate of articles recently discussing the idea that authenticity is now a key underpinning element of great leadership with self-awareness through 360 degree feedback at it’s foundation.
This is no real suprise; in order to be authentic with others, one must have a good sense of self and a level of awareness around what they excel at and where they may need to develop.
Displaying confidence and humility, appropriate to a given situation, builds trust, as does demonstrating integrity in all that one does.
These elements are all interlinked; self-awareness develops both the confidence and humility, and ensures leaders are not undermined by others abilities; they can liberate and encourage those abilities and skills to flourish.
As the Chinese philisopher, Lao-Tzu said, “He who knows much about others may be learned, but he who understands himself is more powerful. He who controls others may be powerful, but he who has mastered himself is mightier still.”
360 degree feedback; beyond individual behavioural change
The use of 360 degree feedback to aid an individuals development is well established; however, to what degree can it be used to ‘develop’ a team, department or even a whole organisation?
If we consider that the purpose of 360 feedback is to bring about a sustained improvement in those behaviours deemed important to the organisation, and that those behaviours are partly derived from the desired organisational values, then it is possible that cultural change can occur.
Values driven behaviours, which are assessed through 360 degree appraisal, provide a method whereby those behaviours are consistently in view, talked about, and provide the basis for personal development plans.
Ultimately, it is this continuous holding to account of individuals to these behaviours which can help shift the organisation.
Mission, Vision and Values statements are not enough; they need to come alive through day-to-day application.
Perfomance Reviews point to what makes a great leader
An interesting article in a Canadian publication called ‘The Globe and Mail’ which offered the insights of an organisational psychologist on what the 10 traits top leaders possess; the data was extracted from 10 years worth of Performance Reviews across high level executives.
The different traits are categorised into intangibles that help in good decision making, how they impact the people they lead and finally those which drive a leader towards greatness.
Of the first group, it is that of ‘Wisdom’ which caught my eye having written a post on this topic a few months ago and the fact it is cited by the author as the one factor which is essential to success in many of the others.
It is described as that ability to intelligently apply all of the knowledge which is available to help make decisions, assessing current conditions, and ensure any learning is brought forward to be used in future scenarios.
A further call to have ‘Wisdom’ as a key competency to be incorporated in leadership 360 degree feedback assessment in the future!
High Performing Teams; measuring team effectiveness through 360 degree feedback
I have touched on this topic before but a recent client project utilising our 360 degree feedback tool to assess their effectiveness prompted some more musings on what is becoming a growing area of interest for both ourselves and our clients.
Working with senior leadership teams demands assessment and measurement both of individual performance and behaviours, as well as that of the team as a whole entity.
High performing teams have long been identified by their ability to handle conflict, engender trust, communicate optimally, hold each other to account and be committed to acheive results.
Using a simple survey to prompt a ’360 degree feedback style’ self-evaluation by all team members on how they perceive ‘the team’ is an excellent exercise and one that can generate real insights into what is working well and what is holding the team back from performing to the very best of it’s ability.
Thoughts from our latest seminar; how to successfully implement 360 degree feedback
We were delighted to run this session for the third time on Wednesday; thanks again for all those who attended and expressed an interest in our thoughts on 360 feedback.
As ever, we are really interested to understand how people are using 360 degree appraisal in their organisations, their good and not so good experiences, and their desire to conduct the process again with a keen eye on ‘best practice’.
The session provided ample opportunity for attendees to discuss their experiences within groups, as well as exploring a ‘real’ 360 degree feedback report which highlighted the need to ensure the face-to-face debrief with a recipient was well prepared for.
Some questions raised and answered were, ‘What sort of rating scale should I use?’, ‘How can ensure recipients don’t just select their friends as respondents?, and ‘When is the best time to share the report?’.
Developing Elite Performance; leadership coaching and 360 degree feedback
I recently attended the Association of Coaching conference on this topic and was pleased to see a recurrent theme emerge which made the link between 360 degree feedback and elite performance, particularly with regard to people in senior leadership roles.
One of the ‘bedrocks’ of elite performance was self-awareness; a recognition of ones own strengths and ‘development opportunities’ derived through a 360 degree appraisal process, and coupled with an ability to act upon feedback to improve performance.
As leaders move up the chain of command, the opportunity to obtain this type of invaluable feedback diminishes, but the need for it increases exponentially.
Talent Management ….Performance Review…just what do they mean?
There has a been a debate about Talent Management for sometime now, ‘What does it mean?’, ‘Who is our talent?’, ‘Is is management or development?’ – this is somewhat unsuprising given that there are still some common misconceptions around what good old Performance Review is.
A case in point was a recent conversation where an individual considered performance review to be a ‘disciplinary thing’ – this may be down to his particular experience in the organisation in which he was working, a belief left unchallenged over time or the meaning he attaches to those words.
It highlights an important point about how the meaning of words and the concepts they seek to describe can be understood in a myriad different ways; what is said, may be what is heard, but the meaning attached may be very much at odds with our own.
Using 360 Degree Feedback to build better teams
As teams come together to work towards a common goal, there are a multitude of factors that can hinder them; some people define these as dysfunctions.
To counter these dysfunctions, a team needs to display high team performance behaviours which they can hold each other accountable to, such as trustworthiness, being results focused, committment, and the ability to handle conflict constructively.
360 degree feedback around those behaviours the team has defined as essential to it’s succces, is a great way to both recognise and affirm team members doing things well, and at the same time, enable them to highlight unacceptable behaviour or ways of approaching their work which need to change.
360 degree feedback is development focused
This isn’t a mantra but it is a starting point. 360 degree feedback works best when it is development focused. When it is assessment based and part of appraisal then you have to be careful that you can get the results you require and that the recipient gets something useful for them.
If your 360 feedback process is development focused then all participants can give feedback openly and straightforwardly safe in the knowledge that the intent is to give the best feedback that will give the recipient most chance to improve.
If the 360 feedback process is appraisal based then all respondents have a filter operating as they complete. They will generally continue to seek to be fair but the manager and the self responses in particular will be influenced by the appraisal. Direct reports will be aware of the process and considerate of the impact of positive and negative responses. None of this precludes using 360 feedback as part of appraisal – many of our clients use it very successfully. But it does remind you to think it through carefully, get your communication and training right, and build in some failsafes.
The relationship between 360 degree feedback and performance appraisal
Quite commonly we are seeing clients wrestle with the relationship between their annual performance appraisal and 360 degree feedback.
Part of the confusion can surround a desire to get feedback from more than one source as part of the performance appraisal process. Multi-disciplinary teams, virtual teams, matrix management all lead to a correct desire to have more than one manager involved in an appraisal.
The trick for me is to leave 360 degree feedback to be a label applied to something that looks at behaviours and “how” a person is working. If the desire to get feedback from more than one person is only driven by a desire to get appraisal type information then just get on with it. If however, you are looking to use 360 feedback as a developmental tool that assists recipients in looking at their behaviour and how they impact others and the results they achieve then linking it to performance appraisal and particularly pay is more challenging.
My next post will consider this genuine issue but, for now, if all you are looking to do is get appraisal information from more than one source, call it something other than 360 feedback and just do it.
