What type of time and resource investment are we talking about & what is the typical ROI from doing this?
There’s no beating around the bush - getting your 360 feedback survey right first time takes time and resources. There is a lot of work up front to plan your survey. You’ll need to answer questions like who do you want to rate, who’s going to give the feedback, what competencies do we want to assess. Time is also needed to devise communication plans and to actually do the communicating to get people on board. That’s not to mention designing the survey and the reports and training people within the business to deliver the feedback. The risk of not paying careful attention to the details is a 360 program that de-motivates, creates stress and anxiety and smashes your hopes of creating a more open and honest culture which encourages feedback.
There’s one quote that seems to be used widely by companies selling 360’s that 360 feedback can yield a ROI of 700%. This figure comes from some research by Spencer and Morrow which they reported upon during Calculating the ROI on Competence. London, UK: Linkage Competency Conference Seminar. 2 November 1998. This is a huge claim, and is one that would be lovely to be able to guarantee. What we have found over the years is that the greatest ROI occurs when a carefully implemented 360 feedback survey is followed by ongoing support, coaching and training. 360 feedback that is implemented in isolation gives some great pats on the backs, or highlights some areas for development but may not provide the call to action or support for the individual to change their behaviours. If you goal is to create a more open and honest working environment, 360 feedback on it’s own is not enough.
