What Is a 360 Review? (2023)

The 360 review is a professional feedback opportunity that enables a group of coworkers and managers to provide feedback about a fellow employee’s performance. Unlike a typical employee performance review in which an employee's work performance is evaluated by only their manager, a 360 review takes into account feedback from peers and reporting staff—even customers and other people who interact with the employee.

What Is the 360 Review Process?

In a 360 review, feedback about an employee's performance, skills, and contributions is solicited and then shared with the employee.

Coworkers who participate in the 360 reviews usually include theemployee's manager, several peer staff members, reporting staff members, and functional managers from the organization with whom the employee works regularly.

The 360 review tends to focus more on how the employee affected the work of other employees than on whether the work was accomplished, which is the goal of a typical performance review. In those reviews, the manager may seek additional informal, often verbal, feedback from other employees, especially managers, about the employee's performance, but that's different from a formal 360 review.

The review allows coworkers to assess the employee’s impact on furthering their goals, objective accomplishments, and positive customer results as observed by team members.

• Alternate names: 360 feedback, peer feedback, multi-directional feedback

How Does a 360 Review Work?

Organizations use a variety of methods to seek 360 feedback about employees, depending on the culture and climate of the organization.

In many organizations that use 360 reviews, the manager asks for and receives the feedback. The manager then analyzes the feedback looking for patterns of behavior to note as well as positive and constructive feedback.

Some organizations use instruments that tally results electronically and give employees a score in each area assessed, while others rely on open-ended questions. Online processes make the feedback easy to tally up and share.

Organizations may also hire external consultants to administer the surveys, usually when managers are receiving a 360 review. The consultants then analyze and share the data with the manager, or with the manager and staff in some cases. In the best of these circumstances, themanager and staff join together to plan improvements for both the manager and the department.

In more progressive organizations that have built a climate of trust, employees provide 360 feedback directly to each other, without the manager as a filter or go-between.

No matter how you collect and share the 360 feedback, you must always ensure that the feedback is as descriptive as possible so that the employee has something tangible to improve on. When sharing is open, make sure also that you solicit frequent employee feedback about how the process is working and affecting employees.

Take a look at sample questions for 360 reviews for ideas about what questions will solicit solid, actionable information in a 360 review process. In any case, remember that how you introduce, monitor, and evaluate the effectiveness of the 360 review process is critical to its success or failure.

Pros and Cons of a 360 Review

Pros Explained

• Provides feedback from multiple sources. The data collected and questions can include employees, their colleagues, co-workers, and customers. As a result, a significant amount of data can be gathered to help understand how an employee or person impacts the organization and those around them. From there, steps for improvement can be developed.
• Leads to improvements in productivity and morale. An employee's review by a manager can be inadequate for many organizations. By conducting a 360 review, employees receive and give feedback that can help lead to positive change. The process can inspire employees to work on improving their weaknesses, making them more well-rounded and productive.

  Also, the process can empower workers since they have a more effective way of reviewing their colleagues and manager. A 360 review can lead to positive results and a sense of teamwork, boosting morale when implemented properly.

• A 360 review can be done online.The 360 review process can be instituted in several different ways. Some companies opt for an online survey to collect the data through a third party. Others use their human resources department, while other companies use a consultant.

Cons Explained

• Can be vague and unstructured. The 360 review process can vary depending on the company or industry. Since there is no exact standard for the review, it can lead to a vague process in which the survey has little to no structure. As a result, the company might gather reams of data with little ability to create actionable steps for improvements.
• Too few raters. If there's not a wide range of people performing the ratings of the person, the results can be too narrow and inaccurate. For example, if the raters are friends of the rated employee, the feedback might be positive but incomplete. Conversely, if the raters don't get along with the employee or are not constructive, the results can be skewed negatively.

  By selecting a larger number of raters that interact with the employee at various levels—e.g., customers, colleagues, and support staff—a better understanding of the employee's strengths and weaknesses can be achieved.

• No follow-up to make improvements. It isn't enough to do the 360 reviews, receive feedback, and compile the data; the company must follow through to make the needed changes. The company should have an employee's manager review the findings or hire an internal or external consultant to help, particularly if the manager is the one being reviewed. Also, employees must be open and willing to cooperate and change.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

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