July 2005

Mirror Mirror on the Wall - A 360 Degree View

When you stand in front of fitting room mirrors at your favorite clothing store, you get a 360° perspective about your "look." You receive visual feedback from all sides and can readily see if what you're trying on is a good fit.

Much like that fitting room mirror, a job related view of a key employee from all angles can be valuable. Such a view can be accomplished with a multi-rater, 360° feedback review.

There's understanding to be gained by managers when feed back comes from supervisors, direct reports, and peers, each giving a view of management skills and competencies from their own unique perspective. Unlike a mirror, which tells the truth (and nothing but the truth) a 360° assessment has the potential of biased feedback.

To minimize the potential for bias, the individual administering the assessment should provide the framework for productive use of the evaluation. The administrator must insure that participants understand the importance of providing honest evaluations. They must promise and deliver the protection of anonymity. Participants must understand a 360 evaluation is not a time for paybacks and vendettas! They must feel they are affecting and supporting the development of a productive, employee focused company culture.

The assessment instrument structure, like that of a form fitting garment, is also critical. What should a comprehensive 360° evaluation measure? It should present a balanced picture of both the individual's strengths and areas of opportunity for improvement. It should provide an opportunity for people to see themselves and their competencies as others view them.

In a well constructed 360° assessment, evaluation is not based on personality. Participants rate skills and behaviors based on actual performance to enhance the performance of the entire team. A good 360° process, which includes an effective developmental plan for the manager, can lead to better team cohesion and performance and better retention of good employees. Some key competencies include:

· Communication

· Leadership

· Adaptability

· Task management

· Production

· Developing others

· Personal development

· Relationships

For example, the competency of “Leadership” could include measurement of how well the individual instills trust, provides direction, and delegates responsibility.

With Internet based assessment tools, the administration of a 360° is vastly simplified. Web based administration allows tracking of assessment completion, while maintaining anonymity of participants. A Web based instrument also saves time, providing quick analysis of the outcomes.

The objectives of a 360° evaluation are to provide a "mirror" for the manager and his supervisor: a view of skills and behaviors from a well rounded set of perspectives, providing the framework for developing action plans for self improvement.

Finally, significant improvement of management can not be accomplished with a one shot approach. Repeating cycles of assessment, intervention, and reassessment are the key to long term gains.

Improving Management Skills - What kind of Effect

Therapists, and others who devote their work to effecting change, talk about two kinds of change: Prosthetic change, and Therapeutic change.

Prosthetic change is relatively easy to effect, and usually short lived. It is exemplified by the sales force attending an inspirational sales seminar, and then breaking new records for sales.......for a few weeks.

Therapeutic change, difficult to produce and long lasting, is what business owners and managers usually seek, but seldom find.

In using 360° assessments to produce change, look for ways to produce therapeutic change in management behavior.

Research shows this to be more likely if development activities are tied to “on the job” training and change, rather than traditional classroom learning. As you implement training and development to improve your managers’ competencies, produce therapeutic change with an “on the job” focus to your programs.

Employee Engagement:

Harnessing Hearts for Optimal Performance

One of the best measures of an employee’s potential contribution to the workforce is engagement. But according to a recent Towers Perrin web-based survey of 40,000 North American employees — including 4,600 Canadians —

- the majority are moderately engaged (63%);

- only one in five (20%) is highly engaged;

- and nearly as many are disengaged (17%).

This has a huge impact on companies trying to optimize performance. Employees who are highly engaged are likely to contribute more — and are far less likely to leave their company. Equally significant, the disengaged tend to contribute less, and stay lodged where they are.

The results of the Towers Perrin survey were discussed at a recent Queen’s Masters of Industrial Relations (MIR) 20th anniversary reunion. The survey found that:

Moving employees from a state of moderate engagement makes them almost twice as likely to want to stay with their company and invest their discretionary effort.

51% of the disengaged have no plans to leave (9%) or are not actively looking to leave (42%) their company.

When it comes to engagement, it is not about pay and benefits, but things that enable employees to make a difference. Here are the top five drivers for engaging employees:

Senior management interest in employee well-being
Challenging work
Overall work environment
Input in decision-making
Career advancement opportunities

The study also found that managers and leaders are not as effective as they could be in engaging employees’ energy and passion. Behaviours that have the most significant impact are:

	Inspiring enthusiasm for work
	Encouraging/empowering people to take initiative in their work
	Helping employees understand how they contribute to the financial success of company
	Ensuring employees have access to a variety of learning opportunities
	Providing clear goals and direction needed to do my job
	Helping people understand how they can earn rewards based on their performance
	Building teams with diverse skills/backgrounds
	Acting with honesty and integrity
	Making thoughtful decisions on important matters

Case Study - Top and Bottom Performers in Customer Service

This company has several divisions, focused on services to hospitality and tourism customers across the country. Centralized reservations services for all of their locations employ from 30 to 70 agents, depending on the season.

The Profiles Customer Service Perspective was administered to all of the reservations agents. The illustrations below are focused on the Top 5 Performers and the Bottom 5 Performers, as rated by their managers, in the reservations center. All had been employed 6 months or more, and none were considered in imminent danger of losing their jobs, based on performance measures. Scores were matched to the Top Performer Pattern.

Group Differences: The most striking difference between groups was evident on the Trust scale: Top Performers were characterized by lower scores on this scale, indicating that they were more wary of what the customer intended and said and more likely to “take it with a grain of salt”.

They combined that wariness with a higher degree of tact, however. They might not believe everything the customer said, but they were tactful in confronting issues. Top performers were also more courteous, and flexible when dealing with the customers.

Note that Top Performers actually matched the Company’s Service Perspective at a lower average than Bottom Performers. Management speculated that these differences might be attributable to the Top group’s somewhat higher Proficiency scores, combined with higher flexibility scale scores—Top Performers were more likely to see more than one way to answer a service challenge.

The graph of the Match scores, with the evident overlap in the 82-87 range for some members of both groups, indicates an opportunity for using the coaching information to bring Bottom Performers to a higher level.

"People have freedom to make choices, but they do not have freedom from the consequences."

Dr. Vincent Kituku

Profiles International, Inc. illb@billrobinson.ca

5205 Lake Shore Drive

Waco, TX 76710

www.profilesinternational.com