360-Degree Feedback

The term 360-degree feedback refers to a process whereby an employee (typically someone in a managerial or supervisory position) receives feedback from multiple sources—usually from more than one supervisor, peer, and subordinate. The impetus behind these systems is the belief that employees will benefit from seeing how they are viewed from these different perspectives and so be highly motivated to improve performance based on that feedback. Systems that involve appraisals and feedback from multiple sources are referred to as 360-degree appraisal systems or multisource appraisal or feedback systems. These systems are generally expensive, and most experts recommend that the ratings produced by them should be used as a feedback tool only. That is, 360-degree ratings may not be as suitable for decisions often associated with ...