According to Gallup, “in nearly every corner of the U.S., business executives, community and civic leaders, marketers, and managers are talking about Millennials and their behaviors, attitudes, and beliefs. They want to understand how this generation is like and how they differ from their predecessors, as well as how to apply this knowledge to create more engaged employees and consumers and healthier, happier citizens.”  

Companies are constantly striving to manage their millennial performance reviews and guide their employees towards improving themselves. Therefore, they seek a uniform performance management system for their business that could automate employee performance reviews and engage their employees effectively. A lot of organizations are adopting 360 Degree Feedback to carry out their performance processes.  

According to a research conducted by Gallup on millennial engagement, “Millennials are first-generation digital natives who feel at home on the Internet. Technology – particularly gadgets like smartphones, but also tablets and laptops – have revolutionized the way they connect and interact with one another and the rest of the world. While most Americans surf the Web from a desktop or laptop computer at home or work, 85 percent of Millennials access the Internet from their phones – more than all other generations.” 

But what exactly do we accomplish with 360 Degree feedback? 360 Degree review is a multi-rater process where an employee gets the opportunity to do self-assessments, and be evaluated by superiors, managers, peers, and external stakeholders such as customers, vendors and mentors. Employees can understand how effective their performance is and how their performance is viewed by others.  

However, I would say that the most effective way of conducting 360 Degree feedback is by incorporating the behavioral attributes of employees along with their goals and competencies. The feedback that employees receive from these multiple raters helps them identify the skills and behaviors that the organization expects from the employees and if they are working towards accomplishing the objectives, core values, vision, and mission of the organization.  

Choosing raters for this process is often a collaborative process and are mostly people who interact with the employees daily. The rationale behind choosing a 360 Degree feedback mechanism is for employees to analyze their strengths and weaknesses better and work towards their personal and professional development. In this article, let us look at the reasons why 360 Degree feedback are useful for millennials: 

Provides an overall feedback from the raters 

360 Degree feedback provides a holistic feedback from peers, managers, superiors, and external stakeholders. Instead of adhering to a linear pattern where feedback was received from only one individual, feedback is gathered from multiple sources. It saves a lot of time for the manager as he does not have to spend a lot of time giving feedback for each employee. With multiple raters participating in this process, it makes it a less tedious process for the manager. Employees get a holistic perspective on how their coworkers recognize them and how others view their performance. 

Improves Team collaboration 

The multi-rater feedback approach helps peers understand each other’s performance as a result of which, team members would learn to work together more effectively. This is primarily because your team members would know how you work better than your manager. This mechanism makes team members realize that they are accountable for each other’s performance and will help each other by sharing their feedback on each other’s performance. This in turn improves communication at the team level.  

Helps you understand personal and organizational developmental needs 

360 Degree feedback are the best way to understand employee needs and organizational needs. It makes it easier for companies to identify what drives employee engagement and what keeps them motivated to work towards the success of your organization. Once you have identified these elements, you can try modifying your company’s policies, procedures, and approaches that affect employee success.                      

Employee career development          

As manager, you must create an environment for your employees where they are supported and encouraged to pursue their career needs. 360 Degree feedback helps employees gain insights as to what they need to do to develop their career and skills. Moreover, 360 Degree feedback is very reliable in terms of providing accurate feedback, reflecting their performance, and validating their performance more than just the manager’s feedback. This is more important for an employee’s career growth.

Minimizes discrimination 

360 Degree feedback reduces discrimination at all levels because feedback is solicited from multiple sources from various job roles. Biased feedback from supervisors is also minimized. 

Increases customer satisfaction 

Since customers are also sometimes included in this feedback mechanism, customers feel included and they can give their honest feedback about the services that were delivered to them. Employees can strive to improve the quality and reliability of their services. 

Addresses training needs 

Feedback solicited from 360 Degree feedback helps the organization recognize the training needs of employees including classes, cross-functional training, etc. 

Takeaway 

The 360-degree feedback, when implemented correctly, it can create a profound impact on employees. It positively promotes employee growth and development. It improves employee morale and motivation. Following the right strategies will help you leverage this mechanism in a strong performance management system.