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The360 degree appraisal system is twenty years old and hopelessly out of date. Before its introduction, appraisal systems were 'top down', with an employee's performance being assessed only by management. The innovation of360 was to obtain assessments from all around (hence the name) the employee.
The process is very labour intensive and creates vast amounts of paperwork. Since it is in the nature of appraisal systems to avoid collecting any real data, most or all of this paperwork is worthless. The360 system has particular difficulties - most employees don't want to say bad things about the people they work with, even if it's genuinely anonymous, which of course360 systems never are. Most of the 'bad' comments are related to personal dislike, and are therefore - you've guessed it - worthless.
The360 system has been comprehensively discredited, and nowadays it's only used by companies who are determined to be out of date. Indeed, the world of business management has finally worked out that annual appraisal in any form is daft.
(Aside: in the early1990s, when360 came in, I was working for one of the first companies to use it. It was extremely obvious from day1 that the whole thing was a waste of time.)
(Aside2: a much better question would have been, "Where have we got to in figuring out the best way to appraise employee performance? What is the latest thinking and practice?")
A360 degree performance appraisal system is a method used to assess the job performance of employees and managers in an organization on the basis of classified feedback received from individuals who work alongside them. This invariably entails receiving confidential feedback primarily from six distinct people in the workplace. Even the employee’s or manager’s self-ratings are taken into consideration.
The360 degree performance appraisal or evaluation process is considered extremely reliable and consistent as assessment is carried out on a pervasive basis by different groups or parties. The parties involved in the appraisal are regarded as dependable as they’re always interrelating and working in close co-operation with the employees whose performances are under the scanner. This technique is basically used to appraise employees though managers’ performances are sometimes evaluated as well.
This system or process of employee assessment was for the first time harnessed by General Electric in1992 in the United States. The six different parties that are involved in the360 degree rating procedure are the top-level management, immediate superior, colleagues, subordinates, customers, and the employee who’s being evaluated. The top management in a large organization normally assesses the managers at the middle level. Nonetheless, in a close-knit establishment, the top management appraise employees’ at all hierarchical levels. This method of measuring the job performance of employees is considered objective and realistic and is without any bias.
The360 performance appraisal system enables the employee (whose performance is being rated) to gain a better insight into his strengths and weakness. The method mechanically tabularizes or tallies the feedback received from the parties and presents the same in a manner that aids the subject (feedback recipient) to prepare a self-development programme. The idea behind developing the plan is to have an improved understanding of how others in the office perceive him so that he can enhance his professional skills so that he can excel at his job and contribute towards the growth and development of the company.
