Karol Dzierżyc
Business Delivery Manager, Raiffeisen Tech Poland
360-degree assessment – is it worth it?
Employee development is one of our core values, which is why we pay particular attention to feedback. An annual summary in the form of a 360-degree review is challenging for both the person being reviewed and the reviewer. But it is also a great way to gather a wide range of information, from defining challenges to identifying the employee's strengths and development path. Because each employee receives feedback about themselves from many sources, we have the opportunity to compare our self-assessment with the opinions of our colleagues, which gives us countless development opportunities.
At Raiffeisen Tech, we have just completed the 360-degree evaluation process. How do you make it objective and substantive? How can the conclusions be used constructively? Karol Dzierżyc - Senior Product Owner - shared his thoughts and tips with us.
Setting goals
We took an agile approach to organising the 360 review process. We started by formulating our goals, including why we wanted to implement a 360-degree review and what our internal needs were. Then we defined the process, i.e. what we wanted to achieve, what the evaluation should look like from the employee's and manager's point of view? Once we knew the objectives, we moved on to the operationalisation, i.e. the tools. What do we want to ask? What should the survey look like?
In agile organisations, it is natural to distribute responsibility and base most functions on independent teams and non-linear roles.
Validation
We validated the finished proposal with managers and, after receiving feedback, made changes. From our point of view it was a quick Scrum sprint, it took less than a month. We defined the MVP - the minimum value we wanted to achieve - and then we implemented it.
Conclusion
In my opinion, the assessments summarised in the final report are valuable and fair. The great advantage of the 360 assessment is that, after almost five years of Raiffeisen Tech, we had the opportunity to take a closer look at ourselves. To see where we stand in terms of individual projects and what our colleagues think of us. Obtaining such information would be difficult and time-consuming under normal circumstances. Everyone has completed at least a couple of surveys!
So what's next?
In agile organisations, it is natural to distribute responsibility and base most functions on independent teams and non-linear roles. We all know that this applies to backlog management, work planning and task assignment. The same effect applies to personal development. Of course, the manager still has a role to play here, but the really valuable feedback comes from the colleagues we work with every day. And that is the great advantage of the 360-degree assessment.
Of course, what happens with 360 is important. The report based on the ratings is just one tool. And here I see an important role for the line manager, who has to be honest with the employee. It is also important to see to what extent they themselves face the assessment and what they get out of it. It would be nice if the elements identified as areas for improvement could be used as a starting point for a discussion about goals for the coming year.