360 degree feedback : HR’s favorite tool

The IT industry has widely recognized 360 degree feedback as a useful developmental tool. The HR managers and employees have realized that professional success is not one-dimensional but encompasses the entire spectrum of an individual’s professional conduct.

The 360 degree feedback is particularly significant in the knowledge economy since the company’s wealth resides in each employee. Each asset can be a potential leader and the contribution of each asset in turn determines the success of the company.

Theoretically, 360 degree feedback is the gap analysis between how one evaluates oneself on a set of criteria and the evaluation by the manager, peers and direct reports against the same set of criteria. The gap can then be overcome through counseling, training or coaching sessions.

360 degree approach in IT companies

By and large the working environment in IT companies are more conducive for 360 degree feedback since they are companies in the new economy and CEOs believe in the need to innovate and experiment.



Leading Indian companies like Wipro Technologies and NIIT Ltd were among the earliest to adopt the 360 degree feedback process. But today an increasing number of companies are experimenting with the process.

While IT firms have displayed receptiveness to the idea of the 360 degree feedback, its manifestation may have been different. So, while WeP (formerly Wipro e-Peripherals) conducts such an exercise across all levels of its employees, HCL Technologies, Wipro Technologies or Hughes Software Systems (HSS) does it amongst the senior and middle management cadres. But what is evident is that the feedback system has invariably been linked to some sort of leadership development program.

HR managers have agreed that implementation of the program requires an open and transparent culture within the organization and is driven because of the commitment of the top leadership. For instance, at Wipro, Board members on parameters identified by the HR team give Azim Premji the feedback. Arun Kumar at HSS has taken lead in getting the feedback from his board members and juniors.

Most companies have kept the feedback system outside the formal appraisal process using it purely as a developmental tool. "Experience in multi-national companies outside India has shown that 360 degree feedback has not worked when linked to the formal appraisal process of the employee," said Jayaram Easwaran, VP HR at HSS. Feedback is skewed when linked to performance and employees may feel threatened and in turn demotivated when such feedback impacts the appraisal of employees.

Feedback, however, is not entirely 360 degree with inputs restricted to only peers, junior, seniors and in some cases internal customers. Feedback from external customers and vendors are usually not taken.



The framework of the feedback process in different companies has been driven by different philosophies upheld by each company.

Two-year old WeP, still in its early stage of evolution as an organization, believes that there is a potential leader in each employee across all levels and it is important to identify the leadership quality in every employee. At Wipro Technologies, HSS or HCL Technologies the exercise is deemed to have significance only for those employees who have at least some direct employees reporting to him or her.

Feedback is related to the behavioral qualities of the individual on qualities like leadership qualities, ability to motivate, recognizing achievements of juniors, and competencies related to the job. "It is important to frame the questionnaire carefully, since managers at different levels require different competency levels.

At the middle level, managers would be expected to display motivational skills, ability to get work done as a team or problem solving abilities while at the senior level, the expectation would be more to display vision and abilities in strategic thinking," said ML Taneja, VP, HR at HCL Infosystems. Assessment of feedback has to take into account different aspects for an accurate and relevant picture to emerge.

At Wipro Technologies, the feedback system is linked to the `Wipro Leadership Qualities’ initiatives. It takes into account eight parameters like customer service orientation, strategic thinking, team play, commitment to excellence, building star performance, global thinking and acting, self confidence, aggressive commitment. Feedback is given on a scale of one to five and is assessed on the frequency of qualities displayed.

Based on this feedback emerges the `Star Leaders’ of the company which are the 25 best performers on the given parameters. These Star Leaders are on the fast track and provided with opportunities to excel on a preferred basis. The list of star leaders is reviewed on an annual basis.

HSS has developed the feedback system around its "Leadership Development Inventory". "The process is self driven on the assumption that if an individual wants to grow, there has to be an extra initiative and this is a tool to facilitate that growth," said Easwaran. The feedback is highly confidential wherein the individual chooses the people from whom to get the feedback and the feedback is directly mailed to a third party consultant in order to maintain that high level of confidentiality.

The consultant then processes the feedback, turns it into relevant data and sends it to the individual with a copy to the superior. Based on the feedback, the individual is free to take any initiative like training, counseling, or any other conscious effort to work on the weakness which the HR department facilitates whenever asked for.

Most companies, however, do not employ a third party consultant to analyze the feedback. Usually, the HR department evaluates the feedback and sends it back to the individual and sometimes suggests training, coaching or counseling sessions to help the individual.

At WeP, feedback is woven around the leadership competency qualities identified by the company and measured against given behavior statements. These behavior statements have different connotations for employees at different levels in the organization.

Importance of review



At the same time, it is important to review the process time and again. "In order to ensure the effectiveness of the feedback it is important to update the questionnaire and review the process time and again. At NIIT, we keep changing the questions to measure the responses more accurately," said Rosita Rabindra, VP, HR at NIIT.

Said Bijay Sahoo, VP, HR at Wipro Technologies, "In our list of eight parameters we have replaced problem solving with self confidence because the review process demonstrated that problem solving as a parameter is assessed under commitment to excellence while the measure for self confidence was not covered properly."

Those who have implemented the processes are happy to see the results. Said Rabindra, "The process has certainly helped us in being a more focussed organization. People have become more result oriented and focussed on delivering instead of focussing entirely on the input."

At HSS, Easwaran said, "The process has helped to spread more smiles in the company. With feedback getting more rounded people have been able to work on intangibles contributing a lot to the overall atmosphere of the organization."

Sahoo believes that Wipro has been able to churn out a constant flow of leaders as a result of this ten-year old feedback practice in the organization.

Be prepared for hurdles!

But there were initial hurdles in the process. HR managers said that the most difficult issue was to reassure employees that the feedback would not be incorporated into the appraisal of the individual. "We had to convince the people that the feedback would be used for purely developmental purposes, " said all HR managers.

In companies like Wipro, NIIT or HSS where the system has been practiced for long, there has been overwhelming participation and people are convinced of the benefits of the initiative.

While at HCL Infosystems, where the practice is fairly new, Taneja said that a good deal of time goes in ensuring that the forms are filled up and submitted to the HP department. "It is understandable given that every manager has to fill in at least 10 forms each with about 25-30 questions in each, it is time consuming for individual employees also," said Taneja.

Managers feel that 360 degree is the way to go for the industry if there has to be all round development of employees. Although the concept may be nascent and there may be many doubting Thomases within the organization, nonetheless managers feel it is a path worth treading. Opinion is unanimous that multi-source feedback should remain outside the realm of the formal appraisal system and be used only as a developmental tool.