It is well understood that 360 feedback provides an individual with the insight to build skills and add value to the organization, but what benefit can an organization derive from the broad use of 360 feedback?
Many companies today use multi-rater or 360 assessments for the purpose of individual development. Often, a 360 assessment is used in leadership development programs and time is spent during the program reviewing the feedback in a one-on-one format with the participants. The traditional outcomes are for the participant to create a development plan and discuss this plan with their leader or coach.
This way of using 360 assessments is focused on individual development. However, any company that broadly uses 360 assessments should consider the value of using 360s for group and organizational-level development. The following case study examples used The PROFILOR®, Assessment International’s 360 assessment, for broader business purposes and value.
Global Transportation Company Focuses on Aligning Leadership in an M&A Situation
A global company in the transportation sector developed a Leadership Framework to reinforce the competencies and behaviors important for leaders and organization success. Based on the framework, a custom 360 PROFILOR® helped the company’s leaders assess their level of capability and aligned leaders across the company to the new leadership expectations. Several years passed and the company completed a major acquisition. Now, with a newly acquired company, the company was, once again, faced with the task of aligning its new leaders to the Leadership Framework. The company began the process of looking again at its Leadership Framework to determine if it needed updating; building a variation on its Leadership Framework for its most senior leaders, and training Human Resources Business Partners to conduct feedback/coaching sessions. The objectives here included: to align or re-align all company leaders to the framework; giving individual leaders a way to assess their own strengths and needs related to the framework to better focus their development efforts and being able to use group or aggregate 360 feedback results to assess the strengths and needs of its leaders across the organization and in particular groups and address development more broadly.
Global Pharmaceutical Company Aligns Leaders and Employees to a Change Initiative
A global pharmaceutical products company needed to continue its work toward building a culture of innovation and belonging. With a model depicting its critical competencies, behaviors, and values in hand, the organization worked with Assessments International (AI) to review and build a custom 360-degree assessment. The custom PROFILOR® 360 was developed and implemented in multiple languages, with built-in norms and development suggestions. The outcome is a leadership team and employees that understand the company’s values and the critical behaviors needed for facilitating this culture.
Global Cruise Company Applies Strong Data to Succession Management Discussions
A global cruise company designed and implemented a new succession management process, which clearly integrated assessment and development into their succession management planning. The process began with succession meetings used to identify the top talent for senior levels of the organization. With the top talent identified, these individuals all participated in an executive assessment process that reflects the company’s situation and provides for assessment linked to the company’s new competency framework. The executive assessment included a custom PROFILOR® that leveraged the company’s competency framework. Assessment results were consolidated for each participating individual, resulting in an action plan that was developed in collaboration with their manager. The action plans were discussed in succession review meetings as well, and adjustments were recommended to managers as needed. The company leveraged group results from the overall executive assessment, including The PROFILOR® results to drive the company’s ongoing efforts for the development of its leadership talent as a whole.
Global Equipment Manufacturer Builds a Leadership Pipeline
Years ago, a company that produces machines and applications for the agriculture and construction industries realized that as their employee population was aging, they would be coming up against a retirement surge in the years to come. They knew they needed to develop talent to backfill management positions, so they began a leadership development program and integrated The PROFILOR® into the program. The assessment feedback is used to help individuals get focused feedback for their individual development so that their development could be accelerated to better prepare for, and meet, the talent needs of the company. Group PROFILOR® feedback reports were also used to examine leadership talent as a whole. The company identified and examined key metrics, year over year, to gauge the extent to which they were building the pipeline they needed to fill leadership roles.
Major University Focuses on Building Future Leaders
It is not only corporations that use a 360 assessment to build leadership talent. Major universities incorporate The PROFILOR® for the purpose of developing leaders and future leaders. One major east coast university incorporates The PROFILOR® into several of its development programs for its staff every year, including a Management Fellows program. One of its graduate schools also uses the PROFILOR® with its graduate student population. This helps to develop the leaders and future leaders in the program beyond what they learn in the classroom. This gives them real-time feedback on their skills and helps them to identify the skill and competency development they need to be stronger leaders.
Global Telecommunications Company
An international telecommunications company with an extensive presence across Latin America wanted a process for the systemic development of its leaders in nine key countries. Assessments International worked with the company to develop custom 360s aligned to the company’s leadership framework. The 360s were rolled out to leaders in the headquarters and across the nine counties. Individual leaders received facilitated feedback and assistance with substantive development action plans. Human Resources Business Partners also used group 360 reports and Interactive Group Dashboards to closely look at the organization’s data and develop and implement a plan for country and organization development.
Summary
As you consider using 360 assessments, think about how you can use the results, not only for individual development, but for group and organizational development as well to answer questions that serve the business as a whole. Through leveraging group reports and interactive dashboards, companies can identify themes that are important for group/team and organization effectiveness and development. Using interactive dashboards also provides ways to sort the 360 assessment data (e.g., function, geography, level) gathered across a company, and to clarify finer distinctions that might exist across the company that should be addressed.
