360 Review Key Terms

Learn 360 review terminology to accurately gather and analyze employee data

Whether you’re conducting your own 360 employee review or are working with a consulting group to collect and decipher the data, it’s important to know industry terminology to ensure you’re on the same page when analyzing and discussing results. Not only will knowing terms like “competencies” and “XX” help you gather the data you need to evaluate an employee, it will also enable you to effectively explain the results and use it to create effective employee training and guidance.

Process audit

Some 360 consulting firms recommend conducting a process audit before beginning any employee reviews. By assessing the company's operations through the audit, you'll be able to determine not only which employees or departments should be included in 360 reviews but also monitor the change in department performance after the review process is complete.

Multi-rater feedback

Multi-rater feedback, also called multi-source feedback, multi-level feedback and peer review, is the gathering of information from several sources to get an assessment of an employee's performance. Resources can include everyone the employee works with regularly, from peers to clients.

Competencies

When gathering employee feedback from managers, subordinates or co-workers, for example, you may wish to ask about a core group of competencies. These competencies, also called dimension definitions, are common strengths and weaknesses that are vital to the job and allow you to get a sense of the employee's performance.

Peer review

In addition to receiving feedback on employees from their peers, you can also use a peer review system with a small focus group first to fine tune the 360 review process. Peer programs can also be helpful to increase teamwork in each department.

Coaching profiles

To implement changes as a result of 360 review feedback, it's helpful to appoint coaches to guide fellow employees or subordinates. Coaching profiles help you identify supervisors or managers with strengths in specific areas to help with the training.

Development actions

After analyzing the data from a 360 review, it's vital to put the data to good use by drafting a list of development actions. These actions will give the manager and employee guidelines on the additional training, guidance or duties that will benefit the employee's performance in the future.

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