360 Feedback Are leaders born or made? The experts don't agree on the answer to that question.

But they do agree that leadership is a set of learnable experiences, and that exceptional leaders are learners. Most people do not see themselves as others see them. Even the most open and honest have some blind spots that can hinder their ability as leaders. The inner quest of selfknowledge and self development requires continuous probing of the blind spots, and for that we need the help of others. Yet while others see both the leader's strengths and problem behaviors, they seldom have the skills, tact, courage, or opportunity to constructively bring this information to the leader's attention. Traditionally, only the direct supervisor gave this kind of feedback. But in today's organizations, people are working across departmental and functional boundaries, people have customers both inside and outside the organization, and often work more closely with teams than with their supervisors. The view from above may be limited, and certainly will be different from the perspectives of peers, teammates, customers, and subordinates. Yet these are the people who most often are affected by the leader's performance.
Benefits of InnerView 360 Feedback

Leaders at all levels in the organization receive confidential, honest feedback about their leadership behaviors, both strengths and areas needing improvement. They will be guided to use this information to build on their strengths and to plan specific ways to improve in critically important areas. Both the individual and the organization benefit from this improvement. Managers (of leaders assessed) can review summaries of their subordinates' results, and conduct developmental planning discussions with them to ensure that subordinates get the support they need to carry out their development plans. The organization can appropriately target resources to address most critical needs by using group reports to identify training and development needs. Furthermore, leadership bench strength can be improved through the developmental work each leader accomplishes. When a number of leaders in the organization have completed the assessment, company norms may be included for comparisons. Teams improve team relationships and performance by using peer feedback for teambuilding.

AlexanderHancock Associates can work with your organization in a variety of ways to assess leaders' strengths and priorities for development, and to plan developmental strategies.

1. Provide either customized (using your competencies) or standard multi-rater assessment for leaders in your organization or for teams. 2. AHA coaches provide developmental coaching and feedback to help leaders create an individual development plan. We can also train your coaches to provide this support. 3. Train leaders and teams in using multi-rater feedback as a basis for enhancing leadership skills, team performance, and organizational performance. 4. Work with you to tie multi-rater feedback to performance management systems. 5. Train managers to coach, develop, and mentor employees.
AHA Coaching

Individual coaching is tailored for the specific needs of the individual. The following is a suggested approach for managers and professionals following their 360 feedback. Initial Feedback Session Review of the InnerView 360 feedback report, focusing on:

Understanding the key messages from Manager, Others, and Direct Reports Noting and analyzing differences in perceptions

Analysis of underlying factors that resulted in this feedback

Analysis

of how this feedback may be related to personality factors, using the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (If you do not have a recent MBTI report, we recommend completing this before the coaching session. This can be completed at a convenient time at our secure website.)

Draft of a development plan Specific competencies to be targeted

Specific action steps to be taken Resources/support needed Measures/indicators of success Timetable

Initial coaching

Work on specific competencies Videotaped practices (if appropriate, for example for interpersonal skills)

Follow up Individual Coaching Sessions by telephone (optional) If follow up coaching is indicated in the development plan, telephone conferences 30-45 minutes each are held with the Coach. Specific assignments are given, and the coaching conversations track the progress, results, and impact. AlexanderHancocks InnerViewtm 360 feedback assessment tool is:

User-friendly: all ratings are entered on our secure website (paper version available). Cost-effective: per person fee is significantly lower than most comprehensive assessment processes) Customizable: Numerous options are available.
Comprehensive: Leaders will receive a detailed report providing statistical data, graphs, and explanatory comments to help analyze performance and plan improvements. Each also receives a copy of the Individual Development Planning software which, along with a copy of his/her own feedback data files, enables the subject to create a personalized plan addressing deficiencies and optimizing strengths. These plans and tracking can be printed out and shared with the subjects manager in coaching and mentoring sessions. Confidential: Many responders feel significantly more confident that their responses are anonymous and confidential when collected by an outside supplier. Each responder protects his or her responses with a password of their own choosing. As a result, responders are able to provide frank and honest feedback in a safe environment.

Contact us for information on fees and options.

Case Study

In the mid nineties, a global technology company identified leadership development as one of its highest priorities. Having just experienced a period of dramatic growth, and facing a number of significant shifts in the marketplace, Company leaders determined that leadership bench strength would be essential for the future. AlexanderHancock was asked to partner with them on strategies to develop leaders who were strategic thinkers, market savvy, action oriented, and developers of people. We designed a highly custom Leadership Development training program, a pre-requisite of which was 360 degree feedback, using a questionnaire designed around the

competencies this Company identified as crucial to their success. All managers in their U.S. operations, as well as their Latin American operations, received this assessment and training. Each manager received individual feedback and developmental guidance, and Group summaries of results were provided to senior management and to the Learning and Development team. Two years later, a second phase of Leadership Development was rolled out, with a repeat of the 360 assessment showing both years results for comparison. Significant improvements were noted across all groups. For nine years, AlexanderHancock Associates has been the sole provider of 360 feedback for managers in this Company. We have provided analysis of results by geographic area, by level, and by gender enabling our client to focus on continuous improvement and diversity challenges. One recent research question they asked was, Do our women leaders typically give themselves lower ratings than the men do? We were able to answer that question with statistical support.

A beginner's guide to assessment tools

What is 360 degree feedback?
Simply put, 360 feedback is a process for gathering information about an individual's performance and behaviour in the workplace from the perspectives of that person's line manager, colleagues and direct reports. It can also involve feedback from those outside the organisation, such as suppliers or customers. Using the iceberg metaphor, 360 feedback looks at visible behaviour, the tip of the iceberg. It is sometimes known as 'multi-source' or 'multi-rater' feedback, but '360' is the most common term. Its advantage over the traditional 'top-down' performance appraisal is that it gives a more rounded view. The challenge is to gather the feedback in a consistent way from a number of different people (those giving feedback are generally referred to as 'raters'). A highly structured questionnaire is the preferred method, gathering feedback on different behaviours within a range of competencies. (Where an organisation has developed its own competency framework this is generally used as the basis for the assessment, but most organisations still tend to use 'off-the-shelf' questionnaires.) Since 360 feedback is usually conducted throughout an organisation, and is therefore a large-scale exercise, the process lends itself to automation, hence the popularity of online assessment tools. The information-gathering is only half the process, however: the other half is the feedback. Approaches to this differ, depending on the reason for the exercise, organisational culture, etc, but a neutral third party is

ideal. If the organisation is new to 360 feedback it makes sense to get external advice on the best way of managing the process.

Why do it?
It can help measure personal impact by assessing behaviour in areas such as:

Communication Interpersonal skills Leadership Managing relationships Planning Problem-solving Project / task management Self-management Performance management Team work

This can help with:

Career development Coaching Emotional intelligence Leadership assessment Management development Personal development Self-awareness Talent management Team development

Does it work?
All the research and there has been a lot of it in recent years shows a consistent improvement in performance and skills. As with all things, however, getting the most from it depends on making a commitment to it, and on the willingness of all concerned to take the results seriously and to act on them. The keys to success are:

Choosing the right tool

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Does it ask the right questions for your purposes? Can you tailor it if you need to? Is it easy to use? Are the reports it generates easily-understood? Is the system robust and secure? Is it accessible to all (ie, does it comply with the Disability Discrimination Act?)

Choosing the most appropriate raters Research shows that the most accurate raters are those who have known the individual for one to three years The same research shows that self-rating is the least accurate Communication As with any new initiative, a successful 360 review programme depends on effective briefing of all those concerned Support during and after the process is also vital Effective feedback to the individuals being assessed is the most critical part of the entire process Follow-up

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How are you going to help those who have been assessed build on what they have learned? How are you going to measure success? How, and to whom, are you going to report it? it a one-off exercise or should you embed it in your management processes?