Project workflow and anonymity
Project workflow

The exact project workflow of the 360° executive feedback will be individually adjusted to the ideas and aims of the project group.

An ideal process can be outlined as follows:

Ein idealtypischer Verlauf

Data protection and anonymity

In any circumstance, ISPA consult is committed to protecting the anonymity during the data ascertainment in the course of the feedback according to the Data Protection Act. Protecting the anonymity is an important requirement for the 360° executive feedback in order to encourage employees, peers and customers to give honest feedback. Nobody wants to harm himself or others. Therefore, the feedback receiver should not have the possibility to relate the received evaluations to the individual feedback givers; solely the feedback given by the direct superior is an exception to this.

The anonymity is protected by ISPA consult collecting the individual evaluations from the employees, peers and customers and aggregating them according to the different groups of feedback givers before making them accessible to the feedback receiver for comparison purposes. The protection of anonymity applies to print as well as online surveys.

For all participants in the feedback process it has to be clarified in advance, whether the results will be made accessible to other people than the feedback receiver (e.g. superior, head of personnel department) and what purposes the information should serve (e.g. personnel and organisational development measures, personnel selection, assessing the performance-related remuneration, etc.).

Variations of the executive feedback

The number of feedback givers can vary. In case the client decides to waive the customer survey, for example, we usually refer to the procedure as a 270° feedback; accordingly, when more feedback givers are waived, we execute 180° or 90° feedbacks. There are different opinions about whether or not the self-evaluation can be counted as a perspective of its own.

Risks of the 360° executive feedback
  • risk of offending the feedback receiver by criticism from the feedback givers which the receiver possibly considers to be unfair
  • no or small chance to question possible criticism from the feedback givers or to specify this criticism through examples (cause: anonymity assurance)
  • in case the feedback receiver has low self-esteem, such an "overall assessment" could cause further uncertainty
  • perceived pressure to adapt to roles expected by the environment
  • the feedback comparison is mainly reduced to facts which are already known to superiors, employees, peers and customers and of which the feedback receiver also is aware of

These risks can never be fully excluded but can be reduced to a minimum by carefully preparing the 360° executive feedback, by transparent information and communication and by dealing sensitively with the obtained data. 360° executive feedbacks require mutual trust.