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“Does size really matter? How JCB gathered 360 Degree feedback on nearly 1000 staff in just 2 months”
It was the US Military that first introduced the concept of ‘Peer Review’ or 360 Degree Feedback, the notion being that it was your ‘buddies’ around you that really saw you in action every day and that leaving it solely to the immediate superior to comment was inadequate.
It is no surprise that effective people development springs from effective feedback, and the richer this is, the greater the benefits to the individual and the organisation.
However, too often the thought of having all employees in an organisation go through a 360 Degree Feedback process is too much to consider, and it remains a tool solely for Senior Management and Leadership Development programmes.
This article looks at how Bowland Solutions, a provider of online performance review systems, assisted JCB in introducing an on-line solution for 360 Degree feedback across their UK site, numbering some 1000 employees, proving that if you get the process right, size really doesn’t matter.
Starting out
JCB, based at Rocester in Staffordshire, is one of the biggest construction and agricultural equipment manufacturing companies in the world. They employ over 4,000 people globally, producing 160 different models on 4 different continents, with bases in the UK, India and South America.
There were established processes in place before undertaking this project; Human Resources in conjunction with Learning & Development had a system of annual appraisal and feedback for all the staff at the Rocester site, coupled with each individual completing an on-line CV form that recorded their knowledge, skills and qualifications.
There was a competency framework supported by question sets according to role and reports that allowed individuals to be debriefed on their feedback in a meaningful way.
What was the challenge?
JCB wished to ensure that all staff were given 360 degree feedback on an annual basis.
To ensure an effective process, the completion rates of questionnaires had to be over 85%, administration handled by just one person within HR, and the system had to be implemented without requiring system training for the staff.
There were many things worth preserving within the existing systems and processes, most notably the existing on-line CV format, the competencies, questions and report styles, and so this defined the challenge for JCB as much as the need to simply scale upwards.
The subsequent project then had to succeed within the following parameters:
The system must be able to distribute questionnaires and collate responses for 1000 staff members; with each staff member receiving feedback from as many as 6 or 7 people, it required the system to handle over 6000 responses.
The 360 formats would remain the same, using the same competencies, questions and report styles to minimise training.
The core data of staff personal information, such as email address, role, etc could not be manually entered from scratch; it would have to imported seamlessly into the new system
The sheer scale of the project could not accommodate more HR personnel; the process would still rely on one person, and so had to be smooth and automated wherever possible.
Getting the process right
With a close eye on these defining parameters, and working in partnership with I.T. to ensure effective integration, the project introduced a system which comfortably handled the volume of users and data by pushing out the process to the users rather than allowing it to rest on the shoulders of HR.
As each individual completed their familiar on-line CV, they were now prompted to also choose their raters before submitting the form.
This information was automatically taken into the new system and generated email invitations out to nominated raters to complete feedback on that person.
Since each person may be giving feedback on multiple people simultaneously, the system provided a unique and secure log-in ID, into their ‘account’ area, where they could monitor all the feedback questionnaires completed or otherwise.
Similarly, the central HR administrator, would have an overview of all users, with a simple interface showing which questionnaires were complete, and which were outstanding – being able to send reminders where appropriate.
Ultimately, the administrator could release the reports for each individual so they could view their feedback with support from a line manager or coach as appropriate.
The End Game
A 92% completion rate, no burden on HR, positive feedback from raters and recipients alike with the whole process completed in the allotted 2 months demonstrates a highly successful implementation in JCB.
Paul Pritchard, Head of Learning & Development, comments, “The 360° process integrates seamlessly with the online CV system and our competency framework, (so now) we are able to offer an ‘employee-driven’ process to over 1,000 staff and yet remain in control.”
Many organisations reserve mutli-rater feedback for Leadership or Senior Management development, very often because they feel that to extend it to all employees would be too much of a burden on HR.
However, if you get the process right, not only do you save time, costs and frayed nerves, you might just provide the most valuable people development tool to all of your workforce.
Author: John Rice, Director, Bowland Solutions, www.bowlandsolutions.com