What is 360 Degree Feedback?

360 Feedback can also be a useful development tool for people who are not
in a management role. Strictly speaking, a "non-manager" 360 assessment is
not measuring feedback from 360 degrees since there are no direct reports,
but the same principles still apply. 360 Feedback for non-managers is useful
to help people be more effective in their current roles, and also to help them
understand what areas they should focus on if they want to move into a
management role.

Maruti SUZUKI `360 degree' feedback

system

Qualitative factors are not just at play in the services sector, but also in
manufacturing. With cubicles giving way to open offices, the top-down
approach to employee performance appraisal is also on its way out.

One company that has set itself on course to further democratising and
opening up its employee evaluation process is car market leader Maruti
Udyog.

The company has introduced a unique 360-degree feedback system, starting

with its senior leadership. The new system has been co-developed with Ernst
& Young and has been put in place recently.

Under the 360-degree feedback system, the employee is rated not just by his
superiors, but also by his peers and subordinates.

"We are starting the 360-degree feedback process with employees in the top
management such as chief general managers and general managers, whose
performance will now be assessed based on feedback from their peers and
junior management employees within the same department. Till last year,
their performance was being appraised only by the Directors and the
Managing Director," says Maruti's Chief General Manager (HR), Mr S.Y.
Siddiqui.
Ernst & Young, in consultation with Maruti, has listed a set of leadership
competencies that are expected in a general manager. Based on that, it has
prepared a questionnaire to which peers and subordinates can respond
online.

Although acknowledged as an effective tool for leadership development in

the West, Indian companies have been shy of introducing such a feedback
system for fear of disturbing traditional hierarchical structures.

HR consultants feel that the critical issues in implementing such a system

include assuring respondents that their feedback will remain confidential and
convincing the person receiving the feedback that this is a development tool
and not an appraisal tool. Maruti has handled this by getting E&Y and other
consultants to make detailed presentations to the senior management
personnel before the process got under way. The company has a committee
of general managers, called Human Resource Inter Divisional Committee
(HRIDC), which is consulted on all major HR issues.

The initiative has been unveiled with an e-mail by Maruti's Managing

Director, Mr Jagdish Khattar, asking people to support the online
questionnaire process. The 360-degree feedback system will also include a
self-appraisal by the general manager. At the end of the process, he can
compare his self-appraisal with the assessment of his subordinates and peers.

One of the benefits that Maruti is hoping to get out of the 360-degree
feedback process is the sense of empowerment and importance felt by
subordinates, when they are asked to offer their feedback about their
superiors. Maruti currently has over 4,000 employees on its rolls.