Performance Management Specialists EchoSpan Discuss 360-Degree Reviews Getting Longer, More Widely Used

    NORCROSS, GA, October 25, 2012 /24-7PressRelease/ -- EchoSpan has noticed a trend in 360-degree feedback: employers are tailoring their employee performance evaluations more than ever before in hope of making the employee development system even more useful. At the same time, ever-lengthening reviews gradually become less palatable for respondents and decrease response rates.

Questionnaires are expanding, by one or two questions per year, and though they increasingly include much more targeted information, designed to specifically look at tasks related to the employee's job description, lengthy questionnaires are not always welcomed by respondents. Additionally, more questions are formatted to be open-ended, providing the company and employees with more qualitative data about what is going right and what is going wrong.

Though gathering more information in reviews is generally thought of as helpful, the costs of longer reviews should be weighed carefully. EchoSpan has found that as reviews exceed 50 items, every three additional questions reduces response rates by about two percent. Fewer responses mean less actionable information for employers to base decisions upon.

Part of this seems to be tied another major shift in the use of 360 reviews. Instead of being reserved for the highest levels of management, HR consultants are seeing this type of evaluation being used for more typical employees. The inclusion of technical competencies related not only to people management, but hard-skills used in line positions. What that means for the employee is that job development decisions are now being influenced by those who do the jobs rather than an executive who has never seen what the job entails.

"We find the expanding use of 360-degree feedback to be an exciting indicator that more companies are seeing the value of this process," said Joe Vance, CEO. "But, we're increasingly advising clients to be mindful of their review's efficiency. Short, succinct reviews may be tougher to create initially, but they often provide more complete information."

Successfully encouraging employees to develop in a way the company specifically needs can lead to greater retention of knowledgeable workers and a better opportunity to build a learning organization.

For an example of the extended 360-degree review, visit EchoSpan at http://www.echospan.com.

About EchoSpan:

Since 2002, EchoSpan has been simplifying employee performance management by providing clients with employee performance management solutions. Today, over 2,000 companies trust EchoSpan with their employee data and talent development needs.

Learn more about EchoSpan's 360 feedback software at http://www.echospan.com

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Anne DeVito
Lead Content Developer
Cardinal Web Solutions
http://www.CardinalWebSolutions.com

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