A 360 assessment is a survey tool asking people from a person's professional ecosystem to assess that individual on specific capabilities or competencies. The assessment provides both qualitative and quantitative data that may be used to help the subject of the assessment create a professional development plan.
UT L&D provides 360 assessments for individuals or groups. Our 360 is designed specifically for leadership development and covers 24 key competencies categorized into the areas of interpersonal, situational, and strategic leadership. In addition to rating themselves, the subjects of the assessments can be rated by their manager, peers, customers, and direct reports.
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We do not provide 360 assessments as a means of performance management. This tool is strictly for developmental purposes and therefore we will only provide copies of the reports to the subject. Managers and supervisors of subjects will not receive copies of assessments from our office.
We understand that while quantitative information in 360s can be interesting in terms of comparison among groups, the most valuable information that subjects of assessment receive comes in the form of written comments. Our 360 is designed to guide raters into giving meaningful qualitative feedback while being considerate of raters’ time.
After receiving their report, subjects will receive a debriefing to walk them through their report and give them guidance on creating their development plan.
There is a cost associated per person and includes the report and the debriefing session. If you or your team are interested in learning more about our 360 assessment, contact us by clicking on the button below. We also provide coaching from our Community Learning Team for those who are interested.
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UT L&D 360 Assessment Rater Tips
1. Understanding the L&D 360 Assessment
The most meaningful feedback from 360 assessments is the written feedback. We understand that this takes the most time and consideration, but it’s is by far the most important part of the assessment. We have built our assessment to help the raters formulate their thoughts in the written sections. All competencies (knowledge, skills, and abilities) are categorized into three different sections: Interpersonal, Situations, and Strategic. As you work your way through the sections, rating the subject on each competency, you will build an understanding for how to write an assessment for that competency group. In other words, the competency ratings inform your written assessments. The quantitative ratings helpful in aggregate to show how subjects may perform with or be perceived by different groups of people, but written feedback is most impactful, so please take the time to complete those sections.
2. It’s about development
The 360 that UT L&D uses is all about developing the subject (the person being assessed). There is often a tendency to think the assessment is performative, that is, giving feedback on someone’s performance. That is not the case. When completing UT L&D 360 assessment, the subject’s development should be in mind. Raters should think about how the subject can best develop as a leader. This may seem like a fine line, but on a basic level it just means that the rater should be thinking about the subject’s future. While one obviously can’t assess how someone performs in the future, one can make a determination about how much someone could develop in a given area. It’s the rater’s job to help the subject see where she can help her self grow professionally.
3. Be Critical and Kind
More often than not, we see raters who are too glowing of the subject. While we have developed our assessment to help mitigate overly positive results, it still happens. We all like to hear nice things about ourselves, but participating in a 360 assessment is about much more than that. The reason people are being assessed it to determine how they should grow. That means that raters need to be thoughtful and clear. Point out strengths and weaknesses, but do so in a considerate way.
In some cases, you may not feel particularly charitable about a subject, but keep in mind that in going through a 360 assessment they are making themselves vulnerable. All raters should respect that vulnerability and respond in a kind way. Being a 360 rater is not an opportunity to finally vent about all the problems you have with a subject.
Contact
For questions about or requests for services, contact L&D through our brief intake form.