As part of our 360-degree work sessions, therefore, we include a planning guide that each person completes after the sharing and clarifying meeting (see Exhibit 8.3). The planning guide prompts the person to think about self-development in concrete terms, that is, “What will this development goal look like when I reach it?” “How will I get there?” “What resources will I need?” Answering these questions focuses people’s thinking about their development and builds enthusiasm for reaching the target.

Other planning guides ask similar questions of the manager. Whatever planning guide you use, it should include the following: ⁶

Writing up the plan or keying it into a computer can serve to heighten its importance in the person’s mind.⁷ If someone is working with a coach or mentor, that individual should receive a copy as well; having another person aware that the manager is working toward specific goals increases the likelihood that those goals will be met. If the plan and the progress that has been made are periodically reviewed with a coach, it can really help to keep the manager focused and motivated.

Toni La Belle, former managing director at a Wall Street investment bank and currently enrolled in the doctoral program in management and leadership at the Weatherhead School of Management, Case Western Reserve, took an active approach to managing her development plan. She participated in a formal leadership development program in which she was able to do the 360 twice, the second round being about eighteen months after the first round. La Belle says, “In the first round I was new in my role and hadn’t really established solid relationships and, while I appreciated the feedback, the timing wasn’t the best. In the second round, I felt I had traction with the feedback givers and felt the comments were more useful and relevant.” Getting a clear picture of how she was perceived, both in terms of strengths and development needs, was the starting point for a concrete development plan. Toni also followed up with what she calls her personal board of directors and advisors. She reviewed her learnings from the feedback and discussed her goals and actions. Toni used her “board” to fine-tune her goals and get a reality check on her plan. Over a period of time she continued to check in with this trusted group to gauge her progress.

Marianne Gattinella, vice president of human resources at McGraw-Hill, notes that a major challenge in the use of 360 is in the follow-up. The support and encouragement by the boss is critical, and individuals need to have the personal motivation and understand consequences for not taking their learnings forward. In her opinion, “Using 360 successfully is more art than science. The science part, choosing an instrument, administering the survey, is easy; the value is in the art—how to use it, when to use it, and how to integrate it into the work and role of the individual and the processes and systems of the organization.”

As we have seen in earlier chapters, many organizations rely on repeating the 360 as a valuable technique for monitoring progress as well as a formal follow-up activity. In our 2008 study of eighty-one HR professionals, we found that 90 percent reported that their organizations re-administer the 360 questionnaires to the same populations, and a study by Seifert and Yukl, found that repeated feedback improves the effectiveness of behavioral feedback to managers.⁸

Not only does repeating the 360 help people track their success, but they can establish new goals in the spirit of continuous professional improvement. This approach also contributes to developing a “feedback rich” environment. Hy Pomerance, Ph.D, global head, talent management, human resources, UBS Investment Bank, describes the use of 360 feedback as part of their Performance Management and Measurement (PMM) process. “While the use of feedback initially served as a vehicle to ensure fairness and equity in compensation, it also serves as a way to ensure a feedback-rich culture. People discuss goals, discuss values, and discuss performance.” Pomerance notes that implementing a 360 tool gives people clear messages about what matters to the business and also makes people better managers. “It provides the opportunity for conversations and it makes feedback endemic in our organization,” he observes.

As an example, a follow-up alumni meeting involves reconvening the recipients after a period of time (three to six months) to determine progress and discuss the problems they have encountered in meeting their development targets. The focus of the session should be on action plans and successes and failures; it allows people to learn from each other and reaffirm their commitment to their development targets.

As organizations become more and more savvy with the use of 360, both HR practitioners and line managers are finding ways to link the value of multi-source feedback to demonstrable team and organizational improvements.⁹