If you’re running a 360 appraisal system in your business, is it better for employees to choose their own respondents or for you to select people for them?

In fact, it’s good practice for employees to choose their own respondents. By giving them this responsibility, and the option to personally choose who reviews them, it encourages  employees to take ownership of their learning and personal development.

But they should understand that if they decide only to choose workplace friends who will give them favourable feedback, they will effectively be cheating themselves out of a useful appraisal that could be a real help to their personal development and career progression.

Why? Because although their report may be glowing, it won’t necessarily be true. So employees will miss out on valuable, constructive feedback about their strengths and weaknesses, perceived by those who work with them daily. This information could help identify areas for improvement – and therefore help them to become more efficient and effective in their job, which is vital for professional development.

In our experience, once this has been explained, people who take part in our 360 appraisals usually don’t just choose their friends, as they realise that if they did, the whole exercise would be a waste of everyone’s time. Virtually never have we come across employees using the feedback tools to settle workplace grudges by deliberately giving someone poor scores.

If a HR department did the choosing, it might be regarded as verging on unethical – and it would likely make employees less engaged in the whole process – and therefore less likely to take on board feedback and turn it into practical action.

At Appraisal360 remember that we’re here to guide you every step of the way through our dedicated free telephone support. Even if you just need advice, we’re here to answer your queries and to make sure that your investment works for your business. Our network fully-trained associate practitioners can even run the Appraisal360 programme for you, if you need practical help.