Who needs the multi-rater feedback? Most of the folks put greater emphasis on the person or employee reviewed in surveys. Many blogs have been highlighting the importance of the self-reviewer and raters in this process. But far apart from this limelight, we ignore one of the most important aspects of multi-rater feedback reviews. Though it is a tool for employee development, but this development stays void if it is not aligned with the organization’s growth. It’s time to decide who needs the multi-rater feedback anyway? It’s more important for the manager, HR officer, and training department? Or it is only beneficial for employees only.
Multi-rater feedback measures the behaviour and competencies of employees. Thus the focus is on the development aspects of those employees under the scanner. They highlight the facts how they are perceived by folks around them at the office. The indirect benefits that can be achieved through such reports are how is the health of team cohesion across different vertical in your organization?
The most sensitive data that can be garnered through muti-rater feedback tool which helps HR Managers and departmental Mangers gauge the answer to these questions about employees:
- How can they communicate and cooperate better with others?
- What areas are most critical for developing the training calendar and team cohesion?
- What are the collective strengths of the organization at present and which are the areas needed for rapid improvement?
- In what areas the employees have improved in performance and effectiveness since their last assessment?
- Who are the potential and future leaders among the high potential employees?
How can they communicate and cooperate better with others?
If the feedback reports provide too many negative inputs it’s time to sit with the incumbent and discuss. Chalk out plans which are the behavioural aspects he/she should practice to “do less” or “do more”. If the report shows skewed rating, be alert!!! It’s time to take stock and weed out the anomaly ASAP for the sake of your organization’s health.
What areas are most critical for developing the training calendar and team cohesion?
Have you heard about “birds of a feather flock together”? It’s very true among employees. Employees with same wave length do tend to make groups, which may not be healthy at times. It may happen employees who share the same shortcomings may make groups and justifying this inefficiency as many of them are in the same state.
As an HR or training manager take this opportunity to group such employees to build the training calendar. A training calendar is something which assigns small groups of employees training schedules throughout the year in regular intervals. Grab this golden opportunity to turn these negative groups of employees into positive groups, and enhance the skills.
What are the collective strengths of the organization at present and which are the areas needed for rapid improvement?
Chances are there you get the rosy picture in the multi-rater feedback of a number of employees. Few of their job-related competencies get praised by all quarters. This helps you to check the tick boxes which are the priorities where now you should focus on rapid development. Your managers now know the cumulative strength of employees and thus would be able to align better business strategies for organizational growth.
In what areas the employees have improved in performance and effectiveness since their last assessment?
This feedback is an essential part of the training and the HR verticals. You know the ROI of the training budget of last year from this feedback. And now it’s time for a reality check of all the training initiatives.
Who are the potential and future leaders among the high potential employees?
If you pull all the multi-rater feedback data of your employees into analytics, you can graphically sort out employees who are of high potential. The other relevant data you would get is which employees have the most behavioural traits which are like by their peers, subordinates, colleagues, and bosses and even by external stakeholders or customers. Thus you get to know who the rising stars in your organization are.
Now let’s come to conclusion, who needs the multi-rater feedback anyway? Though most of the studies have highlighted the pros and cons of multi-rater feedbacks and reviews, and few hundred blogs have been written on the advantages that an employee can garner from the feedbacks, very few have noted its organizational benefits. We opine the HR manager, Training Manger, and vertical managers are the ones who reap the greatest advantages from such kind of feedbacks. And definitely, that’s good for the health of any organization.
Sayak takes care of both recruitments and assessment projects of The HR Monks team. He loves helping people finding their dream job.
He started his journey in career leaving the shores of Waiting for Godot and found The HR Monks a better place, where he can change the lives of people by helping them achieve their dreams.
He has been to quite a fewer place across India and loves to travel. He loves two books, in particular, one Siddhartha by Herman Hesse and the other The Shift by Dr. Wayne Dyer.