HR professionals sometimes inquire whether a 360-degree assessment features national norms. This is an appropriate question when referring to a rigid survey, a fixed set of measurements that can't be customized. When every person in every organization is administered exactly the same set of items, it's possible to accumulate industry and national averages drawn from many organizations. However, when organizations use customized surveys, no two are alike, and national averages‚ norms‚ are technically impossible.
Rigid surveys were popular in the 1980s, although today most organizations no longer value the "one-size-fits-all" approach to 360-degree feedback. Instead, they require customized feedback surveys that align with the culture and practices of their particular workplace‚ even if they have to develop the survey items in-house.
The use of customized surveys is an enlightened approach to feedback. For example, the leadership activities of a Baptist minister are simply not the same as those of a Marine Corps battalion commander. What a movie director does to get the best out of people doesn't involve the same actions as those of a dean of a law school. A sales manager doesn't lead people the same way a project manager of a construction site does. All these people are leaders, and it's important to give them feedback about how they lead; but each setting involves a somewhat different mix of leader behaviors.
While feedback recipients are often interested in how their ratings compare with those of other people, this is not the most meaningful way to make sense of one's scores. The ultimate payoff of 360-degree feedback is improved performance, and this is possible only if an individual focuses on a single area of behavior. Comparing high and low scores is the most effective start point, supplemented by comments and previous feedback scores.
Actually, comparing one's scores to the averages of one's group and one's organization is far more meaningful and revealing than comparisons with national or industry averages, which are based on practices within other organizations and which involve different businesses, strategies, cultures, practices, challenges and technologies.
Placing importance on how one's scores compare with those of other people can be counterproductive. Experience has shown that individuals often lose interest in improving their performance after they discover that their scores are "above average." This predictable outcome defeats the individual's need for continuous improvement and enhanced competitiveness in the career marketplace, and it defeats the desires of coworkers for that person to improve how he or she operates.
About the Author
Dennis E. Coates, Ph.D., is CEO of Performance Support Systems, based in Newport News, VA. He coordinates research and development and provides strategic direction for the company. He is the author of 20/20 Insight GOLD, an award-winning 360-degree feedback system. Dr. Coates has over 40 years experience as a leader, manager and HR professional.
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