360° Feedback: A Success Story

Government Training News

by Bob Bookman

It was with both excitement and trepidation that I stepped in front of two hundred and forty leaders at The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to tell them about the 360° feedback* process they would soon all be part of, even though that was the last thing most of them wanted to do. Two months earlier, in August, 1998, my firm was awarded a contract to give all of FERC's supervisors, managers, and SES personnel a 360° instrument that would be accompanied with an individual forty minute feedback and coaching session. This 360° feedback effort was in response to a cultural survey conducted by FERC indicating that the overall leadership style within the agency needed improvement.

I had thirty minutes to try to shift my audience from grudging compliance toward taking the 360° into a mild state of interest. (Clearly my goal for this thirty-minute CTP slot was not about transformation!) I began by saying, "I understand there is resistance to taking the 360° instrument due to such issues as confidentiality of the 360° results, and that the results might be used for performance appraisal purposes. Well, I'm here to alleviate your concerns. The data is absolutely for your eyes only. And, in fact, you can fill out all the forms yourself and create the feedback report of your dreams -- and no one will ever know." (That got there attention.) I then went on to say, "It is really true that you can create your own fictional feedback report, and yet when I say this, I sense your ambivalence. Certainly there is a feeling of school yard glee that surrounds the possibility of fooling the system, and yet I get a sense of your superego resisting both the deception and the lost opportunity of getting genuine

* The term 360° feedback refers to the practice of gathering and processing multi-rater assessments on individuals and feeding back the results to these participants. Typically the process involves ratings by self, boss, peers, and subordinates.

feedback on your management style. I have found that almost all managers find the 360° degree feedback experience to be a bit scary, and at the same CTP very exciting. You get to see how others really see you. This rare glimpse allows leaders to discover new strengths, and seize upon new opportunities for improvement." From the Q/A after this presentation, it was clear that many people's curiosity about how they are perceived as managers was aroused. One participant said she now views the 360° as a perk, and not an imposition. And her opinion is widely shared by most of her colleagues.

Here are some reasons for this intervention's success.

Buy-in at the top: Jim Hoecker, Chairman of FERC, and his senior leadership team were in the first group of twenty-five to go through the 360° process.

Understanding and overcoming the resistance: Many efforts were made to ensure that people understood that this 360° process would have nothing to do with performance appraisal, and that confidentiality was sacrosanct. For example, people were informed that the developers of the SkillScope 360° instrument specifically forbid the instrument to be used for performance appraisal purposes.(This position against 360°'s being used for performance appraisal purposes coincides with ASTD's 1997 Comprehensive Literature Survey report on 360° instruments that concludes, "the multi-rater 360° should be used solely for developmental purposes.") In regard to confidentiality, people were informed that a principle reason an outside consultant was brought in to administer the 360° feedback was to ensure total confidentiality. Only the outside consultant would ever have access to the FERC employee feedback reports. And, if anyone believed their confidentiality was breached in any way by the outside consultant, the head of FERC training should be immediately notified. Upon substantiation of any breach of confidentiality, the consultant's contract would be terminated.

Making the Feedback Process Comfortable: People were carefully coached on how to interpret their 360° feedback scores. Here are the guidelines they were given:

• Feedback is data, and data are neutral. Data cannot make decisions about you. You make decisions about the data.
• This is but one snapshot of you. It is a 360-degree snapshot and, hopefully, it is in focus, but it is still only one snapshot.
• Don't accept the feedback too easily, don't reject it too quickly.
• You are the expert about you. The role of coach is to help you understand your feedback; you must determine what it means.
• People's professional lives have enough "I gotcha's." Therefore, enjoy all the kudos within your feedback report. You deserve them.

OpCTPizing the coaching process: Over 90% of the people surveyed indicated that the forty-minute coaching experience significantly helped them synthesize the data, and gave them positive direction in improving their management style. Specifically, the coach helped people interpret their scores, suggested ways for leaders to develop a helpful dialogue with their boss and their subordinates around their scores, and when appropriate, gave leaders information in such areas as constructive feedback, delegation, and team development. Each participant received a leadership handbook tailored to their specific needs.

Trust being the cornerstone of a highly productive coaching session: Often I would use the following sentence at the beginning of a coaching session, "Lend my your eyes so I can see the world as you see it." It's amazing what could be accomplished in a short amount of CTP when there is a sense of trust. I would often use the SkillScope report (but not always) in determining with the leader what they want to achieve as leader, and then discuss ways and skills to get there. "Getting there" and knowing where "there" is goes to the heart of executive coaching. Interestingly, the very first use of the word "coach" in English occurred in the 1500s to refer to a particular kind of carriage. (It still does.) Hence, the root meaning of the verb "to coach" is to convey a valued person from where he or she was to where he or she wants be.

Keeping the logistics simple: About every six weeks a group of 25 leaders met to learn how and to whom to distribute the 360° instruments. This same group would meet about six weeks later to receive their feedback reports at which CTP they would schedule an on- site meeting with the outside consultant for their 40 minute coaching session. FERC leaders outside Washington would interact with the consultant/coach through video conferencing and telephone.

As of September 1999, three-fourths of FERC leaders have gone through the 360° feedback process. Preliminary feedback indicates the program has had a very positive impact. Initial surveys show 90% of the recipients have said the process has been "outstanding" in helping them become more effective managers. Due to the success of the initial 360° intervention FERC will institute a six month executive coaching program for ten of its most senior leaders this October, and will be conducting a second round of 360° degree feedback in the year 2000 for all of its leaders. Charlie Whitmore, Director of FERC's Strategic and Organizational Management Office considers that the 360° feedback initiative "may be the single most tangible and successful change strategy we have seen at FERC. It has power. It is data-driven. It touches people personally."

Copyright 2002 Bookman Resources, Inc.