Why Keep Your 360 Degree Feedback Assessment Anonymous?

While you can reveal the names of each assessor who completes a feedback assessment on one of your senior staff, this isn't necessarily the best way to go. Keeping feedback anonymous may give you better results. Why?

People May Be More Honest

If the people who complete 360-degree assessments know that their names will be attached to their forms, then they may not always give completely honest feedback. This can affect anyone who completes an assessment, but it can especially be a problem with employees who are evaluating people higher up the chain.

For example, some people may worry that negative comments will cause them problems down the line. They may not want to say bad things about their managers or about other senior staff who might be responsible for their own salary reviews or progression in the future.

Even giving open feedback at a peer level may be problematic. They may not want to say something that might affect their friendships or working relationships.

If you make feedback anonymous, then people are much more likely to say what they really think. They won't omit comments or observations that you might find useful. This gives you a more complete picture of the person being assessed and protects employees taking part in the initiative.

Relationships Won't Colour Results

Internal relationships in your company can colour how 360 feedback is evaluated. If you know who has completed each assessment, then your information gathering process may not be completely impartial. Your own relationship with assessors and your perception of them may affect how objectively you can view their feedback.

For example, say that a team member says some negative things about their manager's team-building skills. You know that this person has had problems with the manager in the past when they were passed over for a promotion.

This knowledge may colour how you view the comments the person made. Your own perception that the person may have an axe to grind may make you ignore these negative comments or give them less weight. However, the person may have been making valid points.

If you give your assessors anonymity, you can be more impartial. You can view the feedback more objectively.

To find out more about the benefits of running anonymous evaluations, talk to 360-degree feedback assessment consultants. They can help you design and run an effective program that uses the right people to get comprehensive feedback.