It is now widely recognized that 360 feedback enables managers to gain a thorough understanding of employee performance – the strengths that make employees successful, the weaknesses that hold them back. This knowledge can then be used as a development tool to help your team improve. But did you know that 360 degree feedback can also be used for recruiting? The information gained from 360 feedback provides insight that will enable you to recruit candidates who are the best fit for your team.
360 degree feedback provides four advantages to the recruiting process:
Hire for Similar Strengths
360 feedback allows companies to learn more about current leaders, managers, and star employees. Knowing what makes current employees successful in their role can help managers recruit employees with similar strengths and skill sets. It can be difficult to hire based purely on a position description. Position descriptions give guidelines for the years of experience or certifications necessary to do a job well, but they don’t sufficiently describe the other attributes and competencies that make a person successful in a particular role. 360 feedback helps managers identify the other skills that make a team successful.
Recruit to Fill Gaps within your Current Team
360 degree feedback identifies weaknesses or gaps within a team, and enables managers to recruit candidates who will make the group stronger. Understanding your employees can help determine not only where you can improve their performance, but also where your team needs to go in the future and whom you should recruit to get there.
Identify Internal Candidates
Managers often overlook the advantages of hiring from within the company. 360 degree feedback offers insight that will help you recognise potential leaders and advance their role. Performance reviews don’t always give the full picture when it comes to understanding how an employee works with colleagues other than his or her direct manager. 360 feedback fills in the gaps with information that gives a broad understanding of an employee’s overall performance and leadership potential.
Fully Assess External Candidates
A 360 process can also be implemented to collect feedback about applicants prior to hiring. By gathering feedback from multiple sources, such as previous managers, colleagues, and other individuals who have professional experience with an applicant, you’ll be better equipped to gauge the type of employee the applicant will be. In effect, you’ll improve your hiring process and reduce turnover.
360 degree feedback is not purely a training and development tool. Find out how 360 degree feedback can help your company achieve its overall business objectives; download your free copy of our white paper, the Benefits of 360 Degree Feedback.
