Until recently, the level of paperwork required has dampened enthusiasm for 360-degree appraisals; but web-based data collection and reporting tools are overcoming this hurdle, according to specialist web company Element 78. John Stokdyk reports

“The challenge for anyone doing 360-degree appraisals is that you have to take feedback from several people and pull it into one single report,” Element78 joint managing director Iain Rhodes told HR Zone. “If you are going to have to do this for 1,000 people, managers aren’t going to embrace it.”

Using web technology, Element78 devised Carbon360 to handle the process electronically, so managers can see the results on screen with a couple of mouse clicks. “Companies have traditionally used consultants for this work, because they don’t have the skills to interpret the data in-house, or don’t have the time to pull results into meaningful form and comment on it,” said Rhodes.

“Once they have our tools in place, they have the skills to do it themselves and don’t feel the need to have their hands held. Then it is just a question of time and resource management.”

The Carbon360 system produces three different levels of report, starting with personal reports for those being appraised, who can view reports from their colleagues, either named or anonymously. At the intermediate level, managers can view all their subordinates’ reports and carry out comparisons. At the top level is an HR/enterprise tier that can take departments or groups of individuals and compare them across the organisation.

Because it is a “web services” system that identifies the appraisal data with XML “tags”, it is also possible for the results from Carbon360 to be passed to other systems.

In one case documented on its website, Element78 worked with the Dunhumby consultancy to tie 360-degree appraisals to annual salary reviews. Outputting the appraisal results to a salary database allowed the customer to compare the increases people were getting against their actual performance. The appraisal/salary comparison is a typical example of how Carbon360 often functions within wider talent and performance management environments, Rhodes explained.

Increasingly Element78 is being asked to integrate the appraisal program with other HR applications. “Many organisations have big HR systems that can do reporting across different modules, but users have found it very difficult to take time and attendance data into appraisal systems,” he said.

“Over the past few years, when we were asked to integrate with some of the bigger systems, we were usually met by closed doors. But we’re finding that those companies are now talking about integration because web services technology and XML have made it possible to pull in data sets without involving consultants and bespoke software costs.”

While the technical barriers to 360-degree appraisals are receding, the cultural hurdles remain, Rhodes admitted.

“Cultural issues are quite common when middle and senior managers are being appraised by people who work for them,” he said. “We have had deals not happen because of these problems, which need to be addressed beforehand if you want to avoid the tears in the toilet scenario.

“What our system does is empower the managers to have better appraisal meetings. The 360-degree model benefits from getting rounded feedback and we’ve got the flexibility so the manager can decide whether a person sees the report or not.”