Leverage 360 Feedback to Drive Organizational Development Initiatives

Measuring employees on critical job behaviors is essential for identifying performance improvement opportunities, driving better business outcomes, and aligning employee skills with company goals. One powerful tool for achieving this is 360 feedback, which provides a well-rounded perspective by collecting input from peers, direct reports, and supervisors.

While 360 feedback is widely known for fostering individual self-awareness and professional growth, its benefits extend far beyond the individual. It can also play a pivotal role in advancing broader organizational strategies. In this blog, we’ll explore how 360 feedback can strengthen four key organizational development initiatives.

In this blog, we look at examples of how 360-degree feedback processes can align with and support four important organizational development initiatives.

How 360 Feedback Impacts Organizational Development

1. Communicate the skills that employees need to align with the business strategy.

New and rapidly growing organizations often struggle to communicate and develop the infrastructure needed to reach their goals — specifically, the systems required to manage, develop, and reward their people. In this first example, I helped a fast-growing company add structure and discipline to its HR practices. 

After helping them create an organization-wide leadership competency model for three levels of leaders, HR communicated the launch of the new models and provided information on how they were to be used. However, like many organizations, it was challenging to get attention and buy-in from leaders, so we developed a leadership 360 process that incorporated these new competencies. The goal was to give leaders an opportunity to experience the new competency model through the assessment and, at the same time, provide developmental feedback on their leadership skills.

Several positive outcomes were evident:

• HR no longer had to worry if leaders were paying attention to the new requirements, as the 360 process created lots of “buzz” and questions about the models.
• The 360 process served as a communication vehicle for expressing to leaders the specific knowledge, skills, and abilities valued by the organization — the competencies that leaders needed to help move the organization forward.
• The rating process enabled direct reports to experience the new requirements and helped them see what leadership should look like at different levels, and what skills they should aspire to develop to become successful leaders themselves.

2. Develop the new skills needed after an organizational change.

As organizations strive to become more customer-focused, competitive, and profitable, employees also need to evolve their capabilities. In this second example of working with a customer organization, they recognized that they were losing market share and needed to quickly change their sales model to become more competitive. An analysis revealed that sales professionals were using outdated methods, relying more on relationships rather than a consultative approach to selling — understanding customer business challenges, needs, and preferences. In addition, sales leaders were not doing a good job of holding their people accountable for their performance. A new sales competency model and revamped training program were implemented along with a 360 assessment process to evaluate the new sales behaviors. Ratings came from sales professionals (self), managers (based on their observations of customer calls), and customers.

The 360 feedback process served as a way for leaders to assess progress on the new behaviors, coach their people, and hold them accountable for using the new consultative selling approach. While most sales professionals were not pleased about having to change their approach, the 360 process gave them important feedback for their own transformation and the transformation of the sales team. 

3. Improve team cohesion and performance.

Teamwork is a critical aspect of organizational success and without a cohesive approach for addressing issues, teams will often stumble. In this third example, a large engineering team that was trying to improve cohesion as well as performance, and implemented a 360 feedback process to target and develop the behaviors needed for success. Aggregate results showed that their technical competencies were strong, but there were issues and inconsistencies in communication and “people” skills that were impacting the ability for the team to work together. 

Leveraging the 360 results, I debriefed individual team members on their strengths and opportunities for improvement. The organization then implemented a peer coaching model, pairing team members based on their identified strengths and development needs, so that peers could learn from each other in a coach/mentee relationship. This approach was especially helpful to team leaders who were stretched by the number of people they had to manage and in roles where the risks associated with failure were more costly. The team also experienced improved relationships between team members and higher levels of overall engagement.

4. Assess the impact of training and development initiatives.

According to Training Magazine’s 2024 Industry Report, US organizations spent a total of $98 billion on training in 2024. Unfortunately, many organizations have no idea if their training is making an impact. McKinsey Quarterly noted a decade ago that senior executives were concerned about the lack of metrics around their training initiatives, and observed this year that this remains a major challenge.

One method for assessing whether training impacts actual on-the-job behaviors is to ask managers and other groups if trained behaviors are being exhibited. In this last example, a customer service organization developed a three-month training program to improve the professional skills of a key role in the organization. More than 220 participants went through an integrated curriculum of courses and on-the-job training tied to role competencies. 

Before beginning the program, participants were evaluated through a baseline 180 feedback assessment (a form of 360 feedback that only includes the self and direct manager as raters), and then six months later a post-180 feedback assessment to see if the learned behaviors had been incorporated into their performance. 

Differences in the ratings and comments on competencies provided feedback to the individual on the degree to which the new behaviors were evident. The organization found the 180 process valuable as aggregate reports demonstrated the impact of the training (change in baseline vs. post training 180 scores). Competencies that were generally more challenging for employees and required more focus were also identified (e.g., Business Analysis). 

The assessment in this example also had several other benefits, including keeping training participants accountable for learning and applying skills and providing feedback to facilitators and curriculum designers on how to best modify their programs to maximize impact on employee behaviors.

In conclusion, these four examples underscore the strategic value of 360 feedback in driving organizational development. Whether it's used to define the capabilities essential for company success, support employees in upskilling and adapting to change, enhancing team cohesion, or assessing the effectiveness of training, 360 feedback proves to be much more than a tool for individual professional growth. It is a powerful resource for fostering organizational alignment and driving organizational progress.

Need Help Developing an Effective 360 Feedback Survey and Acting on the Results?

An experienced listening partner like Perceptyx can help organizations unlock their full potential through leadership development and feedback. With our product Grow’s Intelligent Nudges, comprehensive 360 feedback programs, and AI-assisted development planning, we transform how organizations develop their leaders and engage their people. Our advanced People Insights Platform combines cutting-edge behavioral science with deep expertise in survey design, strategy, and communication to identify what truly drives improvement. 

Whether you're looking to enhance manager effectiveness or build stronger teams, we provide the insights and features you need to create lasting positive change. Get in touch and let us show you how our research-backed approach can elevate your leadership development journey.