How 360-Degree Reviews Can Revive Careers, and Rejuvenate Firms

Posted on November 1, 2016

Do you know high-potential executives who just aren’t working their way up the corporate ladder?  360-degree reviews may be the solution.

Originally posted on Forbes online.

Do you know executives in your firm who are good, but not good enough to promote? Who may have survived layoffs in tough times, but weren’t working their way up the corporate ladder? Are you one of them? Whether or not you are, it’s a no-win situation. It’s bad for business because it robs itself of a key tool to spur the productivity of every employee: promotions. It’s bad for an executive because career stagnation is extremely frustrating, and because many never learn what’s holding them back. Even worse, few are told they will never be promoted. Thus they waste good years of their lives with false hopes.

Consider the case of Kristi Melani, senior director of digital marketing and customer engagement at Plantronics: PLT (NYSE), a midsized manufacturer of telephony equipment with 3000+ employees and revenues just shy of $1B. She started work at the Santa Cruz, Calif.-based company in 2002. She was hard working, effective at the tasks put before her, and fiercely loyal to her direct reports. She earned the nickname, “Mother Bear.” Melani says, “I’m an in-your-face kind of person. I’m fiery. I tackled challenges with hard work, put my head down, worked through lunch and cranked out the work.” She had gotten excellent performance reviews year after year.

But Melani wasn’t promoted for all her hard work. That frustrated her enormously. What she didn’t know: Her boss had heard and seen some things that were holding Melani back from advancing. When a new CMO conducted 360-degree reviews in marketing– and what a difficult but powerful one it was for Melani – that all changed, for her good and Plantronics’ as well.

Most midsized companies never use 360-degree reviews. (This is a tool where subordinates, peers and superiors all individually fill out an anonymous survey about how the employee is performing, and the results are compiled and shared with the employee.) Firm leaders figure they can keep employees happy in their current role, and hire people above them when necessary. Such companies seem satisfied with talented but non-promotable employees. Often believing some of these employees are satisfied with not earning a promotion, too many of these companies do nothing. They don’t ask their stagnating employees whether they’re satisfied, and they view their growth and development to be a luxury, not a necessity. Employees who are stagnated range from those on the verge of dismissal all the way to the other extreme, like Melani, who are exceptional but falling just short of hitting their highest potential.

Yet be assured that below the surface of companies which habitually let careers stagnate is a mounting morale problem. Although some level of dissatisfaction can lead to a more dedicated workforce, managers who feel they’re being unfairly held back have a hard time hiding their unhappiness; their bad moods become infectious. For those who can keep an even keel, their belief is likely to be that they just need to work harder. When that doesn’t do the trick, they either burn out or become apathetic – doing just enough to keep their jobs.

Suddenly, a company has a number of people in key positions who aren’t going anywhere, but yet are keeping the company back. It’s a recipe for both individual and corporate stagnation.

In April, 2012, a new CMO came to Plantronics. After bringing in several new leaders into the marketing function, she wanted to improve the alignment and camaraderie on the team and decided to start by conducting 360-degree reviews with support from external consulting firm, 3D Group. Melani, along with all the other leaders, participated. Plantronics made it clear that this 360 was for development only; it would never find its way into personnel files. Raters (the people rating the leaders) were assured that no decisions would be made on the outcome of the 360, so they wouldn’t pull any punches (or use it as a weapon against someone they didn’t like). Training and coaching the raters before deploying a 360 is essential.

Melani’s results were excellent in most respects, but one section hammered home the need for her to change her working style. When Executive Coach Anne Whiting of 3D Group sat down with her to share the results, they revealed that many of her peers were apprehensive to work with her. She was seen by some as blunt or stuck in her ways. It wasn’t that she did her work poorly at all. In fact, her feedback showed she was recognized for her institutional knowledge, high level of technical/functional expertise, strong leadership of her team, and straightforward communication style. The problem was her work style, relationships, and communication: her leadership brand (her workplace reputation). The powerful feedback hurt, but it rang true. She’d been aware of the challenges in her work style, but hadn’t appreciated how they might be holding her back. It explained her frustration at work, and suggested why she hadn’t been making career progress.

It had been 10 years since her last 360 at Plantronics. In most organizations, the higher a leader rises on the org chart, the less feedback becomes available to them. Think about it:  Young people in their first job get loads of feedback, but after adding on titles and a few years of experience, people withhold their feedback. They don’t want to offend; they figure an older person must be more self-aware. With a few more promotions, leaders gain organizational power— another deterrent to feedback. People respect and fear that power, offering even less feedback. Yet it should be the opposite. Because the higher up the corporate ladder a person goes, the more impact their actions have, the more likely they are to need to team with others, and the greater their stress level. Yet in the world at large, we respect “our elders” and our superiors, so we are less forthright. It takes organizational discipline and courage to provide feedback at all organizational levels. Guaranteed anonymity for raters is essential.

Melani says, “I had received peer feedback and reviews over the years, but the areas for improvement guidance had always felt fuzzy to me. It was delivered so gently that I don’t think I got the message, nor did I understand how they impacted my growth potential. When I saw the graphs in the 360, the clear comparisons to my own perception and the benchmarked data (from thousands of other directors nationally who had been evaluated using the same tool), it sunk in. I couldn’t dispute or rationalize the comments from the raters. I knew I could do better, and I decided to make the move.” She was ready for the work.

Too often, 360-reviews are used when an employee is on the verge of failure. But the reviews are most powerful when used on high-performing employees, like Melani, who are motivated, willing and able to develop and deliver more value to the company. Dale Rose, Ph.D., president and founder of the 3D Group and an industrial and organizational psychologist, says, “Leaders tend to be rewarded for the results they generate, which are typically visible and well documented. But how leaders get results and perceptions about how their behavior fits into the company culture are much harder to see. A high-quality 360 feedback process makes all that visible with support for making improvements. A good 360 will give leaders clear guidance on needed behavioral adjustments that reflect the reality of their current environment. Without this kind of feedback leaders can get stuck and they may have no idea why.”

A 360 isn’t about individuals. It’s about how individuals fit into a given work environment. Some environments value bluntness—perhaps on a construction crew. Others may value diplomacy—perhaps in a school. 360s, combined with coaching, drives the deep reflection that is needed to understand the work environment, the individual leader and their reputation.

After her first hour of coaching on her 360-review results, Melani knew it was time to change her leadership brand, but wasn’t sure how.  Plantronics paid for a six-month coaching program, where Whiting met regularly with her. During the coaching sessions, Whiting asked Melani to reflect on her experiences with peers to see if she could understand the point of view they shared in their survey ratings and comments. Melani began to see how her actions in various settings were being perceived by others. Over a period of six months, Melani met with her coach several times each month on the phone and in person. During these sessions, it became clear that her work style did not match her intentions. The coach began to help Melani define her “leadership brand” and to help take her career to the next level and strengthen peer relationships by actively soliciting others’ viewpoints, establishing personal and professional connections with newer colleagues, and being aware of others’ communication styles.

Melani remembered an early example of putting her coaching to work. “I was in a staff meeting when someone offered an idea that had failed a year or two back. I was about to jump in and say that, but I hesitated for a few seconds and turned my filter on. I focused on listening and found an aspect of the idea to compliment. I said less and spoke more slowly. I allowed the group to collaboratively evaluate the suggestion. I saw the surprise on the faces of the people around the table who were anticipating criticism from me. I had told them I had asked for (and received) coaching, and they were complimentary and supportive of my new style of communication.”

Melani also joined the board of Goodwill of Central Coast, in part to practice her new communication style and to develop her new leadership brand in a fresh environment. She began volunteering on cross-functional projects at Plantronics, exposing more and more people to her new, more positive leadership style. She stopped working on tasks through lunch, and instead used that time to socialize and get to know her peers.  Soon, her leadership brand started to change and she was told that she was more approachable. Relationship building is the work of leaders.

Melani was still required to deliver results in her work. Being less direct and gently leading others requires more patience and time and all the time spent socializing and deepening relationships stole hours and hours away from accomplishing tasks. So Melani trained and empowered her team, and delegated. It turned out they were capable of much more. Her new more supportive and gentle style of leadership made it easier for subordinates to take risks as they took on the more difficult assignments given to them.

Melani turned her fiery personality on herself, working as hard and fiercely on changing her leadership style as she would have on any critical project. Just one month after the initial 360, the CMO confirmed with the coach that she had seen a huge shift in Melani’s style. After 6 months of coaching, Melani felt she had a much better handle on how to effectively collaborate with peers. Melani had made a shift from focusing on her own point of view and isolating her work from the team’s work to valuing others’ input and helping to create a much more cohesive and team-oriented environment. From the CMO’s standpoint, Melani’s shift was career changing for her. The CMO has seen her become a change agent instrumental in creating an inclusive team. Since the coaching relationship, Melani has been promoted to Senior Director, and her role now encompasses customer engagement, trade shows, events, digital marketing and media. A number of Melani’s direct reports have also been promoted or had their roles expanded.

Melani’s career was back on track and the CMO bolstered her leadership team’s capabilities. Everyone –the business, Melani’s team members and Melani herself—is more successful and producing better results. But there is an even bigger upside: helping people develop. Melani got that precious recognition when several women at Plantronics revealed that they now look up to Melani as a role model for being a “straight shooter” yet being positive and supportive at the same time.  The coachee has become the coach.

“Of course, I’m still fiery,” says Melani, proudly. “But it comes across as being passionate now. I’m a change agent, but not a ‘no’ agent. I do on occasion slip into old habits, but I catch myself very quickly, and my peers know me better now, so it’s received differently.”

Don’t leave high-potential leaders like Melani to stagnate in your organization. Give them the gift of a 360-review— the gift of seeing how others see them, and of coming face-to-face with their leadership brand. Then, if they’re ready for the work, support them in changing and becoming a passionate, powerful change agent for your team.