Organisations invest heavily in 360-degree feedback tools with the expectation that insight will lead to growth. The methodology is sound: gather multiple perspectives, discover blind spots, and support leadership development. Yet results vary widely. Some leaders gain clarity and momentum; others respond with confusion, defensiveness, or disengagement.
Significant changes in how business leaders work with feedback and development have occurred during the past few years. More and more of the organisations we work with have begun to recognise the connection between clear, relevant feedback, employee development, and the subsequent improvement of business results. Being transparent and open in giving and receiving feedback, with the aim to set clear expectations and support employees’ development processes, is an important element in creating psychological safety. In return, an organisation that is able to establish a culture with psychological safety will experience a faster development process and higher levels of motivation.
Working with leaders across the globe for the last 30 years it very often strikes us how difficult it seems to be to use one of the most powerful tools that leaders have in their toolbox to enable performance. Feedback is essential for fast development and growth of people and organisations and the best thing of all its free of charge.
In today’s rapidly changing business environment there is a strong need for continuous development, which means acquiring new knowledge, skills and learning new effective behaviours and approaches. Some companies have centralised or local-level development plans for their people, increasingly there are committees who meet to discuss their employee abilities and the future need for development within the organisation. Are you one of those people who hope one day they will discover you?