Feedback framework: How to get your firm ready for 360-degree feedback

1 Jun 2012Feature

Jo Ayoubi discusses how to increase engagement with a 360-degree feedback programme

An increasing number of law firms are using 360-degree feedback as a critical tool for defining, tracking and measuring the key skills that partners and other professionals need to achieve their goals.

Billable hours and profitability can be measured, but 360-degree feedback is a particularly useful tool for assessing skills that cannot so easily be measured, such as commercial awareness, client relationships, the ability to work effectively with fellow partners and the ability to manage junior partners and associates.

360-degree, or multisource, feedback is simply a way of obtaining structured feedback on an individual from a number of people with whom he has worked, including peers, line managers and those who report directly to him. This helps to provide information on how the individual is observed by his/her colleagues, where his strengths lie and where there may be critical skills gaps or unhelpful (or downright disruptive) behaviours.

What are the benefits?

The principle behind using 360-degree feedback is simple: what gets measured gets managed. A robust, consistent and customised feedback process that is aligned to the firm’s performance and values criteria keeps everyone focused on how they need to improve. It is often critical to building and engaging effective teams and thereby increasing the firm’s competitive advantage.

Law firms use 360-degree feedback '¨in a number of different ways, including:

supporting partner development planning, which then feeds into their performance review processes;'¨
providing feedback to support individual partner coaching;'¨
providing insight into leadership skills to support the leadership development of partners;'¨
providing career and skills planning for associates who are ambitious and want to understand and track their career paths; and'¨
providing data for practice and team leaders, to give them a clear picture of any skills gaps or blockers to performance, either on an individual or group level.

Ensuring effectiveness

To be really effective, 360-degree feedback needs to have certain critical elements in place. Law firms in particular should pay attention to confidentiality, '¨clear communication and relevance to '¨the partners, associates or other professionals involved.

A checklist can be used to assess your firm’s readiness for 360 feedback (see box: How to tell if your firm is ready for 360-degree feedback). You should ensure you have the essentials in place before you begin a 360 feedback review, as the firm’s first experience of the process will determine its uptake and future success.

Because of the nature of law firms and lawyers, there are a number of other factors to bear in mind that can enhance the level of engagement with a 360 feedback programme and the benefits it subsequently brings to your firm.

Confidentiality

One of the most important things you must address up front when introducing 360-degree feedback into a law firm is the issue of confidentiality and anonymity. Of course, this is important in any organisation, but can be particularly thorny in law firms: the hierarchy of partners can appear intimidating to more junior colleagues and might make them reluctant to offer upward feedback.

Whatever feedback system you use '¨to manage the process, it should not allow any scorings or ratings to be attributed to an individual reviewer (apart from the managing partner for senior partner feedback, or the supervising partner for junior partner or associate feedback).

You should also ensure the system randomises free text feedback in the 360 report so that comments cannot be attributed and that it includes a scanning system that picks up any potential for ratings to be attributed – for example, if a partner has had feedback from only one associate – and has the ability to be reconfigured to ‘hide’ this feedback within another reviewer group.

Finally, it must make it clear that, despite these safety features, specific examples may be attributed to an individual, as might their writing style '¨also identify them.

Report format

Simplicity of format is essential to the success of the 360-degree feedback report. For law professionals, it is '¨critical that the information is clearly '¨laid out and easy and quick to interpret. For this reason, simple reports are preferable to long reports that over-'¨analyse the numeric results.

Another reason to avoid reports that include lots of metrics is that many lawyers will, because of their training and preference, tend to focus on how the metrics have been arrived at, rather than take an overall view of the key messages coming from both the ratings and the free text feedback.

Feedback ambassadors

If possible, try to get really positive sponsorship from a couple of senior partners who visibly promote the feedback programme and, ideally, share their feedback openly, even if it is for the team as a whole.

In one international law firm, for example, there was a visible increase in performance and working relationships in teams where there was a discussion about the whole team’s feedback. Following those discussions, each team created a plan to focus on improving the team’s performance in some of the areas identified by the team’s 360 results.

Coaching

Provide at least one personal session with a coach or facilitator to help partners and associates to understand and interpret their 360-degree feedback report, particularly if they have not had this kind of feedback before. This will give them an opportunity to ask questions, clarify their understanding and get support if needed.

Two coaching sessions are even '¨more effective. Allowing three or four weeks between sessions gives an individual time to reflect on his feedback, observe himself and come back to the second session with a clearer understanding and preparation for moving forward with his development plan.

A coach or facilitator can be internal or external to the firm. His role will be to explain the feedback process and help the reviewee to work through the messages he has been given. A good facilitator '¨can be particularly helpful for individuals whose initial response is to resist the feedback received.

Balanced scorecard

In some firms, a 360-degree feedback element is included in partner performance reviews. It provides a useful balance to the ‘hard’ results and can support a balanced scorecard approach to performance management and measurement.

The 360 feedback should never be used as justification for reward or promotion decisions, but rather a tool for obtaining a more rounded view of a partner’s performance.

This approach can vary between a simple 360 input (suggesting development ideas for the partner) to a system that awards weighted scores to each partner’s capabilities (allowing weightings to be allocated based on the individual partner’s role and practice area objectives).

How to tell if your firm is ready for 360-degree feedback

Essential

Is there a culture of feedback within your firm? Are people comfortable with the idea that feedback should be given to colleagues and that this is a positive thing? Are people, especially partners, positive about asking for and receiving feedback, even if it’s not always glowing?

Are there clear objectives/outcomes for the feedback process, for example that it will feed into development plans at performance appraisal time, or that it will be used to assess skills for potential leadership/talent programmes?
Does the managing partner/practice leader understand and support 360-degree feedback?
Have you run a pilot 360 programme with a small group of stakeholders in the firm and obtained their views?
Have you developed a complete communications plan for your 360 feedback programme? Your plan should address each of the participating groups as follows.

For the target group and their reviewers:

- What 360 degree feedback is

- How it works

- What the results mean

- What it will be used for (such as training and development, appraisals, performance reviews, promotions and salary reviews)

For the target group:

- What happens after the 360 feedback process

- Who sees the output

- Who owns the data

- How 360 feedback fits in with other processes (such as goal-setting, appraisals, training, development, leadership and management)

For reviewers:

- Will their feedback be anonymous or open?

- Will their feedback affect the target’s promotion, pay or benefits?

- How will their feedback make a difference?

Do you have a clear plan on how the firm will follow up the 360 feedback programme with development planning, goal-setting/reviews, training, coaching or other activities, and whose responsibility it will be to put this in place?

Providing follow-up coaching or discussions for the 360 targets is the best way to get the most benefits from the exercise. Follow-up discussions help targets to understand and interpret their feedback, as well as to incorporate the feedback into their goal-setting and development planning.

Second-round 360 feedback can provide useful information to targets on how they have progressed on their development goals since the first 360 process.

Recommended

Is the 360-degree feedback going to support a strategic activity such as leadership or management development, team productivity, customer services or identifying and developing talent?
Have a number of partners themselves gone through the 360 feedback process and have they been open about what they have learned and what they will change?
Are there individual champions in each area or group who will actively encourage participation in the 360 feedback programme, particularly partners who will influence other partners?
Will you provide guidance on how to use the feedback (for the target group) and how to give constructive and effective feedback in a 360 process (for their reviewers)?

If you score:

8-10: Your firm is ready for 360-degree feedback.

5-7: Your firm is well prepared for 360 feedback, but you should start putting in place the other essential items so that you get the best value from and engagement with your programme.

1-4: A review is recommended so that you can start putting the key elements in place that will make your firm ready for 360 feedback in the near future.

Feedback in action

A global law firm recently created a bespoke 360 feedback programme, with an initial focus on feedback to partners because of their leadership roles and '¨to demonstrate their commitment to listening and engaging with feedback '¨from colleagues.

Although some of the partners had previously worked with 360-degree feedback for their individual development, this was the first time a consistent and customised 360 framework was used for '¨a larger group within the firm.

Department managers were briefed in detail in advance and were given the opportunity to ask questions and to clear any potential issues or doubts. This was seen as critical to their engagement with the feedback programme.

Other members of the department were also briefed in team meetings on the purpose of the partner 360 feedback process, how it would be used and how to give constructive feedback for development purposes.

The partner 360 programme was run online using a custom legal 360 feedback system. The initial feedback process ran over a four-week period, with regular progress reports during that time. The firm’s partners received feedback from their peers, associates, trainees and PAs, and each partner also completed a self-review as part of the process. Hundreds of feedback questionnaires were completed for the partner group, with double figure responses given for each partner.

The participating partner teams subsequently had facilitated discussions based on the teams’ 360 results. They identified their skills and strengths both as individuals and as teams, and developed team action plans for driving performance and increasing engagement throughout their groups.

The upward feedback partners received from associates and other colleagues created clarity around '¨the behaviours and skills expected '¨from partners.
The feedback process also gave the firm a consistent basis for future discussions around partners’ competencies and skills that are '¨closely aligned to its partner '¨development framework. This has '¨helped to further develop a feedback culture and to engage more people '¨in feedback discussions.

jo.ayoubi@tracksurveys.co.uk