THE IMPACT OF 360-DEGREE FEEDBACK ON MANAGEMENT-SKILLS DEVELOPMENT

This study investigated changes in the skill levels of managers which occurred two years following the managers' participation in 360-degree feedback. The major objective was to investigate how skill developmen t, development efforts, and environmental support for development are related. The Management Skills Profile (MSP) was used to measure skill s and to give feedback. Of the original 198 managers who received feed back, 48 accepted the opportunity to complete the instrument again two years later. At that time, they also completed a questionnaire survey ing what development activities they had completed and the extent to w hich they received support for development from their supervisor and t he organization. The first hypothesis was that, for the group, (a) par ticipants' skills would increase following feedback, and (b) self-othe r agreement would be greater at Time 2 than at Time 1. This was suppor ted. The second hypothesis was that management skills would be related to later advancement. This also was supported. The third hypothesis w as that skill development would be related to both development efforts and environmental support, and that some development activities would be more effective than others. Hypothesis four was that those who put more effort into development (a) would have received at Time I rating s which were more favorable and move congruent with their self-ratings , and (b) would have received move environmental support. Hypotheses t hree and four were only partially supported. The results have implicat ions for what managers can do to develop their skills and how others c an support this development. (C) 1993 by John Wiley and Sons, Inc.