THE PSYCHOMETRIC PROPERTIES OF 360-DEGREE FEEDBACK - AN EMPIRICAL-STUDY AND A CAUTIONARY TALE

Amongst the purported advantages of multi-rater feedback systems is th eir greater accuracy and objectivity. It is argued here that these ben efits may be more imagined than real, and that there is no reason to b elieve such systems will avoid many of the rating errors and distortio ns found in traditional top-down appraisal. The first study reported i n this paper investigates the psychometric soundness and concurrent va lidity of a pilot 360 degree feedback scheme operated by a multi-natio nal oil company. The second study describes how analysis of the data p rovided by the first study was used to re-design the rating form, and demonstrates the resulting improvement achieved in the psychometric pr operties of the 360 degree scheme. It also examined some of the variab les that influence rater's assessment of the target managers. The conc lusion is drawn that unless such feedback systems - irrespective of wh ether they are used for development or for appraisal - are constructed and evaluated along the lines associated with psychometric tests, the y may produce assessments that are seriously misleading.