Upward/360 reviews
PerfidiousPorpoise 08 Aug 19 15:58
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This came up in the HR thread and I thought I would start a new one on a question that I have been curious about. Are these more common/successful in certain cultures? With my team of mostly Americans, the juniors tend not to hold back. Not sure if Brits are a bit more reticent. At the risk of stereotyping a bit, I find it hard to believe that in an Asian office people would be as forthcoming with critiquing their superiors even if it is meant to be anonymous.

It's not Brits that are reticent, but any form of organisation where those bringing in work are not trained managers but have largely got ahead on a cult of personality, and are therefore lath to hear anything other than "you're really great".

Please rank (from 1-5) your chronically insecure boss (who thinks the secretaries are out to get him if his typing isn't done first). 

 

Please use this scale:

5. I'd like a bonus

4. I don't want a bonus, and I'm happy to maintain my current salary which hasn't increased in 4 years.

3. I'd like to be managed out within 6 months.

2. I'd like to leave today.

1. I've heard that you feel cold after a stabbing, but that that entrails feel warm - I've never been able to reconcile that. 

I used to work for a management consultancy where the appraisal process (for non-consulting staff) was:

- you were appointed to conduct the appraisal of someone you didn't know, generally in another office/country, at your level or below

- you had to interview up to 10 of their colleagues at all levels and fill out a huuuuge form

- in the meantime the appraisee filled out a huge form

- you had to write a lengthy report then present it to the appraisal committee along with a recommended rating, the committee would then vote on it

I sat on the appraisal committee and was shocked at the level of score-settling and bitchiness that went on, the firm culture was really into storing grievances up and shafting people.

The whole thing was an utter joke and put me off any kind of appraisal for life (in my current job I haven't had a formal appraisal in 9 years which is fooking great)

 

 

Bit late on this one.  The problem with any feedback process in a review (360 or otherwise) is that it's quite risky to be an outlier when giving feedback.

If you give good feedback on someone everybody else dislikes, management assume you are their mate or have otherwise made some agreement with them.

If you give bad feedback on someone everybody else likes you are at risk as being seen as an oddball or having some sort of irrational grievance against that person.

In short there is little advantage to giving honest unselective feedback at all.

Queenie, that sounds like a needles bureaucratic nightmare made up by HR.

I don't know if this is true,but there has long since been a story going round that the equity partners at Deloitte were asked this in their appraisal.

1) How much did you/your team bill this year

2) How much was written off

3) What is the aged debt

4) How many new clients did you work for that you previously hadn't 

I cant verify this other than to say it was a well worn story that I think came from the now defunct big 4 website, which is/was similar to this

I don’t really get this.

i have never worked in an environment where if someone is incompetent/not pulling their weight it is not completely obvious to everyone who works with them very, very quickly.

When I worked in consultancy we had this guy come in who just clearly had lied on his CV and at interview and my friend worked with him for a morning and described it like this:

’Imagine you’re a builder and someone turns up and you’re like ‘ok today we’re going to build a house. Do you know much about bricklaying?’ And they’re like ‘Yes - Loads! And I’ve even brought my own gravy!’ And you’re like ‘riiiiiiggghhht’. And then they proceed to just pour cold gravy on a foundation for four hours.’

Unsurprisingly the guy was let go at lunchtime

Can't think why Ebitna thinks to criticise the Deloittes appraisal method 

It seems totally rational to me and exactly what appraisal committees are looking for