Being able to identify future leaders is a critical part of a company’s strategy. By putting in place a clear structure for spotting future leaders, the organisation can ensure that the process is consistent and effective. In this article we’ll discuss the pros and cons of using 360 Feedback to identify future leaders.
How does 360 Feedback add value?
Measuring leadership skills in detail
By tailoring 360 Degree Feedback to measure the skills, behaviours and values that the organisation values and needs for future growth, it is possible to add a level of objective measurement help identify and nurture future leaders. The idea behind 360 is that the people who experience the potential leader’s behaviours on a daily or regular basis are best placed to be able to rate and comment. Their real-life assessment offers an insight into what extent the candidate is measuring up to the organisation’s leadership criteria. It may be that they are already meeting the leadership standards. Or it could be that they are meeting some standards and not others. This could mean they are potential leaders that need development.
Of course this is a snapshot at the current time. Using 360 Feedback to identify future leaders is an ongoing process and is carried out regularly during the leadership candidates’ development journey. It provides them with a clear indication of how they are developing, their strengths, and further development needs.
Identifying leaders and leadership gaps
We have worked with organisations who have used the 360 Feedback for supporting individual development planning towards promotion and succession. They have then used the results to map which candidates are
1. Ready for promotion
2. May be ready in 1-2 years, with development
3. Are effective in their current role but may never be promoted to a senior leadership role.
Broken down by department or location, the data can also identify any serious gaps in leadership succession and development in those areas.
Used with other data (performance reviews, assessment centres, client feedback), the 360 can be a powerful tool for identifying future leaders, what’s needed to develop them, and areas where there are no obvious future leaders in place.
Possible concerns in using 360 Feedback to identify future leaders
Raters may not give ‘accurate’ feedback
As with all 360s, it’s important to train and brief respondents how to give honest and constructive ratings and written feedback. They should understand the reasons for the feedback, and potential outcomes. They should also be clear that their feedback will be reported anonymously. 360 Feedback is by nature about subjective experiences of the respondents. A well-structured questionnaire will allow them to rate their observations clearly and unambiguously, while still taking their personal experience into account.
Respondents may give ‘negative’ feedback for the wrong reasons
There is sometimes a concern that an individual who harbours a grudge may provide negative feedback. This could be feedback that is deliberately critical and untrue. This type of response is rare. Also, 360 Feedback gathers the feedback together in the form of rated statements and text examples. It aggregates the feedback and identifies trends. Therefore ratings from individuals do not identify or assess skills.
Instead it is the trends in the 360 that we measure. Consistent agreement from all respondents about a particular skill, are use to highlight clear strength or development need. Therefore, unless there is agreement among respondents about a particular behaviour, one bad rating will not make a difference to the overall report.
360 for identifying leaders
360 Feedback provides a way of measuring skills that are difficult to quantify. First, we break down the organisation’s specific leadership skills into observable, measurable behaviours. From these ratings, we can get a strong message about the candidate’s current level of skills. The 360 will also identify the gap between current skill level and where they need to be for future leadership.
This helps the individual to be more aware of her/his career potential. It also assists the organisation in having a clear map of current and future leadership candidates.
Other tools and process for succession planning
Clear criteria are important when identifying people who may be future leaders. In a great study by Deloittes Insight, a good succession process needs to be both people and process centric. Where organisations tend to focus on one or the other, there is an imbalance. Similarly, it should be both subjective, i.e. based on view and opinions of key stakeholder, but also objective. Being objective here means taking into account real-world evidence and business demands.
Therefore there needs to be an objective process for this. Tools include assessment centres, psychometrics and performance review ratings. But how to you assess individuals for hard to measure skills – emotional intelligence, resilience, leading people – in an objective way? Certainly psychometrics and assessment centres can help. But psychometrics may not demonstrate the leadership skills that are unique to this particular organisation. They will indicate the individual’s thinking preferences, and how they are likely to interact with others. Assessment centres, where candidates participate in simulations of interactions with colleagues, teams and clients, are effective and helpful at observing the individual’s performance in real time.
Jo Ayoubi is an expert in 360 Degree Feedback design and implementation, and CEO of Track Surveys. For advice and support on using 360 Feedback to identify future leaders, and developing bespoke 360 programmes for strategic talent, contact us to arrange a no-obligation discussion with Jo.
