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Guidance for respondents

Learn more about a 360° survey and what to consider when completing the survey as a respondent.

If you've been invited to provide an individual with feedback for a 360° assessment then it's probably because you've been identified as someone who:

  • has known and worked with the participant for longer than 4 months
  • has frequent work-related interactions with the participant
  • understands the nature of the role and job duties of the participant.

While participation isn’t mandatory, the more respondents that can provide feedback, the more comprehensive the assessment report tends to be. This means the individual will get a better idea of how their behaviour is perceived in the workplace, to better plan their ongoing leadership development.   

Participants normally choose their respondents but may also consult with their manager about it. 

360° assessments

The assessment is being carried out for the purpose of leadership development, 360° assessments are designed to gather and combine feedback from a range of people so that an individual (the participant) can get an idea of their strengths and development priorities as perceived by those they work closely with. This is not an assessment of their performance.

Each survey usually takes about 20 minutes. You will be asked to rate how frequently you observe the participant displaying various leadership and management-related behaviours, when these are called for. There is also an opportunity to provide specific comments to support the participant's development.

Issues or questions related to the survey

Email 360@ldc.govt.nz and let us them know the issue you are experiencing and the name/email address of the person who requested your feedback.

Feedback guidelines

Speak for yourself. You've been invited to provide feedback because of your relationship to the participant. Your feedback, ratings and comments are valuable because they represent your perspective - not someone else's.

Keep in mind what's being asked of you. Your ratings and feedback are being sought about behaviours relating to leadership. Answer the question being asked, and be specific.  What, specifically, is it about the person's leadership that they may need to work on?

Be candid and respectful. As a rater, your comments should be candid but respectful. An individual has invited you to help shape their development. Make sure that they will be able to hear your feedback in a way that will motivate them to make a positive change. 

Provide specific examples. The 360° process gives opportunities to provide comments. These can be extremely valuable as they enable a participant to review real-life examples of their behaviour in action.

Demonstrate a balanced perspective. Where possible, recognise both the individual's strengths and development needs. A participant who can see a balanced perspective is far more likely to seriously consider development actions that will improve their leadership.

Confidentiality

Only the participant's self-assessment and the manager's assessment are explicitly identified. Comments and ratings from all other evaluators are combined to help maintain anonymity of your feedback. When you provide feedback, your ratings are combined with the ratings from other respondents in the same category. This becomes aggregate data in the report. When there are fewer than two raters in a respondent category (excluding self and manager) those raters will be included in another group to maintain anonymity.

Initially, only the participant and their debriefer or coach will see the report. The participant then chooses who they share their report with. Participants are encouraged to share their report with their manager because they have a vested interest in the development of their people through the employment relationship.