3D Group Presents the Results of its Latest Research on Best Practices
April 27, 2007 (New York, NY) - The consulting firm 3D Group, which specializes in 360-degree feedback, will be presenting the results of its latest research on best practices at the Society for Organizational and Industrial Psychology’s 22nd annual conference in New York. The study provided clear evidence that the announced purpose of 360-degree feedback programs has a strong impact on the actual survey responses by employees.
Greg Robinson, PhD., Senior Researcher at 3D Group and the first author of the study explained several reasons for the findings. “At one level, it is very simple. When people think their responses might get someone fired, or help give them a raise, no one wants to be the bad guy so they choose high ratings. On the other hand, when the results are just for improvement, people are more careful and sometimes give high ratings, sometimes low ratings.” In the new study, using a sample from surveys done for their clients, the researchers identified two groups. The first group contained companies who provided the results only for developing its leaders, with no direct impact on employment decisions. The second group of companies used the survey results to influence personnel decisions such as pay increases, promotions, or even layoffs. According to the findings, employees gave more inflated ratings with less variability when employment decisions were involved but when the survey was just for individual improvement scores were much more widely varying and less extreme. Dr. Dale S. Rose, President of 3D Group said “the results clearly showed employees think about how the company will use 360-degree feedback results when responding to the survey. Basically, people are more honest when they know it will be used for a leader to improve professionally but if the stakes are high people tend to give overly positive scores.”
The study is important because it provides some much needed data on the topic of how 360-degree feedback results should be used. A debate has raged for decades among 360-degree feedback specialists about whether results should be for development only or should be used for personnel decisions. Most experts agree that development is the best use, but this is one of the earliest studies to provide clear data about the consequences of each choice.
Dr. Robinson believes that the study makes an important contribution to the scarce research base on best practice in 360-degree feedback: “Recent benchmarking research by 3D Group points out that in 2004 nearly 80% of companies used 360-degree feedback for development, but the desire to use the results of 360s for personnel decisions remains very strong among business leaders. Our study data are clear that there is a negative effect on the accuracy of the scores when the process is used for personnel decisions.”
About 3D Group
3D Group specializes in 360-degree feedback and other employee assessment tools. They use their expertise in psychometrics — the specialized discipline of psychological testing and measurement — to deliver a wealth of objective, reliable, and easy to understand data that can be utilized in a variety of ways to improve manager and company performance. 3D Group is dedicated to helping businesses and nonprofit organizations of all sizes increase the effectiveness of their people and programs. 3D Group researchers have authored numerous publications related to employee assessment, including the “Benchmark Study of North American 360-Degree Feedback Practices, 2002 Study” and “Current Trends in 360-Degree Feedback”. More information can be found at: http://www.3dgroup.net.
More information can be found at: http://www.3dgroup.net
Available for interviews: Dale Rose, Ph.D., President and Co-Founder of 3D Group.