Closing the Circle in Measuring Performance – Understanding 360° Feedback

Nov 09, 09 | 1:57 am

By Dr. John Hogan CHE CHA MHS

My last two columns have addressed the evaluation and measuring performance process for hotel staff and I appreciate reader comments, questions and the opportunity to support hospitality and hotel companies. Those reader questions and inquiries caused me to reflect on the need to complete or "close" the circle of evaluation, which is providing useful and meaningful feedback to senior management.

"My will shall shape the future. Whether I fail or succeed shall be no man's doing but my own.    I am the force; I can clear any obstacle before me or I can be lost in the maze. My choice; my responsibility; win or lose, only I hold the key to my destiny."     Elaine Maxwell:

Part one of the series identified a number of ways to assess performance at almost every level within a hotel structure, including:

1. Forced Ranking systems that specifically rate and compare every person
2. Management by objectives (a Peter Drucker-inspired method to focus on both long and short term activities and planning)
3. Key result areas that focus on specific areas of measurement

Part two provided background information and a fundamental overview of   The Balanced Scorecard , which evolved in the early 1990s.  Its focus was addressing intangibles of a changing  economy that requires managers to look at relationships between today's actions and their long term-impact. Many performance systems tie raises, bonuses or promotions to only financial benchmarks, yet the changing economy requires a balanced strategy between short-term productivity, mid term customer value, and long-term innovation. Things like customer retention, product or service quality as well financial measurements are now part of the equation of things measured

As stated in the earlier columns, most people want to be reasonable and even-handed in staff evaluations, but I have discovered in my career as a manager, corporate executive and consultant that many organizations and individuals make it more difficult and less rewarding than it should be.  Common sense should prevail, but it too often becomes obscured in either meaningless bureaucracy or in a lack of planning, a lack of concern for staff development and a disregard of the cost of turnover.

Feedback that is meaningful to senior management is a critical step to long-term success, in relation to cultivating customer satisfaction and staff loyalty.  In hotels, open assessments that are delivered to senior management (which may include ownership, especially in family businesses) may seem like an inspired notion, but it will likely be unsuccessful in practice unless honest, open and measured feedback is delivered.

An internet search of the topic 360° Feedback provided many excellent resources from a range of international companies. These references listed a series of benefits and ways to facilitate this assessment that provides meaningful two-way communication that address leadership's communication and operational practices, with appropriate weight to financial and non-financial measures.  A number of resources are listed at the end of the column.

360 Feedback has a number of descriptions, but the activity mainly involves gathering insights and perceptions about a person's (in this case, senior management) behavior from those around them, and in this case, those reporting to them. For this discussion, the feedback comes from the person's peers and/or direct reports.  The feedback is then used for action planning, training or development goals.

360 Feedback can provide benefits for both the individual and the organization, by sharing accurate views of how others perceive that individual's delivered work and results. This honest description of performance helps identify weaknesses that need improvement, as well as strengths that can be enhanced.  Understanding this assessment is a major step in short and long term strategy planning.

In a hotel management company setting or in a large hotel, 360 Feedback can target goals and objectives, promote practical interaction and clarify the ever-changing roles of all parties within the Management Company setting or hotel.  This in turn encourages self-development, which leads to staff engagement at multiple levels, while building staff loyalty for those you want to retain.

There are a number of vendors who support 360 Feedback surveys -below are three that had detailed online listings, client lists and free demos available for viewing. 

1.  
   http://www.boothco.com/bank/books5.php
2. 
   Based in UK        http://lumus.co.uk/index.htm
3. 
   http://www.star360feedback.com/old-site/360_degree_feedback_clients-demos_360_feedback.html

Care should be taken in selecting any vendor and factors to consider include:

• Confidential development
• Preparation of company specific questions
• Anonymity
• Reliability
• Validity of results
• Cost
• Training and development
• Reassessment
• Experience in industry and overall track record
  

There are also a number of books available on the topic and four are included in this column:

360 Feedback- A Manager's Guide by Michelle Leduff Collins

This book aims to maximize the ROI at the individual level, with easy to read yet important, useful information to the individual participant. A "Best Practice" approach to understanding the results gives clear instructions on how to conduct follow-up conversations with others to find out what to do differently. By looking for best practice examples, participants learn in a constructive, positive and concrete way what to do versus hearing more examples of what they did not do well.

The Art and Science of 360 Degree Feedback    by Richard Lepsinger & Anntoinette D. Lucia

This single-volume guide states that it contains "all the hows and whys of 360° feedback", with case studies and examples of major companies that have successfully implemented 360° feedback into their organizations.  Guidelines are also included for making the process smooth and painless for everyone involved. 

360 Degree Feedback: The Powerful New Model for Employee Assessment & Performance Improvement         by Mark R. Edwards and Ann J. Ewen

This book presents a model for employee assessment in the age of teamwork, based on giving employees feedback from peers, customers, supervisors, and those who work for the employee, and shows how to design and implement it.  The authors claim it can be used in union and nonunion environments, in a range of fields.

360 feedback     Strategies, Tactics and Techniques for Developing Leaders by ORGANIZATIONAL UNIVERSE SYSTEMS & RICHARD L ROE  

This text has a range of potential uses including:

• 360° Feedback as a System Intervention
• Team Building
• Assessing Training Needs
• Assessing Outcomes of Training Investments
• Creating Instruments for 360° Feedback
• Data Analysis and Reporting
• Getting Started
• Appendices: Sample Worksheets, Survey Instruments, and Feedback Reports

360 Feedback may not be necessary for every hotel, but it can play a very significant role in developing improved lines of two-way communication through open and honest feedback systems.

Major Performance Areas for hotels include Financial, Guest and Business Process Perspectives.   Paying attention to Staff Development and Learning Perspectives is one too often overlooked and this series of columns was created to encourage people in our industry of "hospitality" to THINK and ACT on paying attention.

What are you doing at your hotel today?

Feel free to share an idea for a column at johnjhogan@yahoo.com anytime or contact me regarding consulting, customized workshops, speaking engagements .............

And remember - we all need a regular dose of common sense.

Autographed copies of LESSONS FROM THE FIELD - a COMMON SENSE APPROACH TO EFFECTIVE HOTEL SALES are available  from THE ROOMS CHRONICLE www.roomschronicle.com,  www.smartbizzonline.com  and other industry sources.      

All rights reserved by John Hogan and this column may be included in an upcoming book on hotel management.   The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of this publication

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John Hogan, a career hotelier and educator, is a frequent speaker and seminar leader at many hospitality industry events.  He is a successful senior executive with a record of accomplishment leading organizations at multiple levels.  His professional experience includes over 35 years in hotel operations, food & beverage, sales & marketing, training, management development, consulting, management, including service as Senior VP of Operations. 

http://www.linkedin.com/in/drjohnhoganchache

Expertise and Research Interest

Sales Management and training Turn-around and revenue management Professional Development & Customer Service

Hospitality Leadership and Executive Education Making Cultural Diversity Real Accreditation & Developing Academic Hospitality programs

If you need assistance in any of these areas or simply an independent review or opinion on a hospitality challenge, contact me directly for a prompt response and very personalized attention.

As the principal in an independent training & consulting group, he served associations, management groups, convention & visitors' bureaus, academic institutions and as an expert witness. He has managed hotels with Sheraton, Hilton, Omni and independents and in his tenure at Best Western International, he created and launched a blended learning system for the world's largest hotel chain.  He has conducted an estimated 3,200 workshops and classes in his career, including service as an adjunct faculty member for 20 years at three different institutions.