According to
an article in The Independent Britain's offices are full of employees who are in the wrong jobs because their personalities do not suit what they are doing. A
survey by BUPA hosted on their website attempts to identify participants' personality by aligning themselves to shapes and colours.
The survey of more than 2,300 adults examined whether they were an introvert, extrovert, optimist or perfectionist and found that more than 50 per cent had misjudged their own personalities, and up to 75 per cent may have taken the wrong career path.
Participants are asked to select one of four shapes that they think suits their personality. The circle, the survey says, implies a calm and balanced, contented personality with an optimistic outlook. The square implies confident, clear thinking, tending towards perfectionism. The triangle suggests an individualistic outlook, with hidden depths, sometimes complex and disruptive. The squiggle, it is claimed, suggests: "I don't always take things too seriously, I'm sometimes a little unpredictable."
Shapes and colours have long been used by psychologists to symbolise and communicate a broad range of qualities, characteristics and emotions. Shapes and colours have long been used by psychologists to symbolise and communicate a broad range of qualities, characteristics and emotions
It is perhaps reassuring to find that 60 percent of workers in healthcare and educations seem to be in their right role.
Labels: BUPA, personality profile
New Zealand's Inland Revenue Department's 360 degree feedback system is yet another example of an organisation to recognise the value of 360 appraisal. The department already a paper based 360 degree appraisal system in place prior to 2003 but for senior managers only.
However, when they decided to extend the scheme to include more junior levels of management it soon became apparent that the amount of effort required would be prohibitive. Therefore a team of three IT staff developed a system hosted on an intranet site which would manage the process online.
The system hosts all the appropriate competency frameworks and questionnaires and automatically sends out reminders to participants. It currently managed 360 degree feedback for around 200 staff.
Labels: New Zealand Inland Revenue
The homeworkers' website Enterprise Nation seeks to promote a sense of community among homeworkers and to combat the isolation that some people can feel when spending a lot of time workign from home. With the increasing number of people now working from home assessing the performance of staff from a variety of perspectives is becoming even more important.
I myself spent many years as a homeworker working for
BT. Contact from my line manager was sporadic at best and I often wondered how he knew what I was up to and how well I was doing it.
Homeworking demands a high degree of trust in both directions between the employee and hte employer. The employer's need for trust of the employee is well documented - but very little is said about the need for the employee to be able to trust the employer to make sure that he is not overlooked, that his achievements are taken into account just as much as the office based worker and that his development needs are properly taken into account.
Of course, out of sight out of mind is often the order of the day - but for homeworkers in particular it is important that this does not happen, hence the current trend towards using 360 degree feedback and appraisal is a welcome step for many homeworkers.
Labels: EnterPrise Nation, homeworkers, teleworking
In his
article published in the P & I Journal David Lassifer at
Marriott Hotels writes: "My first experience with 360° feedback was a life changing event.... For the first time I was able to see a side by side a graphic representation of how I, and others, viewed my effectiveness."
Like many of our customers Lassiter found that the results weren't entirely what he was expecting. But although like most of us his first instinct was to look at the shortcomings he soon found that he had strengths too that he hadn't realised.
The term 360 degree feedback comes from the analogy to a compass, that 360 degree feedback provides feedback from many different points of view. Compared to traditional one to one performance reviews it is significantly more powerful and accurate. Because many different points of view are taken into account people are more likley to accept what is said in good faith whereas one to one feedback from a manager is more likely to be viewed cynically and indicative of some hidden agenda on the manager's part. As one user of 360° said, "Everybody can't be out to get me."
Labels: 360 degree feedback, Marriott Hotels
