Author of various books and articles on business and management, Dennis Carey speaks of “accurate appraisal of talent [being] a critical ingredient of business success.” A method that is popular is the 360 evaluation in which “managers, peers and direct reports offer their confidential opinion of a leader’s competencies, strengths and weaknesses.” Carey wants to know though, “how honest is a 360?”
Dennis Carey explains, “My co-author and Wharton professor, Dr. Michael Useem and I will look at the 360 in an upcoming article in the Harvard Business Review. Having done thousands of appraisals in my career as an executive recruiter, the most interesting result of the research for me was how predictably biased 360 evaluations are. Because it’s so easy to know the source of the negative feedback, it’s safer to be politically correct to soften a judgment, to be nice.”
Dennis Carey adds, “Think of the reaction our article will receive from organizations that have based promotions on 360 evaluations. Now, be nice.”