360-degree feedback is a method in which everyone who works with a person assesses them: their manager, peers, direct reports, sometimes internal customers, plus the person themselves. The point is not to average the scores but to find the discrepancies: the gap between self-assessment and how colleagues see it is usually the conversation.
What the method measures, and what it does not
360 measures behaviour, not results. Whether someone hit their target is visible from KPIs; whether they help colleagues, take feedback and can be relied on is not — and that is exactly 360's territory.
From which follows its main constraint: 360 cannot be used to allocate bonuses. The moment the scores affect money, colleagues start rating each other highly by mutual arrangement and the method stops measuring anything. 360 is a development instrument, not a calculation one.
How to run it usefully
The method is more sensitive to procedure than most HR instruments.
- Anonymity for everyone but the manager: without it, direct reports return only high scores.
- What is assessed is behaviour against described competencies, not "professionalism" in general.
- Five to seven respondents. Two produce a random result; fifteen and nobody finishes the form.
- A feedback conversation afterwards is mandatory: a score with no discussion is pointless and produces only anxiety.
How this works in Verifix
In Verifix Perform 360 runs on the same competencies as the matrix, so its output is comparable with the requirements of a position and grade rather than living on a separate scale.
Results accumulate in the employee's history next to KPIs and certifications. A performance review draws on all of it together: the numbers show the result, 360 shows how it was achieved.
In short
360 measures behaviour rather than results, and collapses the moment it is tied to a bonus. Its value is the gap between self-assessment and how colleagues see it.