Blog News and Knowledge from CR Systems

“Feedback Fitness” reflects the degree to which an organisation can expect to receive thoughtful, honest criticism and praise from its employees. Addressing the level of Feedback Fitness within an organisation can save time, money and frustration as well as significantly improving the quality of data collected from staff and the effectiveness of decisions made from the data.

Continuing from our previous discussion on 360 Feedback scheduling, we complete the discussion by focussing on the final three elements of a 360 project:

• A standard 360 project can take between three to six weeks depending on process, purpose, culture and communication
• The length of time that the actual survey is left open has relatively little effect on overall response levels beyond the first 10 or 15 working days as long as an additional chase (or expediting) period is built into the process
• Response levels should not be mixed up with response quality

At CR Systems we are often asked the question as to the length of time one should allow to schedule a standard 360 Degree Feedback project. Before answering this, it should be noted that there is a direct link between time and quality of feedback. In this article we are considering primarily the time elements with some reference to how it can effect quality outcomes, for a more detailed review of the qualitative issues involved you might wish refer to our previous blogs or visit our internal behaviour process.

Find your weakest link

Free sites like SurveyMonkey can be a great way of getting started in employee engagement surveys but free survey software will always be limited in terms of flexibility, support and customization possibilities.

• The one-survey-fits-all approach is not suitable for many businesses. A complete bespoke solution is more flexible and allows you to design a survey that will exactly fit your personal requirements.
• The Engage survey system is totally brandable to match your corporate intranet and literature.
• Full support is provided for both building the survey and analysing the results.
• Analysis is also flexible and results can be delivered in an organized way, which is easy to understand.
• A number of different languages are supported in the Engage software.
• Participation rates are increased (some employees may not take surveys on free websites seriously).
• Anonymity is assured. SurveyMonkey and other sites do offer anonymous surveys but it is down to the researcher to select this option in the survey settings.
• Data can often not be held confidentially in free software systems.
• It is not possible to verify the identity of anyone completing surveys built on free software and can be difficult to exclude certain groups.
• Most free survey systems have limits on the number of people who can fill out the survey
• Downloading of data files for offline analysis is also not possible on most free platforms.

Behave!

1. Most organisations need to constantly flex and change to compete effectively in their markets
2. Significant changes usually need behavioural as well as structural change
3. Change without behavioural change is rarely successful or sustainable
4. There is only way to measure and build a base to develop behavioural change: 360° Feedback
5. 360° Feedback is not easy to get right

1. Get the preparation right
2. Create the right metrics
3. Ask the right Questions
4. Obtain the right Answers
5. Giving the right Feedback
6. Support the right Development

• It touches so many more people in an organisation compared to any other metric
• It requires more organizational time and resource
• It requires organizing more people to be briefed and to buy in to the process
• It covers sensitive ground that can be uncomfortable for some/many

• How open are you to receiving feedback from your staff and stakeholders?
• What are the formal and informal ways in which feedback is disseminated?
• How honest is the feedback your receive?
• How do you know?

• HR administration and support
• Management involvement
• Staff time to complete the feedback (A BIG Surprise here if you are not careful!!)
• IT resource
• Coaching and supporting the development

Competition these days is fierce. The economic crisis seems to be coming to an end, and as business picks up, many employers are beginning to discover that they don’t have the talent on their team that they need to keep up with their competitors.

Can free business software products and services really replace current products and services that businesses are paying for today? The answer is of course they can, and the number of such products is growing. If you are faced with “free” competition, you need to take a good hard look at your business and decide how you defend your right to continue to charge. If you are considering using a free service for your business this article will provide a framework to review the issues to consider before making your “purchase”.

Is the free product peripheral or core to the supplier’s portfolio of products?

What are the user limitations?

What are the project/scope limitations?

What are the time limitations?

Who owns the data?

What’s your investment in the relationship?

What standard features are missing from the free product?

Is the product supported?

Is the product still being developed and can it be upgraded?

How easy will your exit be?

What next?

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Free business software products and services.