Why Measure EX Through an Organizational 360º Approach?

Implemented vaccine mandates, reduced office osmosis, and increased employee quit rates tainted the past two years. Employees have lacked structure, a sense of control, and minimized learning through complex, unsynchronized digital communication.

Team cutbacks have put immense pressure on workers, leaving businesses in dire need to reevaluate their capabilities. To fully comprehend your organizational potential, first, you need a complete understanding of your staff. The employee experience (EX) is their physical, cultural, and technological interaction with your company.

Two-fifths of productivity is gained from an engaged workforce through lower absenteeism and a feeling of appreciation, with 69% of employees saying they work harder if their opinions are recognized. Businesses must adapt to new working environments by reviewing employees, finding new ways to engage their team, and acknowledging their achievements.

HR teams need a 360-degree solution that measures EX to understand and generate a productive workforce. Here’s how.

What Is a 360º Approach?

Scoping out a reliable picture of EX requires looking at each employee’s involvement from different perspectives. Rather than relying solely on managerial feedback of an individual, modern approaches will assess an employee’s performance in the eyes of the individual, peers, and the managers holistically.

Traditional one-to-one approaches whereby employees tell HR teams whether they are happy with their experience can be untrustworthy. Self-assessment encourages employees to think about what the position requires, where they need to improve, and what would help them achieve it well, bolstering accountability. The difference in responses between managers and employees will highlight areas for growth and increase mutual understanding.

In addition, peer reviews highlight managers' blind spots. Opening a channel to colleagues can underline any internal issues between teammates, ways of working, and present patterns that may have gone unnoticed without a formal collection of feedback. By taking an active interest in each other’s performance, companies can build a supportive, reflective, and inclusive culture where peers learn from one another and improve their overall experience.

Why Personal Development Plans Improve EX

You can improve your EX by acting on individual needs. According to Gallop, 12 critical motivators represent employees' understanding and ability of tasks, recognition, alignment with company values, and personal development.

Feedback and reviews that examine individual task comprehension and values provide the basis for personal development plans. Managers and their teams can agree upon key performance indicators (KPIs) to assess over time. Setting progress objectives help employees increase focus, productivity, and develop skills by understanding their strengths and where they would like to grow.

Appraisals can come in rewards, promotions, compensation, and employees' future with the organization. The basis for promotions are often expectations designed in the review stage. When businesses acknowledge their team meeting or exceeding their KPIs, recognizing their development through appraisals provides employees with a sense of achievement.

When coworkers feel appreciated and treated equally, you improve their cultural experience, and a more inclusive team is born where innovation can thrive. HR teams must ensure a level playing field in advancement and opportunity. For example, survey analytics are fair and transparent tools to demonstrate employee performance and communicate criteria behind pay processes and promotions.

How to Implement 360º Appraisals Company-Wide

There is a craving for humanity in a time of hybrid working and digital processes. Verbal feedback helps gauge employees' emotions, leaving room for HR teams to cater questions bespoke to the situation. However, it can be challenging to track progress holistically without structured quarterly touchpoints and departmental KPIs. It’s essential to ask every employee, manager, and peer specific questions and record answers digitally for transparent, 360-degree appraisal processes.

Conversational interfaces and less formal tones found in messaging apps create a more human touch to preserve and establish relationships with colleagues, superiors, and subordinates while enabling HR teams to capture feedback directly. They could deliver questions manually one by one and gather feedback in a safe space where teammates feel they are talking to a friend, facilitating employees’ freedom to speak openly—and providing invaluable feedback.

Company-wide digital surveys enable you to ask the same questions to multiple employees at once and track EX in a structured format. Although not all questions will apply to every team or department, using display (based on the previous question) and skip logic (based on the last answer), you can present a new series of questions to each employee depending on their response. By eliminating invalid questions, you increase efficiency for your workforce and enhance the accuracy of insights.

Whether you opt for in-person, written, or survey feedback tools, recognizing EX in a holistic 360-degree approach boosts self-awareness, stimulates ownership, and opens a channel of communication where ideas are shared and learned from—ultimately improving employee engagement. Improve employee productivity by investing in their opinion and growth.