Rating Game Multiple reviews give you a well-rounded picture of employee performance.

A decade ago, "multirater" performance feedback foremployees was a fad found in just a handful of businesses. Today,"it's used by over half the Fortune 500," says SusanGebelein, a senior vice president at Minneapolis-based PersonnelDecisions International, a creator of staff development tools. Thatmakes multirater feedback--where employees get formal insights ontheir performance from multiple sources such as peers, theirsubordinates and their boss--the hottest human resources trendaround. The question is, Why is it so rapidly replacing thetraditional boss-to-subordinate, one-way performance feedback modelthat has prevailed for generations?

Simple, says Mick Mount, chairman of the Department ofManagement and Organization at the University of Iowa in Iowa City:"We have come to recognize the boss does not know all theanswers. Certainly, the boss's perspective is valuable, but isit the only one? When we supplement it with the perspectives ofothers, we are much more likely to get a comprehensive picture of aperson's performance."

In the smallest businesses, boss-to-subordinate performancefeedback may be all that's needed to jump-start a worker'soutput. When there are only two to four employees, the boss mayhave ample insight into how an employee deals not only with him orher but also with co-workers.

But as a business grows, the boss can't see the wholepicture. Some employees are skilled at giving the boss exactly whathe or she wants but drop the ball when dealing with co-workers.Others are esteemed by co-workers but little noticed by the boss.Either way, boss-to-subordinate evaluations provide a very limitedpoint of view--and that's where multirater feedback comesin.

In addition to the boss's perspective, ratings are given bya minimum of three co-workers, says Bruce Knudson, owner of CapeCoral, Florida-based Positive Directions Inc., a consulting firmspecializing in customer and employee retention. If the ratedemployee has subordinates, at least three of them should beinvolved, too. Why use so many raters? A diversity of voices helpsto preserve anonymity, meaning workers are more apt to behonest.

Another plus of instituting multirater feedback: Few bossesenjoy doing one-on-one evaluations, and, often, they simply neglectdoing them. The multirater system means the burden is shared,making it much more likely to produce valid results that benefitthe employee and the business.

Will workers welcome the new system? "They are veryreceptive--that's what we have found in mostorganizations," says Gebelein. "In businesses where therehas been a history of mistrust and antagonism, we occasionally findworkers who mistrust the process at first. Even there, though,confidence in multi-rater feedback grows over time."

Questions, Questions

Where to get started? The first step is to develop aquestionnaire, but don't expect to do this over a cup ofcoffee. The better the survey, the better the results. "Thekey is to make the questionnaire strategically significant,"says Richard Harris, a senior vice president with Boston-based TheForum Corp., a human resources consulting firm that has implementedmultirater feedback systems in numerous companies. "You wantit to serve the critical needs of the business."

This means thinking hard about what the individual worker needsto do to be effective, then writing survey questions that matchthese needs. "The key is to measure competencies the workerneeds to benefit the company," stresses Gebelein. Forinstance: "On a scale of 1 to 5, 5 being highest, rate thisworker on how well he or she meets deadlines."

Keep the survey not only focused but short. Busy employeesdon't have hours to fill out forms. At Personnel Decisions, thetarget time in surveys it provides its clients is completion within10 to 25 minutes. (Tell employees how long the survey shouldtake--"otherwise, some people agonize over this," saysGebelein.)

Once surveys are written, it's time to begin the process.Guess who gets rated first? You. "If commitment from the topisn't there, don't even start this process," says BobAbramms, a senior consultant with ODT Inc., an Amherst,Massachusetts, human resources consulting and publishing firm.

But don't be surprised if the feedback does not fill youwith cheer. "We know several facts about this process,"says Mount. "People tend to rate themselves higher than othersdo. We also know that, in many instances, direct subordinates aretough raters of their bosses. Some bosses get hammered--and thathurts."

Knowing this in advance lessens the sting. Besides, what theworkers will tell you may well heighten your effectiveness. Be arole model here, too. If you shrug off the feedback, workers willdo the same.

What should you do about negative feedback? At PersonnelDecisions, Gebelein says, "We tell the person to meet with theraters, thank them for their feedback, and tell them what theylearned and what they plan to do differently."

What if some of the feedback isn't clear to you? Ask forelaboration--but do it gingerly. "It is difficult not to getdefensive when asking to clarify feedback you've been given. Wetell people instead to ask for advice about development, about thesteps they should be taking to improve," says Gebelein.

Once you've been through the process, expand it to includeyour employees--and make sure rating sessions are followed byactions. "Multirater feedback can be like a commitment toexercise. How long does it take most people to slide back to notexercising?" asks Knudson. "The same thing happens withdecisions to make behavioral changes."

The point is not simply to collect observations about yourselfbut to follow up with changes that improve personal effectivenessand benefit the business. Some businesses build follow-up meetingswith raters into their process--at three-month intervals, the ratedemployee meets with the raters to review the changes implementedand what still needs work.

Share And Share Alike?

Should you be privy to the ratings workers get? In somecompanies, bosses automatically get copies. In others, it's theemployee's choice to share the feedback with the boss. Theexperts' strong recommendation: "The report should go onlyto the employee. Let him choose how much to share," saysMount.

"Co-workers can be paranoid about giving feedback, and ifthey know it goes only to the employee, it increases theirhonesty," adds Knudson.

More expert advice: Don't link feedback to pay raises.Granted, it seems an easy way to handle compensation, but takingthis route could land you in trouble. "Some corporate legaldepartments are skittish about even trying this. Multiraterfeedback provides perceptions, not facts. It's important not toforget that," says Gebelein.

There's a benefit, too, in separating multirater feedbackfrom pay, says Gebelein. "When it is used for raises, peopletend to become protective of each other," he says."Ratings tend to be higher. When it is decoupled, the process[generally] produces honest feedback."

Not all the feedback will be accurate--and workers need to betold that before getting their results--but much of it will be onthe mark. And, when multirater feedback is used as a tool to helpemployees develop, "it provides a valuable vehicle forcommunication. It helps people talk to one another in ways theyotherwise never do and about issues they otherwise neverdiscuss," says Gebelein. "It can become a life-changingexperience."

Contact Sources

The Forum Corp., 1 Exchange Pl., Boston, MA 02109, (617)371-3442;

ODT Inc., (800) 736-1293, fax: (413) 549-3503;

Personnel Decisions International, 2000 Plaza VII Tower,45 S. Seventh St., Minneapolis, MN 55402, (800) 633-4410, (612)339-0927;

Positive Directions Inc., (941) 945-4673, BKnud45002@aol.com.