Page 211 - Psychological Management of Individual Performance

194 assessing potential and future performance
also other more specific obstacles to job rotation which could be indicated. The subject
here is the complexity of the production process versus the possibilities to actually have
people rotate. So-called high potentials who are very strong as (super) specialists are
exactly the employees who are difficult to rotate to functions within another field. Often
the career paths for this group are fairly stable, and can be identified beforehand (an even-
tual progression from junior to senior), and rotation usually has more disadvantages than
advantages. The organisational structure can also form an obstacle. The development of
potential often starts within a certain business unit, where there is the possibility and
aim to progress to positions within other units. However, managers often actually want
to retain these people within their own unit and, for this reason, political considerations
often play more of a role than is desirable in job rotation (Vogelaar, 1997).

360-degree feedback
Another instrument that can be deployed for the development of potential is the
360-degree feedback. This method has already long been in use in such countries as
the United Kingdom, the United States and Japan. Large companies such as AT&T and
General Electrics have already been using this method for a number of years, and in The
Netherlands increasing numbers of companies are showing an interest in this feedback
method.Inglobalterms,the360-degreefeedbackmethodentailsthefeedbackofopinions
about the performance and (work) achievements of individual employees in organisations
(Mulder & Martens, 1998). It is a methodology whereby all those parties who are con-
cerned with the achievements gained by someone, can give their comments and feedback.
Feedback is given by persons holding various senior, peer and subordinate positions
who have an insight into the performance and achievement of the employee concerned.
This insight is an important condition, if a valid assessment is to be arrived at. The
assessors are often employee’s manager, subordinate(s), colleagues, customers, or even
suppliers. The major advantage of this method is that input is supplied from different
perspectives and reference points. In addition to the insight required into someone’s per-
formance, the success of this methodology is also dependent on a situation in which open
communication exists around the process of giving feedback. In many companies this
is, however, definitely not yet the case. The 360-degree feedback method is sometimes
linked to remuneration, with all its consequences with regard to objectivity and integrity.
The method does, however, offer good perspectives, especially if it is used as a develop-
ment instrument. Employees and managers receive feedback on their performance from
different points of view, and very concrete development points can be identified and sub-
sequently included in a personal development plan. In the role of manager or (high) po-
tential, self-awareness is a very important asset to choose the correct route, or determine
which items to set to work on, in order to undergo a certain development. It also leads to
a process that is vital to development: reflection (Hill, 1992). After some time you can
again use a 360-feedback questionnaire to get information about the progresses.
Below, we will describe an example from practice in which, in the framework of the
issue of leadership development, attention is paid to the development of management
potential as described above. The case is a general description of an approach within a
large production organisation and is part of a far more elaborated HR policy of the entire
organisation.