360-degree feedback is a well-rounded and established method of assessing employee managerial performance. Craig Donaldson looks at how a leading automotive retailer has successfully used 360-degree feedback to develop its leaders and improve business performance
Inchcape Australia is part of the Inchcape group of
companies, the world’s largest independent interna
tional automotive retailer with operations in nearly
30 countries. With more than 10,000 employees world
wide, its group sales at the end of December 2008 were
$15.1 billion. In Australia, Inchcape employs 1100 peo
ple, and its group sales at the end of last year were $1.5
billion with an operating profit of $90.4 million.
Leadership at Inchcape
Inchcape Australia spends a lot of time developing com
pany-specific leadership skills, with a range of criteria
underneath each leadership skill defining what is seen as
“gold standard” leadership, according to its director of
human resources, Michael Sommerton.
As an extension to this process, he says it is important
that all managers be given an opportunity to have their
leadership skills “tested” by way of a 360-degree assess
ment. This is done as part of a biannual review, and Inch
cape partnered with an external consultancy to develop an
online 360 tool that was company-specific and completely
in sync with its leadership skills.
“Therefore, we are measuring exactly what we say
are the required sets of behaviours and skills we need to
see in a ‘gold standard’ manager,” Sommerton says.
As part of the process, he says managers have a
two-hour coaching session with an independent
organisational psychologist to review the results of the
survey and establish a plan of action to work on
areas of development, which is then reviewed with their
manager.
Participation in the 360 review is voluntary as part
of a self-development exercise, Sommerton says. “We
chose a voluntary process, as opposed to making it
mandatory for all managers, to encourage a sense of
ownership in their own development,” he says. “The
take-up rate among managers was very high and the
feedback from the initiative very positive. It was also
interesting to note which managers chose not to take
up the initiative!”
Inchcape, which was also a finalist in last year’s Aus
tralian HR Awards, is looking to make the process
mandatory next year because it has proved vital to man
agerial development.
The organisational link
The 360 review links to the Inchcape Management and
Assessment Performance System (IMAPS), an online sys
tem which allows for all performance management data,
including assessment, talent review, career aspirations
and 360 assessment results to be stored in a centralised
database, Sommerton says.
“All managers have access to their team results at
any time for continual performance review,” he says.
“Importantly, the 360 data is used together with data
we collect from our annual Gallup employee engage
ment survey as part of our talent review and planning,
to ensure that people [metrics] as well as financial and
customer metrics are used to assess a managers overall
performance.”
Weighing up the benefits
“Three years ago, the only metrics that determined the
skills of an Inchcape manager were financial ones – being
sales, conversion rates, market share, and so on. Clearly
this was unsatisfactory, only giving one side of the story,”
Sommerton says.
Now, he says, Inchcape has world-class tools in place
to determine how engaged employees are by work area,
and what skill deficiencies might require attention, as
measured against specific Inchcape leadership skills.
“We now know managers who produce great cus
tomer results (via a Net Promoter Score) and high engage
ment scores (via Gallup) produce a better bottom-line
result,” he says.
“The 360 tool gives us data to work on specific devel
opment needs, and there is an absolute increased aware
ness of the importance of both EQ and financial skills in
being a successful Inchcape manager.”
Words of advice
Having independent support in the process is important,
according to Sommerton. “We could have run the pro
gram completely in-house, however, the independent
coach working with the manager to understand the
results and developing action plans is extremely worth
while,” he says.
“Use of the external facilitator for feedback is key to
remove any perceived bias and allow the emotional reac
tion of participants to occur in a non-threatening envi
ronment.”
Inchcape also encourages managers to advertise their
results if they feel comfortable, Sommerton adds. “Even
in cases where some raw feedback was received, man
agers gained great respect from their peers and employ
ees where they acknowledged the feedback and sent a
copy to all who participated. Some even posted it on
their office door!” he says.
Choosing the correct respondents is also crucial to
ensure the feedback is meaningful, while Sommerton
advises ensuring that action plans are followed up or
incorporated into wider action plans and that managers
who may feel a little vulnerable after receiving their
results are given the support they need.
