360 Review

A Step Towards More Comprehensive Employee Evaluation

It’s certainly a good thought to evaluate employees with words rather than numbers. However, these changes by Morgan Stanley, while encouraging, may not be enough to truly give employees a sense of substantive feedback at work. While employees will get a five-adjective list of descriptors of their work performance, the retention of 360 reviews is troubling. Even though they’re a norm in many industries, and while some companies are able to make them work, they’re highly susceptible to bullying. Change is slow, especially in some large corporations, but when it comes to employee evaluation, more comprehensive systems need to be in place that take into account workplace culture and employee productivity. You can read more at The New York Times.

Image: Morgan Stanley's HQ in NYC; Mario Tama/Getty Images via NYT

360 Reviews and Workplace Bullying

In my opinion, 360 reviews can very easily turn into workplace bullying. These kinds of reviews consist of anonymous feedback from supervisors, peers and subordinate employees, and this combination sometimes leads to perceived “payback” in the form of severe or unfair commentary. It’s a feedback mechanism used by thousands of organizations, and in toxic workplace cultures, it leads to vitriolic bullying most of the time. Read more about these reviews at The New York Times.

Art Credit: Jacob Reeves for NYT