“All meanings, we know, depend on the key of interpretation.” -George Eliot
Most 360-degree feedback studies have consistently shown high inter-correlations among competencies including our own ((Nowack, K. (1992). Self-assessment and rater-assessment as a dimension of management development. Human Resources Development Quarterly 3, 141-155)).
As such, academic researchers have no problem combining all the competencies into an overall outcome measure (e.g., leadership) and that “higher order†competency groups or factors have validity ((Scullen, S., Mount, M., & Judge, T. (2003). Evidence of the construct validity of developmental ratings of managerial performance. Journal of Applied Psychology, 88, 50-66)).
However, for developmental or coaching purposes, it is desirable to maintain the competency architecture and model behind the assessment to support the feedback and developmental planning process in light of findings that the overlap in competencies, although significant, only account for about 50 percent of the variance.
So, at a practical level for coaching and developmental purpose, treating each competency separately can be supported assuming that the assessment was carefully designed and each competency is measuring an important job related skill, knowledge or ability. In fact, some evidence suggests managers who worked with a coach were significantly more likely to set measureable and specific goals, solicit ideas for improvement and subsequently received improved performance ratings ((Nowack, K. (2009). Leveraging Multirater Feedback to Facilitate Successful Behavioral Change. Consulting Psychology Journal: Practice and Research 61, 280-297)).
Coach’s Critique:
In my coaching experience, I try to provide feedback that is specific and usable for my client. I also tend to take a more active role in interpreting their 360-degree feedback results and make specific developmental recommendations given some new research suggesting that participants are looking for more prescription from coaches ((Hooijberg, R. & Lane, N. (2009). Using multisource feedback coaching effectively in executive education. Academy of Management Learning & Education, 8, 483-493)). If we were to combine all the competencies in a 360-degree assessment into one overall scale like, “Leadershipâ€, how would we be able to provide specific feedback for participants to discern what to work on?
For example, the competency “Planning†within a broader “Leadership†domain includes behaviors such as adapting to change, organizing work and scheduling tasks. Similarly, the competency “Managing Self†might include behaviors such as handling pressure, controlling emotions under stress and being flexible/adaptable. One might assume that an individual would score similarly on these two competencies and they would be at least moderately correlated with each other. It is also possible that a client may keep calm under pressure, but is challenged by creating plans and taking initiative during changing circumstances. To really help clients change behavior, it is important to drill down to specific behaviors they might want to start doing, stop doing, or do more/less to become more effective.  For coaching purposes, having a broad competency view of what a client needs to focus on is important for goal clarity, but to evoke real change, I need to shift to a much more micro-perspective and drill down to the exact behaviors under these competency labels to ensure deliberate practice that will lead to improvement.  And the more successful my clients are, I need to provide even more pointed feedback and fine-tuned behaviors to help them leverage what they do well to become even better.  Competencies provide a useful framework for giving feedback, but behaviors is the level of attention that coaches need to focus on to help clients improve.  A careful balance between a “macro†(competency) and “micro†(behavior) view seems useful and necessary in using 360 feedback assessments where many competencies overlap and are often correlated highly with each other.
Sandra Mashihi
Dr. Sandra Mashihi is a senior consultant with Envisia Learning, Inc. She has extensive experience in sales training, behavioral assessments and executive coaching. Prior to working at Envisia Learning, Inc., She was an internal Organizational Development Consultant at Marcus & Millichap where she was responsible for initiatives within training & development and recruiting.. Sandra received her Bachelor’s of Science in Psychology from University of California, Los Angeles and received her Master of Science and Doctorate in Organizational Psychology from the California School of Professional Psychology.
