Ten years ago, when I set up shop at a trade show and featured “360 Degree Feedback,” anyone who bothered to stop by asked me what the heck it was. As recently as a few years ago, 360 had become everyone’s magical answer to everything – how to align the organization, stimulate development, provide the people side to the Balanced Scorecard, change organizational culture overnight… you name it, just cry “Hallelujah!” and pass the intervention.

And now, just as quickly, the sun has set on yet another fad.

But was it as bad as people thought? Or was it just used badly by those who thought it was what it wasn’t?

Most early adopters started out the right way. They used the 360 Degree Feedback process as a means of providing a stimulant to employees to help them enhance their own development. Side-benefits also resulted, namely, improvement in general communication channels and further alignment between the organization’s desired behaviors and its values. And people also saw that 360 helped accelerate culture change. All noble intentions with humble but worthy objectives.

Then came the lure of corruption… and for many, it proved just too tempting to refuse.

In companies that had established their own programs, temptation took the following form. The first thing the powers-that-be realized was that this was a wonderful opportunity to finally “get” accurate employee performance data. Then, having gotten that data, what else was there to do but incorporate it into performance reviews that impacted compensation? Amazing how feedback changes when you raise the stakes like that. People who know that a colleague’s salary or annual review is going to be affected by what gets said in the feedback process, naturally edit and soften their remarks. Presto, you’ve got yourself a 360 Degree Kick-back program!

Next, companies that were late to the game, figured they needed 360 because everyone else had it… so guess what? The CEO mandated that it be built and implemented. Whenever I was contacted by someone charged with making that happen, the first question they always asked was: “How fast can it be implemented?” and the second question was: “How much is it going to cost?” If both answers satisfied them, it was off to the races. I could barely run fast enough to ask them what I needed to know: “Why are you doing it?” Because. “Do you have job profiles or value statements articulated behaviorally?” Not really. “Do you have a standard leadership instrument?” Sort of. “Who will see the results of individual feedback.” We’ll figure that out as we go. Out of breath, I’d slow down, and yell, “You’re going to fail miserably, waste your time and money, and everyone’s going to resent what you do!” But I’m not sure they ever heard.

Finally, there were those companies that had “Benchmark Fever.” It’s a peculiar disease whereby those in charge of a measurement program feel that the only way they can validate results is to compare them to other companies in similar industries. Unfortunately, nothing could be less helpful. Sure, you want to repeat the success of other companies… but your own company’s values, culture and strategy are unique. That’s why the behaviors that constitute top performance in your company are unique, as well. Comparing how people succeed in external environments is not going to be meaningful to you. If you want to benchmark, you can eventually do it internally, once sufficient data has accumulated, because behaviors rooted in your values should be winning ones no matter where they are exhibited within the organization.

If you desire your 360 Degree Feedback process to work, there are many key points you’ll want on your cheat sheet: implement the process in stages, keep the questions short, provide training for all involved, make sure managers follow-up by holding individuals accountable for their development commitments, etc., etc.

But the most important considerations have to do with those three temptations: Use feedback for development purposes only; know why you’re doing it and how it fits with your other programs; and build it internally, based on your values and job profiles, without using normative data from outside your organization.

As a motivator for behavior change, 360 Degree Feedback has few peers but feedback alone is not enough… it needs the right kind of support and follow-up to succeed. I believe the cynicism developed because the process was not perceived by employees as fair, safe, accurate or trustworthy. But if the process is 1) tailored to cultural values and top performance behaviors, 2) used primarily and initially for individual development and if 3) managers and employees are held accountable for the resulting development plans, tremendous benefits will result in performance, culture change, employee involvement and enhanced communication. Remember, feedback from multiple sources is a wonderful opportunity that should not be given short thrift. As Robert Burns said:

“Oh, what a great gift it would be, if I could only see others as they see me!”