360 DEGREE PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL IN NOKIA

The concept and its uses can be further explained with the help of the example of Nokia. Nokia has
incorporated performance appraisals in its compensation plans for its employees. The company has
adopted the philosophy of pay-for-performance and therefore measuring and gauging different
performance indicators of each employee is essential to the company. Nokia is an innovative firm with a
global matrix structure and a typical line management configuration at the country level. Therefore the
performance appraisal system called Investing in People has been designed as 360 degree feedback
and electronic briefing sessions (Pollitt, 2004), which are perfectly aligned with the structure and overall
aim of the company.
Performance appraisal is one of the popular concepts among the multinational and local companies. The
concept has been defined by DeVries et al., (1981) as the process which allows firms to measure and
consequently evaluate an employees achievements and behavior over a certain period of time. The
basic purpose of using performance appraisal techniques within an organization is to align the
employees efforts with the overall objective of the firm.

There has been a widespread discussion within the academic circles as to how to define performance
(Papers4you.com, 2006). Drawing upon Briscoe & Schuler (2004) performance can be viewed as a
combination of several variables, such as motivation, ability, working conditions and expectations. It has
been established that there are certain factors that affect employees performance more than others.
These factors, according to Dowling et al (1999) include the compensation package; the nature of task;
support from higher management; the working environment and the overall corporate culture.

There are many advantages mentioned in the literature regarding the use of performance appraisals
within an organization (Papers4you.com, 2006). It has been suggested that it improves the
communication between the higher to lower level management; identify areas of improvement; show
employees training needs; help in promotion, retention and termination decisions; and means of
managerial control (Fletcher, 1992). In order to take full advantage of the performance appraisals, the
goal in designing such systems should be congruent to the overall aim and vision of the company. For
instance, it is evident that there is a direct correlation between the performance of employees and their
rewards as businesses do seek creation of wealth as their primary goal. Therefore one of the
increasingly adopted uses of performance appraisals is to motivate employees to perform better by
linking it with reward packages.

The concept and its uses can be further explained with the help of the example of Nokia. Nokia has
incorporated performance appraisals in its compensation plans for its employees. The company has
adopted the philosophy of pay-for-performance and therefore measuring and gauging different
performance indicators of each employee is essential to the company. Nokia is an innovative firm with a
global matrix structure and a typical line management configuration at the country level. Therefore the
performance appraisal system called Investing in People has been designed as 360 degree feedback
and electronic briefing sessions (Pollitt, 2004), which are perfectly aligned with the structure and overall
aim of the company.

It can be concluded from the discussion that valuable organizational objectives are served with the help
of performance appraisals and organizations should use the technique by aligning the performance
parameters with their overall mission and vision.

References:

Briscoe, D. & Schuler, R. (2004), International Human Resource Management 2nd Ed., Routledge

Dowling et al (1999), International Human Resource Management Managing People in a Multinational
Context 3rd Ed., International Thomson Publishing

DeVries, D.L., Morrison, A.M., Shullman, S.L., Gerlach, M.L. (1981), Performance Appraisal On The Line,
Center for Creative Leadership, Greensboro, NC

Fletcher, C. (1992), Performance management: its nature and research base, in Developing a
Performance-oriented Culture (Eds), Association for Management Education and Development

Pollitt, D. (2004), Nokia Connects HR Policy with Company Success, Human Resource Management
International Digest, Vol. 12 No. 6, p30-32
The delicate balance between change and continuity; stability and unity; and development and growth
in an organisation is most often not easily achieved. In most cases, it is the important role played by the
human resource champion that balances the various forces that constitute organisational elements and
corporate entitles. 360 degree feedback, competency mapping and assessment centres captures the
experiences of organisations and individuals involved in the implementation of these tools. It explores
the evolution, the what and how of 360 degree feedback and assessment centres from concept to
implementation. The book includes Conceptual papers by experts from the academia and international
consulting firms; case studies on national and multinational organisations operating in India. Part I of the
book dwells on the concept, applications, processes and case studies on 360 degree feedback. It
includes, among others, the experiences of Motorola, Seagram, Nokia, etc. who have used 360 degree
feedback as a development tool. Part II of the book includes the experiences of Wipro, SmithKline
Beecham, Escorts, Vysya Bank, etc. Also it includes chapters by senior consultants from Arthur
Andersen, Noble and Hewitt, PricewaterHouse Coopers TV Rao Learning Systems on the experiences of
these strategic HR tools. In India, most companies are using these two tools largely on stand-along basis.
But increasingly there is a trend to move from one to the other. For example, identification and
assessment of competencies can be done through 360 degree feedback. Similarly, an organisation using
360 degree feedback for development purposes needs to identify areas of improvement for the
development of competencies. The book integrates these two approaches which complement each
other. It contains various methods for identifying, profiling and developing competencies and presents
case studies of Indian and multinational organisations who are using assessment/development centres
and the 360 degree approach. With this coverage, the book would be useful to HR/OB professionals,
business development managers and students of management.
360 Degree Feedback, often used in tandem with Assessment and Development Centres, is a powerful
technique pioneered in India by TV Rao Learning Systems, who have over the last five years applied this
very successfully to many of India's large companies. This volume, the third and last in the series, is an
indispensable corollary and companion to the second volume, in as much as the focus is on Leadership
Development, one of the most urgently felt needs of the Corporate sector. Spurred on by the threats
and opportunities of global competition, companies are now focusing on developing talented leaders.
This book, in mapping the terrain and the strategies needed to compete, focuses inter alia on: v
Assessment Centres v New Case Studies Pertaining to Top Indian Corporates v Critical essays pertaining
to Competency Mapping, 360 Degree Feedback, Assessment Centres, and Mergers & Acquisitions v In-
house Work by Organizations without outside Assistance These vital issues explored in elaborate detail
in this book will be appreciated not only by practicing HR professionals and senior executives, but also
by management students.
60-degree feedback is a full circle, multi-source and multi-rater system of obtaining information from
peers, subordinates, and internal and external customers, about the employee's performance. 360-
degree assessment is based on the assessment of an individual's management styles, competencies and
behaviour by colleagues horizontally and vertically by involving his boss, peers arid direct reports in the
organisation. This is supplemented with self-rating and customer ratings. 360-feedbacks can, therefore,
be a powerful mechanism through which information regarding an individual's personal development
and his training needs, can be obtained. The advantage of this process is that it enables one to obtain
information from multiple sources and from people who routinely work with and are affected by the
employee's behaviour.

Definition
"The 360 degree feedback process involves collecting perceptions about a person's behaviour and the
impact of that behaviour from the person's boss or bosses, direct reports, colleagues, fellow members in
the project team, internal and external customers and suppliers."-Lepsinger, 1997

EVOLUTION OF 360-DEGREE FEEDBACK

The concept of 360-degree feedback has its roots in industrial and organisational psychology when
Nadler (1977) conducted an employee attitude survey in which he asked employees to rate their level of
satisfaction with their immediate supervisor and top executives. It was branded as the '360 degree
appraisal' in 1998 in the US. There are various opinions about the origin of this method. According to
Forbes (1996), upward feedback was developed by Peter Farey of the British Airways in 1973. Other
viewpoints were offered by Harris and Schaubroeck (1988), who quoted studies conducted as far back as
in 1953 and Bracken (1996) quoted a 1978 review of 24 commercial feedback instruments that existed
at the time.

Recent studies and surveys, however, present a different picture. A study of Fortune 500 companies by
the Wyatt Company conducted in 1993, had reported that 26 per cent companies have been employing
360-feedback method (Vinson, 1996). The finding of 'recent surveys' reported by Edwards and Ewen
(1996) estimate that 90 per cent of the Fortune 1000 firms have been using some form of multi-source
assessments. According to a 1997 survey 8 per cent of the companies used this approach and 69 per
cent planned to introduce it in the next three years. In India, it was initiated in the mid-1980s and is
emerging as a prominent HR tool being used for developmental purposes by companies like Wipro, the
Indian Tobacco Company (lTC), Motorola, Smith Kline Beecham, Nokia, Seagram, Shell (India), Philips,
Aditya Birla group, NUT and Star TV, among other progressive companies.

The process of 360-degree feedback has undergone considerable change in design and approach over
the years. Initially it included executives and individuals at all levels in the organisation but in recent
years it has become more focused on superiors, subordinates, peers, customers and self. Even the
process is gradually changing from the manual to the electronic method. In the West, the paper or scan
forms of feedback are being replaced by computer-based electronic, paperless e-mail feedback. The
rigid design of survey is giving way to customised surveys being undertaken by the company. The
feedback has moved from numeric to qualitative comments. Instead of being fixed the report formats
are becoming more customised.
60 Degrees Experience
360 Degrees is the Experiential Marketing & BTL solutions arm of Times Innovative Media Pvt. Ltd.
(TIMPL). It is a 100% subsidiary of Recreation Network India Ltd. (Radio Mirchi), a Times of India Group
company. 360 Degrees produces and handles some of the most prominent events in India. There is still
one field that remains wide open: experience innovation. This is the only type of business innovation
that is not imitable. 360 Degrees Experience yet the design of an experience is often overlooked in the
rush to market. need look no further than a NYT article