Читать книгу Choosing 360: A Guide to Evaluating Multi-rater Feedback Instruments for Management Development - John Fleenor W. - Страница 11

STEP 3:COMPARE YOUR INTENDED USE TO INSTRUMENT CHARACTERISTICS

It is improbable that one instrument will meet the needs of all managers in an organization. Job demands differ somewhat by organizational level, and even at the same management level, skills that are needed for effectiveness may change over time. In addition, the dimensions on which managers are assessed should be in line with organizational visions for leadership. To the extent that these visions vary across organizations, it is also highly unlikely that one instrument will meet the needs of all kinds of organizations. Thus, in searching for an instrument to provide feedback to managers, a person is typically looking for one that will satisfy the needs of a particular group of managers in an organization with specific leadership or management needs.

Although nearly every 360-degree-feedback instrument has a statement of purpose describing the level of management it targets, there seems to be little relationship between management level and the domains of activity or behavior assessed. An instrument targeted toward all levels of management might not be right for middle managers in your organization because the capacities assessed are not in line with company-wide management-development goals. An instrument targeted toward higher levels might be right for your middle managers if the competencies assessed agree with your management-development goals.

More important than considering the advertised audience is discovering the norm group, if any, to which managers will be compared. By norm group, we mean the group of managers whose scores are stored in the vendor’s database and are output as the comparison group on every individual feedback report. If the norm group is comprised of senior-level managers, whose skills are likely to be more highly developed, the scores of middle managers will probably appear worse than they would if they were compared to managers similar to themselves. Therefore, look for instruments that have been normed on a sample similar to your target managers; consider level, organization type, and demographics (for example, ethnicity and gender).

But be forewarned: The feedback instruments we are concerned with here have been developed for use in management-development efforts, either in the classroom or in individual feedback settings. These are instruments that have not been developed or tested for other purposes—such as making selection or promotion decisions.