Can the Thornhill 360 be used for performance appraisals?
Technically there is no problem with using the Thornhill system, or any of our existing questionnaires, for performance appraisals. Ethically though, great care should be taken to ensure that the participants, and respondents, understand the purpose for which the information will be used. We have found that the collaborative relationship created in a management development context works well for 360-degree feedback, whereas the competitive relationship often implied by performance appraisals makes the use of peer feedback much more delicate. The data-collection, and especially the feedback, needs to be handled with great care. We ask that any client wishing to use our 360-degree feedback system clarify the purpose before we design the process together.
