The Office of Human Resources (OHR) in the Department of Management Strategy, Policy and Compliance recently concluded a pilot multi-rater feedback programme towards strengthening performance management and accountability at the Under-Secretary-General and Assistant Secretary-General levels. It was conducted between December 2018 and March 2019.
Multi-rater feedback, also known as 360-degree feedback, provides individuals with insight on the effects of their actions on others in the workplace. Multi-rater tools enable participants to collect feedback about their performance from colleagues, managers and direct and indirect reports.
The pilot programme included 14 participants – 7 women and 7 men -- from 8 duty stations, including 6 field missions. The participants received feedback from 323 staff members, representing an 85% response rate. The feedback was collected anonymously through an online application and was kept confidential. An external vendor managed the online application and provided executive coaching sessions to brief senior leaders on their results.
The results of a post-programme survey and individual interviews with participants demonstrated the value of the programme as a development tool. The multi-rater feedback provided useful observations on leadership strengths and identified areas that need development. Some leaders even took the additional step of sharing results with their respective teams.
OHR plans to roll-out another multi-rater feedback programme for a larger group next year. For more information, please contact performancemanagement@un.org.