Feedback is the essence of an organization's work culture. A Manager's feedback to his team holds the rhythm of the work system. Feedback is given to let the employee know if he is on the right track or not. It is very easy to point out mistakes, but is equally difficult to sandwich the positive and negative comments and communicate it to the employees.

Well, any employee, for that matter loves recognition. Don't you think so?

"When an employee decides to quit his job, he would be apparently leaving his manager and not the organization". This is believed and does sound true!

Yes, this is true as every employee would want his contribution to be recognized and appreciated by his manager. From an organization's front, the importance of feedback is very much felt at the time of performance analysis and appraisals.

Continuous feedback plays a vital role in motivating an employee to give his best that in-turn helps the organization to achieve its objectives. When manager responses to the employees work immediately, the employees feel that their work does make a difference in accomplishing the objective. Hence, the employees try and give their best. To know the possibility of this, we should first know the importance of continuous feedback. After all, giving feedback is an art that all managers ought to have.

Importance of Continuous Feedback

• Continuous feedback can be the solution for issues. It is easy to fix a problem or a mistake at the initial stage, than to wait till the end.
• Continuous feedback by a manager is nothing but a helping hand to the team members to enhance their work.
• Continuous feedback is a learning curve for those employees who take it positively and try to implement it in their work.

Continuous Feedback drives as a motivation to the employees. You might wonder how?

Benefits of Continuous Feedback

Importance of Continuous feedback culture can help an organization grow as it has huge benefits, for employees and the organization.

• Continuous feedback increases the efficiency of the employee and the effectiveness of the job well done.
• Continuous feedback gets the employee on the right track, before he completes his task.
• Continuous feedback boosts the employees to give their best.
• It also holds up the employees’ morale, by which they remain loyal to their work and to their organization.
• Continuous feedback minimizes the time taken to complete a given task/project.
• It gives well trained and groomed employees to the organization.
• Enhances the productivity of the organization.
• Helps maintain a friendly atmosphere and culture in the organization.

Imagine the audition for a reality show. The performance gets better with the reaction of the audience like showing happiness and appreciativeness. After finishing the performance it’s the turn of the judges for their comments and feedback. Now, it’s clear that a performance will have to be judged on several criteria. Therefore, the process of assessment will only be complete only when you receive a 360 degree feedback by the panel of judges.

What does 360 degree feedback mean?

In a 360 degree feedback process, an employee receives feedback from his immediate work circle. It includes direct feedback from subordinates, peers and superiors, and in some cases even from the external sources like the customers, suppliers or other important stakeholders. 360 degree feedback is also termed as "multi-rater feedback" for it holds different perspectives of a group of concerned people. 

Why is 360 degree feedback important?

360 degree feedback is a positive element for an organization's performance management.

• It provides employee an opportunity to receive performance feedback from his team, supervisor, reporting staff and his customers. 
• It allows an individual to understand his effectiveness as an employee and as a team member. 
• It helps employees recognize their strength and areas where they can improve-helps employees to be more successful.
• It helps employees in developing a proper plan of work.
• Focuses on personal and career development.
• Helps create personalized action plan.
• Gets the employees together on the goal and work better as a team.
• It acts as a great motivator for change.
• It helps an employee to develop professionally and be effective at work. 

360 degree feedback is an overall performance rater for an employee. However, for an effective 360 degree feedback, it is very essential to have a properly designed performance management system. Having a better performance management system completes the process of 360 degree feedback.