[ursher]

Hi so my boss is having one on one's with people in my department asking about my colleague's work performance (the good and the bad). Pretty much to weasel out who's not really giving 100% everyday so to speak.

Is this allowed by my boss or is this against some kind of HR code in Canada?

TIA

[pastarocket]

-not sure whether it violates any laws in Canada. Does your employer mention anything to staff during one on one meetings about performance evaluation that involves your peers? Peer evaluation for evaluating work performance is something I have not encountered before in my career.

[ursher]

these one on one's are hush hush right now. I heard from another person that the gist of the meetings is pretty much talking shit about other people to the boss.

[punkwax]

If you're not comfortable discussing other people's performance, tell your boss that. What kind of a shitty boss does that anyway; its up to him / her to judge performance. What a cop out on responsibility if you ask me.

I find people who are comfortable complaining about a co-worker's lack of production certainly don't mind sharing anyway..

[nns]

It's not a cop-out to ask for someone elses opinion. You basically said it yourself: you can tell what type of character a person is by what they say about others.

A lot of people, including myself, are not entirely comfortable being around management. I'm always careful of what and how I say things around them because I know their opinion of who I am is what matters, not my coworkers. With my coworkers I feel I have a lot more freedom to be myself and say what I think with less discretion.

All those snide remarks, cheap excuses, lackluster effort, etc come back to haunt you during your review. Things like this are most often observed by your colleagues down in the trenches, not the boss at his desk back at the office.

I would think a good boss would take the opinion of your coworkers into consideration, combined with other factors to formulate an opinion of so-and-so person. Not just base everything off what your coworkers say.

[punkwax]

^ I agree that theres nothing wrong with a boss asking "how's so and so doing?" in passing. But OP lead me down the path that the boss sitting people down trying to get them to talk shit. That is not effective...

[StutteR_]

Studying Human Resource Management and currently doing my practicum.

Having individual meetings with everyone in the office is perfectly legal...sadly he is not breaking any laws.

Like the others mentioned, you could just state that you are not comfortable speaking about people's performance.

If your boss however goes into personal issues that is not related to your workplace...then there could be an issue.

It seems that your boss is just going to make matters worse for him in the long run once people start realizing what he is trying to do.

[saiko]

I believe a good boss doesn't need to ask his own employees about each others performance. From where I have worked, it is obvious who is a slacker and who isn't.

Even if people do "fake work" and look busy all the time, it is clear who deserves to be let go. This is based on the results the employees can give out when requested. Possibly, once or twice the slackers can hide, but they cannot hide every time all the time.

[BaBiE_Bee]

A previous manager of mine had us do anonymous peer evaluations for our year end reviews; she told her the comments of our peers but we didn't know who exactly said them. I thought it was good constructive criticism.

My manager did it in a professional manner, but I had a really good relationship with her.

Despite what others have said in this thread, I've always had really good relationships with all my managers, guess I've been lucky. :)

[AzNightmare]

I always thought this was normal and happens all the time.
I'm not sure how official these type of meetings are, and I would think it also depends on company size.

But a lot of times, the big bosses that make the decision in hiring and firing are not the same people that are working with you on a daily basis, and in some cases, probably only see you once or twice a month, when you end up bumping into each other in the coffee room or something.

I don't know about them asking a review from co-workers in the same position or level, but they would most definitely check supervisors who do deal with you or give you daily tasks. But of course, this also depends on the person's position as well.

Either way, I don't think there's anything to worry about if you didn't do anything wrong.
Unless there is a dick in the company who would tell lies. But a good manager/boss that deals with hiring and firing would probably take in a few people's opinions instead of base it on just one person's opinion.

[tiger_handheld]

I believe the business term for this type of questioning is
360 degree evaluation

you evaluate youself
your immediate manager evaluates you
your peers evaluate you


this is very common in the corporate world

[Gridlock]

Probably not illegal...but definitely not how you lead a group of people to success.

You are asking a bunch of co-workers to break rank, rat out their co-workers and think its going to solve a problem.

A for instance: We had a girl that was the supervisor of the department that was a stuck up, ignorant bitch. Her tactics were intimidation and knowledge. If she couldn't intimidate you, then she'd just blast you with e-mails, and speadsheets and all kinds of shit that you couldn't even answer for one on one. So really, intimidation through computer.

I should mention, she tried with me. I got called into an office that I was late 2 days in a row for 7 minutes, and 12 minutes respectively. She would actually have others send a time stamped e-mail when they arrived. I said, you're right...my bad. You'll also notice that I stayed for 2 hours yesterday, and did not submit overtime. I don't submit overtime, for personal reasons. Please don't make me change that perspective. Funny, no one ever questioned when I got to work anymore :)

So, fast forward. Boss is out of town. We're left with this chick. She berates the woman she didn't like, in front of everyone. There's tears and all that shit.

So my boss has one on one meetings regarding the incident. This I agree with. We were able to discuss the situation, tell her this chick is fucking nuts and whatever. Nothing happened, because the main boss liked her(mainly for the skimpy, "I could be an escort" outfits) but that is a scenario where you kind of need to make a safe environment, so people can actually tell you whats happening.

Here's what its actually going to do. One person will sit there and sing like a canary. Throw multiple people under the bus. Others will learn of it, so now co-worker a HATES co-worker b.

A good LEADER will know who is contributing what. You don't need to be over their shoulders, but you need to be observant. When I made it to supervisor, I used to take a little time on Friday afternoons to make chit chat. I'd basically sit in the middle of the cubicle farm and and just start talking to people. Some of it work related, some not. How's the kid doing? Big plans for weekend? Oh...don't forget we have xyz coming up next week. How did you make out this week with whatever customer. Fuck, we're off the record...your customer is an asshole. Whatever it took to get people on the same page, a few laughs and find out where people were.

It actually worked. At least people could come up to me with problems and I could help them, not rip their head off.

Trust is a fickle thing. You don't need to be best friends, but they need to trust you and respect you.

I know for me, I quit shortly after losing both myself.

[drunkrussian]

in terms of the legality, not only is it legal, it's a encouraged by good hr. 360 reviews where your manager assesses your performance based on what they think, what metrics show AND what colleagues say paints a better, less-biased overall picture of you as an employee.

with that said, i hate hr and would personally say nice things about everyone. I'm just saying legally and logically it makes sense and not NECESSARILY your boss being a dick

[Noir]

Yes it's probably not illegal, but I will have to disagree that this is common in the corporate world; though I don't doubt that it exists.

At the end of the day, its unprofessional as fuck. And I think it actually speaks more about management than it does the employees.




I hate to be sexist, but I swear this is an honest observation.

After working for an insurance office for over 4 years, guys in my office don't talk shit about each other even when goaded. At worst case, they'll try their best to be PC or polite if they have to critique. Women on the other hand with inner-office gossiping... fuck, it doesn't matter if their in the 20's, 30's, 40's +, its like fucking high school "mean girls" culture again.

And here's also why its stupid. For the people that actually do/did talk, it was all biased BS based on the inter-office cliques. It didn't reflect performance at all, it just reflect who was closer to who, or who liked who.




TBH, good management, and good leaders that I had the benefit of working for, can assess and evaluate a person one on one without having to turn the office into its own version of the Donald Trump, celebrity apprentice board room.

When they have a problem with you, or if they need to bring something to your attention, they do it quietly and discreetly so you don't get dehumanized in front of your peers; or singled out as a problem-person in the office.

[xmisstrinh]

Its not illegal, and its not unprofessional. Its a 360 evaluation.

Though I believe you should have the option to remain anonymous.

[Glove]

its always the women

[goo3]

If there's respect and professionalism in the work environment, there's nothing wrong at all with 360. I guess there needs to be some maturity where you work...

[Noir]

Its not illegal, and its not unprofessional. Its a 360 evaluation.

Though I believe you should have the option to remain anonymous.

So...

(a) You don't think its unprofessional to talk about some people behind their backs.

(b) And you think, it should be anonymous so nobody knows it was you who trashed someone...


and you just happen to be a girl right?


Again, I hate to be a sexist but sometimes its hard to ignore patterns you've observed.

When guys do this, it makes them hella uncomfortable. Maybe its just a stupid "macho" thing that we think we can solve problems ourselves, or as a show that the annoying things other people do, doesn't affect us. Or maybe its a different culture, and it doesn't matter how much a guy dislikes someone, but no guy usually wants to be the rat.

[Gridlock]

I should mention that I got the idea from the OP that this is a fishing exercise, "Pretty much to weasel out who's not really giving 100% everyday so to speak." NOT a 360 review where I tell you what is good and bad about YOU and you guys tell me what is good and bad about ME.

His boss is asking what is good and bad about your co-workers.

That's just shitty management style, NOT trendy management technique.

[drunkrussian]

agreed it totally depends on the situation whether its a good 360 review or shitty mgmt

rrgarding women: id say this only happens if there are enough of them (ie a larger office). i worked in a tiny office with only men with no problems. inalso worked in a small office of 15 with a mix and it was ok. however now i work for a 300 person company and our tram is mostly women and the gossiping and bitchiness doesnt end lol. i think it depends on the size of the org because that increases compettion, insecurity and stress

[Glove]

Why are women like that? lol, the female psyche is so interesting, half the things they do just make no logical sense.

I used to work for a company where all the secretaries / help desk were all female, and my GOD THE GOSSIP / drama.

Now I work in an all male place and shit gets done, and it gets done efficiently.

If my boss every came up to any of us and said, how do you feel about so and so's performance, none of us would throw anoyone else under the bus.

But women would jump on the chance to bitch about a co worker, hell my GF texts me on an hourly basis while she's at work bitching about work people.

[GGnoRE]

What kind of a boss doesn't know his subordinate's work progress? Can't you tell by the progress of the work assigned and the results the worker produced? What kind of an inefficient micromanagement system is that (making workers do peer evaluation on each other)? I would only understand if the boss is doing a 360 evaluation before promoting a worker to a higher position but man, that is a really shitty leader.

[dachinesedude]

ive never had managers ask me about others' performances, most of the time they can assess your performance by asking YOU and how you respond to their questions

[Mr.HappySilp]

If I was in your position I would say something along the lines of " I never really notice how effective my co-workers becasue I only concerate on the work I have to compelete or do."

That way you are not saying anything negative or postive about your co-workers and it implies you are focus on your work rather than being a social butterfly at work.

[highres604]

Don't rat out your co-workers. Just terrible. Also any good manager shouldn't have to ask these questions. The only time it would be somewhat acceptable is if the manager is based out of a different location and does not have day to day exposure to the employees.

[xmisstrinh]

So...

(a) You don't think its unprofessional to talk about some people behind their backs.

(b) And you think, it should be anonymous so nobody knows it was you who trashed someone...


and you just happen to be a girl right?


Again, I hate to be a sexist but sometimes its hard to ignore patterns you've observed.

When guys do this, it makes them hella uncomfortable. Maybe its just a stupid "macho" thing that we think we can solve problems ourselves, or as a show that the annoying things other people do, doesn't affect us. Or maybe its a different culture, and it doesn't matter how much a guy dislikes someone, but no guy usually wants to be the rat.


First off, OP said that its department-wide, so its not talking behind other's backs. Had it been that the boss is pulling out people to chat without other's knowledge, then it would be unprofessional and unethical.

I think that any type of 360 evaluations should be anonymous regardless of trash talk or not.

And no its not just because I'm a girl, but I am in HR. 360 evaluations are important in gaining a full view of how someone's performance is. 10% of co workers saying shit about someone vs 90% positive evaluations- you can pretty much weed out what is true of someone's work ethics and what is false.

[nns]

I'm kind of amused that some of you are basically drawing parallels between critiiquing another coworker, and snitching/being a rat/whatever.

This is the professional world, not the streets. Not that hood politics work well in either arena.

I'm just going to throw this out there, it's not really a direct response to a post anyboy has made. Personally, if I know somebody is making a mistake that makes the company look bad, I'm going to take offense to it. No, I don't have a blind devotion to my employer. I simply feel my work reflects on my ethics and personality. I apply this judgement upon my coworkers. If I feel their mistakes, laziness, etc is making the rest of us look bad, I'm not going to keep it all bottled up because of some no-snitching mindset. Now should somebody ask me, say a superior, what I think of X person, I would definitely think about bringing what I feel is relevant to them. I would keep it constructive, and back it up with facts and examples. I am responsible for my work, my boss is responsible for me AND my work. My boss has his boss, and so on. If he feels he needs to run a tighter ship and does so partly by asking for my opinion about my colleagues, I'll do it. I understand.

I wouldn't want to get any of my coworkers fired. If my critique makes someone else better at their job, that's a win for everyone.

[Noir]

First off, OP said that its department-wide, so its not talking behind other's backs. Had it been that the boss is pulling out people to chat without other's knowledge, then it would be unprofessional and unethical.

I think that any type of 360 evaluations should be anonymous regardless of trash talk or not.

And no its not just because I'm a girl, but I am in HR. 360 evaluations are important in gaining a full view of how someone's performance is. 10% of co workers saying shit about someone vs 90% positive evaluations- you can pretty much weed out what is true of someone's work ethics and what is false.

It still is.

And seriously, the benefits of this management style do not outweigh the negative consequences. Why?

(a) We've already seen, unless it's a positive feedback, that a large portion of people are already uncomfortable of throwing people under the bus. Therefore, what you're going to get are PC, watered down half truths at best; if at all.

(b) Those who are more than comfortable at dishing negative critiques at their peers are subject to the bias of their cliques or social favourites. Yes it's a professional environment but you can't ignore that at the end of it, people are just people and social segregation by cliques, like highschool exists in today's workplace as well.

Because of this bias, the integrity of these feedbacks are compromised as well.

(c) And then there those that complain just to complain. Wether it's warranted or not. In an office, these people can be either, employees who think they can run the office better, employees who think trashing other makes his work look good, or maybe some people complain just to look like their contributing to the improvement and direction of the company.



Like a few already said here, if you're boss has no grasp of his troops, he has no business being a leader at all; and putting them in a pit where they may have to fend against each other is not good management (or evaluation) strategy. You can professionally dress this process up whatever you like: peer evaluation, 360 evaluation, etc. It's all the same.





I'm kind of amused that some of you are basically drawing parallels between critiiquing another coworker, and snitching/being a rat/whatever.

This is the professional world, not the streets. Not that hood politics work well in either arena.


I'm just going to throw this out there, it's not really a direct response to a post anyboy has made. Personally, if I know somebody is making a mistake that makes the company look bad, I'm going to take offense to it. No, I don't have a blind devotion to my employer. I simply feel my work reflects on my ethics and personality. I apply this judgement upon my coworkers. If I feel their mistakes, laziness, etc is making the rest of us look bad, I'm not going to keep it all bottled up because of some no-snitching mindset. Now should somebody ask me, say a superior, what I think of X person, I would definitely think about bringing what I feel is relevant to them. I would keep it constructive, and back it up with facts and examples. I am responsible for my work, my boss is responsible for me AND my work. My boss has his boss, and so on. If he feels he needs to run a tighter ship and does so partly by asking for my opinion about my colleagues, I'll do it. I understand.


I wouldn't want to get any of my coworkers fired. If my critique makes someone else better at their job, that's a win for everyone.

That's you though, and a lot of guys here including myself, share your sentiment in how they would handle that situation. However, do you guarantee that everyone will handle a difficult situation with as much class and tact as you have?

The latter part of the first page already displayed, there are guys like you... and then there are otherwise.

[nns]

Just to make things clear, Noir, if you were my boss/supervisor/superior, when would it cross your mind that it would be acceptable to ask my colleagues for their opinion of me?

Possibly never?

[alpinestars]

Studying Human Resource Management and currently doing my practicum.

Having individual meetings with everyone in the office is perfectly legal...sadly he is not breaking any laws.

Like the others mentioned, you could just state that you are not comfortable speaking about people's performance.

If your boss however goes into personal issues that is not related to your workplace...then there could be an issue.

It seems that your boss is just going to make matters worse for him in the long run once people start realizing what he is trying to do.

shamir, may want to consider some 1 on 1 lessons from tiger_handheld.

I believe the business term for this type of questioning is
360 degree evaluation

you evaluate youself
your immediate manager evaluates you
your peers evaluate you


this is very common in the corporate world

[Lomac]

Don't rat out your co-workers. Just terrible. Also any good manager shouldn't have to ask these questions. The only time it would be somewhat acceptable is if the manager is based out of a different location and does not have day to day exposure to the employees.

That's the thing; many managers or bosses don't have daily interactions with their employees. It's one thing to judge someone solely by their numbers, but depending on the job, how they interact with their coworkers and customers also plays a big part into it. If I worked for Company A's satellite office in Vancouver, while my Home Office (and boss) was located in Toronto, it's obviously going to be quite difficult for my boss to assess my other skills apart from the data he can see from the weekly spreadsheet he can pull. I may have very good project completions, but my interactions with others could be absolutely shitty. It's for things like this that bosses will walk around and talk to others about me.

Even at my current job, my boss and I rarely ever see each other apart from a brief morning meeting every few days. She doesn't see that I spend a ton of time slacking off by surfing on Revscene or text messaging my friends or swearing at my drivers; all she see's is that my work is completed on time with minimal overtime required. On paper, I look good. On the other hand, I might look like the biggest douche. It's up to her to talk to my coworkers and find out the truth and make a judgement call based upon all the information she gathers.

[drunkrussian]

I'm kind of amused that some of you are basically drawing parallels between critiiquing another coworker, and snitching/being a rat/whatever.

This is the professional world, not the streets. Not that hood politics work well in either arena.

I'm just going to throw this out there, it's not really a direct response to a post anyboy has made. Personally, if I know somebody is making a mistake that makes the company look bad, I'm going to take offense to it. No, I don't have a blind devotion to my employer. I simply feel my work reflects on my ethics and personality. I apply this judgement upon my coworkers. If I feel their mistakes, laziness, etc is making the rest of us look bad, I'm not going to keep it all bottled up because of some no-snitching mindset. Now should somebody ask me, say a superior, what I think of X person, I would definitely think about bringing what I feel is relevant to them. I would keep it constructive, and back it up with facts and examples. I am responsible for my work, my boss is responsible for me AND my work. My boss has his boss, and so on. If he feels he needs to run a tighter ship and does so partly by asking for my opinion about my colleagues, I'll do it. I understand.

I wouldn't want to get any of my coworkers fired. If my critique makes someone else better at their job, that's a win for everyone.

i couldn't disagree more.

for me personally, it's not about "the streets" lol in fact fuck the street code - i'm al for snitching and criminals being put in jail. If i was sure of my safety i would snitch in a heartbeat.

the reason for me why work is different is the opposite of "the streets" - people at work are good people, who worked hard to get there and who's livelihood and lives depend on earning money from the job. Therefore for me to throw someone under the bus, they would have to piss me off, cause serious harm to the company and be the worst coworker ever. i would never bitch about a coworker who has some bad habits or irritates me or is not as good at a certain thing as another person. I think it's a scumbag move, a selfish move, and i just would feel disgusting doing it.

Now don't get me wrong - i would definitely critique someone if i was a manager and i'd do it in an effective way. But like i said, unless hte person is making my life miserable, it's not my place to critisize them. Unless it's an open forum where we're all providing each other positive and negative feedback openly and to each other's faces

i do see however that you mention making you and the team look bad. If in fact an employee makes a whole team look bad, then more people are affected by this person's actions, than that one person would be affected if i snitched on him. In that case and that situation, i agree and i would definitely express how i feel.

[Hurricane]

This thread is jam packed full of fail.

360-degree feedback = weaseling ???

Doesn't sound like OP is afraid to talk about his coworkers - more like he's afraid of how many of them are going to tell the boss he's a class A D#G F##KER.

360-feedback is one of the most valuable tools to use when considering people for promotions. Respect of ones peers is of utmost importance.

If you're afraid of what your coworkers might say about you that the boss doesn't already know, well... there are probably bigger issues to be addressed.

[Noir]

Just to make things clear, Noir, if you were my boss/supervisor/superior, when would it cross your mind that it would be acceptable to ask my colleagues for their opinion of me?

Possibly never?

Nope.

If I have a problem with you, I will speak with you directly and address only you. I will also make sure it's isolated so it's just between you and me and not the hot new gossip of the office.


However,

If it's informal and I'm just asking how people are doing around the office, and say... you're not around, I don't see a problem asking...

(a) Hey, how is nns doing?
(b) or, hey have you guys heard from nns?

We always do the latter.




Now don't get me wrong - i would definitely critique someone if i was a manager and i'd do it in an effective way. But like i said, unless hte person is making my life miserable, it's not my place to critisize them. Unless it's an open forum where we're all providing each other positive and negative feedback openly and to each other's faces


You'll be surprised. I've been there too and you'll be surprised to see how so many people suddenly have no opinions of one another; and if any, they're all lovey dovey hunky dorey for the majority of it.

[Mr.HappySilp]

I'm kind of amused that some of you are basically drawing parallels between critiiquing another coworker, and snitching/being a rat/whatever.

This is the professional world, not the streets. Not that hood politics work well in either arena.

I'm just going to throw this out there, it's not really a direct response to a post anyboy has made. Personally, if I know somebody is making a mistake that makes the company look bad, I'm going to take offense to it. No, I don't have a blind devotion to my employer. I simply feel my work reflects on my ethics and personality. I apply this judgement upon my coworkers. If I feel their mistakes, laziness, etc is making the rest of us look bad, I'm not going to keep it all bottled up because of some no-snitching mindset. Now should somebody ask me, say a superior, what I think of X person, I would definitely think about bringing what I feel is relevant to them. I would keep it constructive, and back it up with facts and examples. I am responsible for my work, my boss is responsible for me AND my work. My boss has his boss, and so on. If he feels he needs to run a tighter ship and does so partly by asking for my opinion about my colleagues, I'll do it. I understand.

I wouldn't want to get any of my coworkers fired. If my critique makes someone else better at their job, that's a win for everyone.

Happen to my workplace now. One guy always shows up late (like 98% of the time). Have been doing this ever since I work there(like 4years). I don't really mind at first since everyone is late sometime coz of traffic, transit...... but it got really bad to a point where he is constantly over 30mins. I remember one time working with him on New Years day and he came over an hour late(it was just me and him working that day). So I complain to HR about this.

Things improve for about 2 weeks and he is back to his old self again. Another person complain about it a few times, and everytime he would show up on time for a week or two and then start being late again. It was funny coz one point one of my co-workers couldn't take it and just blow it right in front of everyone.

To this day that person is still about 10 to 15mins late everyday. And he knows we complain to the HR somehow but nothing is done and he is still here. I pretty give up lol since nothing will be done anyways.

First off, OP said that its department-wide, so its not talking behind other's backs. Had it been that the boss is pulling out people to chat without other's knowledge, then it would be unprofessional and unethical.

I think that any type of 360 evaluations should be anonymous regardless of trash talk or not.

And no its not just because I'm a girl, but I am in HR. 360 evaluations are important in gaining a full view of how someone's performance is. 10% of co workers saying shit about someone vs 90% positive evaluations- you can pretty much weed out what is true of someone's work ethics and what is false.

Can you hire me :fullofwin:. Anyways I don't really like to complain or anything to management unless I have to. Everyone made mistake and I am sure I made some. Unless is something really bad(above) I usually won't say much. It also depends on how your HR handles matter as well. Like my company (see above) nothing is being done despite several complaining about one guy with the same issue. It does get me thinking if he can get away with it I can too and it also makes me feel somehow HR is letting him do it coz he have been here longer and other stuff. In the end it just makes hard to talk to HR about anything coz our complains does nothing.

[Hurricane]

Happen to my workplace now. One guy always shows up late (like 98% of the time). Have been doing this ever since I work there(like 4years). I don't really mind at first since everyone is late sometime coz of traffic, transit...... but it got really bad to a point where he is constantly over 30mins. I remember one time working with him on New Years day and he came over an hour late(it was just me and him working that day). So I complain to HR about this.

Things improve for about 2 weeks and he is back to his old self again. Another person complain about it a few times, and everytime he would show up on time for a week or two and then start being late again. It was funny coz one point one of my co-workers couldn't take it and just blow it right in front of everyone.

To this day that person is still about 10 to 15mins late everyday. And he knows we complain to the HR somehow but nothing is done and he is still here. I pretty give up lol since nothing will be done anyways.

Can you hire me :fullofwin:. Anyways I don't really like to complain or anything to management unless I have to. Everyone made mistake and I am sure I made some. Unless is something really bad(above) I usually won't say much. It also depends on how your HR handles matter as well. Like my company (see above) nothing is being done despite several complaining about one guy with the same issue. It does get me thinking if he can get away with it I can too and it also makes me feel somehow HR is letting him do it coz he have been here longer and other stuff. In the end it just makes hard to talk to HR about anything coz our complains does nothing.

http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lsdsl8PBoV1qfughi.gif

[drunkrussian]

You'll be surprised. I've been there too and you'll be surprised to see how so many people suddenly have no opinions of one another; and if any, they're all lovey dovey hunky dorey for the majority of it.

lol true

[Gridlock]

Ultimately, its up to the OP to decide if this is a formal 360 evaluation which can be good, or a fishing expedition which can be bad.

Anytime I've seen 360 implemented, I have never seen the co-workers as part of that 360 degree circle.

My perspective is, if you want to have me evaluate people that are my colleagues, make me a manager and I will happily do so. If you are asking me to evaluate them, and let's be honest, you don't give a shit about the good stuff, and they are equally doing the same for me...I don't see that as being good.

[Hurricane]

Anytime I've seen 360 implemented, I have never seen the co-workers as part of that 360 degree circle.

That's like saying, anytime I've seen hockey, the guys were kicking a ball around a grass field.

You haven't seen 360 implemented.

My advice to managers considering using 360
-make employees aware from day 1 of your intentions to use 360
-involve the people involved - have employees design the process
-give them time to 'mend fences' before the evaluations are conducted
-make every person in and entering the organization aware of the process

If a person is only ever reviewed by their superior, they will only ever know how they perform as an employee (subordinate)

It's equally as important to receive feedback on how they perform as a supervisor/manager and coworker, in the eyes of those around them everyday.

That said, bad surprises do nothing but erode trust within an organization, and it doesn't sound like the OP's boss followed due process. Probably attended a weekend workshop, and decided it was a good idea to introduce immediately on his own terms.

[spoon.ek9]

I'm still trying to catch up on all the posts in this thread. It's very interesting to see as I have my eye on a management/supervisor's role in the near future.

Like I said, I haven't read everyone's responses but it would appear not everyone here has had a union job. I can tell you with confidence that there are TONS of men who slack at their jobs HARD and hide behind the union. I currently work at a place where the most vocal complainer is also the guy who has the least amount of work, complains the most, has angry outbursts during work conversations AND staff meetings, has recently bullied the temp manager into reducing his work load, takes excessively long breaks throughout the day yet also complains that there is no leadership or accountability for people's actions. Try to figure that guy out.

:fulloffuck: x 1,000,000