Anonymous Feedback

[babbi]

Just after some advice/ points of view please .
In my company there is an online system whereby you invite peers , your manager , staff etc to give you anonymous feedback about your performance. Normally you ask 10 people depending upon your role.
I completed the request from my manager and pressed send and within 10 mins she emailed me to say she would like a meeting to discuss the feedback as I clearly had concerns about her behaviours and performance.

I am distinctly unimpressed that there is clearly not the anonymity that is clearly communicated .
Any thoughts ?

I don’t think the purpose of this is to pull people in to explain themselves!!!

TIA

We've just had something similar come out through a link to your email- also states it's anonymous.....

They usually are anonymous (I have worked with many of these systems) but people often write things that identify themselves eg putting 'my manager' instead of 'Sandra' when they are the only direct report it has been sent to

I was completely careful to use very non identifying language .. changed phrases and used vocabulary I normally wouldn’t !!

Is there a policy about this you can refer to?
Or HR/senior managers to ask for advice?

Definitely sounds like a wholly inappropriate and very knee jerk reaction from your manager, and in my experience this is not in the spirit of the purpose of the exercise, and the "anonymity" factor, which must be ensured to make the process work in the first place.

I have participated in this type of 360 degree feedback / appraisal stuff before and no-one was ever asked for any more than what they had written in the online form itself.
I genuinely believed that recipients rarely were able to identify their colleagues, and this is how it should be.

I thought if people got negative-type feedback, it was an ideal and valuable opportunity for them to reflect on why this might be, and most certainly not to seek further information or ask individuals to justify their comments - totally ridiculous! - and verging on harassment surely!

Thanks for your responses.
@FawnDrench
I agree HR would most definitely not be impressed.
I’ve completed these at previous companies and never had this reaction .
You are 100 % correct - she is prone to quick volatile outbursts and frequently displays knee jerk reactions ( I put this as a comment in her feedback ! )

I told her today I would not speak to her about the feedback until I had spoken to HR as I wanted to be clear on their expectations as to how this 360 should work ..

She said we would “ not discuss this again ! “

Thanks again

Our 360 reviews are open for a week or two, and it won't even tell you if a response is from a peer or direct report or stakeholder, unless you have more than 3 responses from people in that category. You can tell who gave some responses by what they say, but I didn't go to any effort to try and find out, because it's meant to be anonymous and the feedback is meant to help you reflect on areas you can improve in. There's also a lot of online guidance about how to use it to think about how to improve on areas which show it's needed.

However, we did have a manager who wanted to have a witch-hunt and tell respondents why they were wrong to hold their negative opinions, which, like your manager, seems to prove the point about why there are negative comments...

A bit clutching at straws here but perhaps you were the first to respond and when your feedback landed she sent that same email to all invitees in the hope of finding out the author was? Either way, her reaction does indeed mirror your feedback.

Speak to hr and if you are a part of a union I would mention it to them to she shouldn't have asked to speak to you! But the fact she did in an email works in your favour! If any issues result from this you have in writing that she could identify your feedback proving that it isn't anonymous at all! Keep all communication about this issue somewhere safe!

I have participated in 360 degree feedback and it was easy to match the feedback to the 'appraisers' through style of writing/spelling/comments.

I actually believe 360 degree feedback should never be used. It can be very damaging to receive criticism. It took me YEARS to get over mine. Everytime i read it, only the negative stuff jumped out. It wasn't terribly bad but contained feedback like 'too quiet' 'is an unknown presence in the office'. It really affected me and I felt self conscious in that role until I left it. I used it as stick to beat myself with and for years would take it out and pour over it. I finally moved house and tore it to shreds and it felt like a weight had lifted.

Email only to me !
My close colleague was horrified when I confided in her ( also to warn her that she may get same so to prepare )
My feedback wasn’t first in and was 1 of 10 .....
Thanks for your replies ... it’s good to know that I am not unreasonable for thinking that she should not have acted in this way ....

As said by a few ... she did prove the behaviour sort of verified the feedback...
And be assured I’ll be keeping that email handy !

In my previous organisation (industry) the annual farce 360deg feedback became increasingly pernicious as the years went by, with people backstabbing and having the ability to hide behind the cloak of anonymity. It is more healthy and helpful if staff give feedback accurately in the knowledge that their comments are attributable.

In my current (PS) organisation, there isn't any 360 feedback, other than what is solicited or given informally. I have to say it's a more benign culture, people tend to cooperate well and I don't think it's a coincidence that it's partly due to people not being encouraged by the organisation to turn in on each other!