Featured Partners
1
Mitratech Trakstar
Yes
Included
Not disclosed
2
HR Performance Solutions
Included
Included
Included
3
PerformYard
Yes
Included
$5-10 per person/month
4
Motivosity
Yes
Included
Yes
5
Workleap
Included
Included
Yes
Why You Can Trust Forbes Advisor Small Business
The Forbes Advisor Small Business team is committed to bringing you unbiased rankings and information with full editorial independence. We use product data, first-person testing, strategic methodologies and expert insights to inform all of our content to guide you in making the best decisions for your business journey.
Our team analyzed thirteen 360 feedback software tools with 26 factors such as starting pricing, feedback tools, progress and goal tracking, automated reminders and customer ratings to organize this list of the five best 360 feedback software. All ratings are determined solely by our editorial team.
The Best 360 Feedback Software
Forbes Advisor Ratings
What Is 360 Feedback Software?
Overall, 360 feedback software is a way for you to get a more thorough picture of an employee’s performance. It allows you to send out review requests to an employee’s manager, direct reports, peers and external contacts, giving you feedback from every side. In some cases, employees can choose who reviews them, but usually, managers make this decision.
Typically, 360 review software works by alerting employees that they have a feedback request. Employees submit their answers to predetermined questions, and the software alerts you when all responses are collected. Then, it gives you the chance to sort through this feedback to help employees know what they’re doing well and what they can improve on. You might have the option to share feedback directly with the employee, or it might be a more internal process where you just use the feedback to inform career decisions.
In many cases, 360 feedback software is a subset of performance management tools. However, it can also be used to gather insights into employee sentiment toward their job and the organization. If taking your company’s pulse is more of your goal, you may be interested in employee engagement software as well.
How To Choose the Best 360 Feedback Software
Finding the 360 feedback software that’s right for your company comes down to a few factors. We think all software should have the essential features listed below, as well as good integrations, low cost and the ability to transfer review data between management.
Essential Features
These are some of the features we think every 360 feedback software needs to have:
- Goal/progress tracking: With integrated goal tracking, performance reviews become much more actionable. Employees know what they’re striving toward and can run with all feedback they receive.
- Reporting and analytics: After gathering review data for employees, a good 360 feedback software lets you analyze it for company-wide trends.
- Automated reminders: Getting employees to fill out surveys is a time-consuming, hair-pulling task. A 360 feedback software that reminds them on your behalf can save you some of the frustration.
- Continuous feedback tools: Performing 360 reviews isn’t something that should only happen at set times of the year. A good 360 feedback software lets you collect feedback any time you or an employee would like.
- Data transfer from manager to manager: When receiving 360 feedback, it’s important for that feedback to be shared—not just with employees, but also with other managers. Look for software that makes it easier to forward feedback to other leaders in the company, whether that’s the CEO or a manager from another department where the employee is looking to transfer.
Integrations
Integrations allow you to connect with other popular software so you don’t have to manually share information between programs. Does the 360 feedback software you’re looking at connect to other HR software you use? Or maybe you’d like it to integrate with Slack so employees could receive daily message reminders until they fill out their surveys. Whatever the case, check the list of app integrations before deciding on a software to use.
Cost
Cost is a deciding factor for many businesses, as not every company is financially healthy enough to spend hundreds or thousands a month on 360 review software. For many companies, rather than investing in dedicated 360 feedback software, it may make more sense to choose a human resources management software or a performance management solution that includes 360 reviews.
Featured Partners
1
Mitratech Trakstar
Yes
Included
Not disclosed
2
HR Performance Solutions
Included
Included
Included
3
PerformYard
Yes
Included
$5-10 per person/month
4
Motivosity
Yes
Included
Yes
5
Workleap
Included
Included
Yes
Benefits of 360 Feedback Software
With 360 feedback software, you can enjoy a more holistic picture of employee performance. Because you’re getting reviews from every side, it helps you assess a worker’s full capabilities. If they’re a manager, you’ll get to see how they lead. Their peers and managers can attest to how they contribute to projects. And external feedback from clients or vendors can showcase their customer service skills.
With all of this feedback, you can uncover strengths and contributions that aren’t directly related to job duties. For example, you might find a worker is extremely skilled at time management—a strength you might be able to utilize in the future.
On the flip side, a 360 review can help you discover otherwise hidden weaknesses that can be addressed. Maybe an employee has always turned in their work on time, but comments from peers have revealed that it took a ton of prompting and reminding. Instead of letting their coworkers simmer in frustration, you can address the employee’s lack of time management skills.
Also, 360 reviews help managers become better leaders. They can get feedback to see if their style of leadership is effective. This allows them to make changes that can better themselves—and the company.
All of this data can also inform future directions for employee career development. For example, if you know an employee is excelling at taking charge among their peers, it might make them a good candidate for a managerial career path. Providing clear employee development pathways can improve employee retention. Research shows that workers who stagnate in their role for 10 months are 1% more likely to leave the company.
Finally, 360 feedback software can act as a guide for leaders and executives. By curating feedback from around the company, this software can help you check the company’s pulse. You can see exactly what employees are happy and not happy about, as well as uncover any simmering bad blood. Reviews are a good time to check in with company culture and values to make sure the company as a whole is embracing them.
Methodology
To get the full picture of each 360 feedback software, we collected data in several categories. Each of these categories was assigned a weight based on their importance.
- Pricing (10%): When considering pricing, we looked at the starting price of each software as well as the cost of the highest-tier plan. We also noted if the software had a free trial. Software with lower prices and a free trial scored higher.
- General features (30%): For general features, we compared whether or not the programs had an organizational chart, compliance tracking, e-signature and goal process analytics. We also considered specialized feedback tools, OKR management and roles and permissions. These are all things we think are essential for 360 review software.
- Additional features (20%): Additional features include things such as peer review, reminders, software integrations, behavioral and skill tests, reports and analytics and a mobile app. If a software had any of these, it scored higher. Though 360 review software doesn’t need to have these features to function, they’re nice bonuses.
- Reviews and ratings (10%): What consumers have to say is important! We curated reviews from G2 and Capterra to see how highly each service was ranked and how many reviews it had.
- Expert score (30%): Finally, our experts chimed in with their own rankings based on the extent of features, value for the money, popularity and ease of use.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
What is the best 360 feedback software solution?
We ranked Namely as the best overall 360 feedback software. However, our other top picks are Lattice, Synergita Perform, BambooHR and Workday. See more options in our list of the best performance management software.
How do I generate 360-degree feedback?
To get 360-degree feedback, you can survey an employee’s supervisors, peers and direct reports. This lets you assess their skills, behavior and performance from all angles.
What are the four areas of 360-degree feedback?
The four areas of 360-degree feedback include an employee’s self-review, their manager’s review, feedback from direct reports (if applicable) and feedback from their peers. These are usually compiled to create a rating or final assessment of how the employee can improve.
Is 360 feedback software secure?
Similar to most types of software, the best 360 feedback software programs offer many levels of security. When choosing 360 feedback software, you want to look for security features, including 2FA or multifactor authentication (MFA), documentation that shows frequent security updates and patches, intrusion detection, data encryption privacy protection and the monitoring of user activities.
