4 top 360 feedback tools for employers

Performance reviews can boost employee motivation, productivity, and self-confidence — all of which can ultimately drive business forward. But the traditional one-on-one manager-employee performance review can be inefficient — not to mention nerve-wracking for employees. A good alternative is 360-degree performance reviews.

In 360-degree performance reviews (or 360 reviews), each employee’s job performance is evaluated by a group of people — including fellow colleagues, direct managers, HR representatives, and clients. This type of review provides a more comprehensive, well-rounded analysis of the employee’s work ethic, contributions, and overall behavior.

Because of their collaborative nature, 360 reviews also improve teamwork and uncover areas for further development and training. And since a large group of people anonymously completes the reviews, they help reduce discriminatory bias.

With the high level of communication needed to properly execute 360 reviews, following regular performance review procedures just won’t cut it. You need a robust 360 feedback tool — one that effectively meets your team’s needs while hitting your budget and business development goals.

Here are four of the best 360 feedback tools to consider.

1. Jotform

As an online form builder, Jotform offers features that make it a flexible 360 feedback tool. It touts more than 10,000 customizable form templates — including hundreds of employee evaluation and feedback forms. With Jotform’s tools, you can build 360 performance reviews using tables, apps, and approval workflows. Jotform is easy and intuitive to use, and since it’s a code-free tool, it can help even the most novice developers and designers create truly engaging forms and performance reviews.

User-friendly drag-and-drop functionality allows you to change form colors and fonts and rearrange the form layout. Customization capabilities also allow you to upload your logo, edit review questions, and even add interactive widgets and elements like tables and rating scales.

Once you’re ready for your employees and managers to complete the 360 performance appraisal, share the form via a link or embed it on an internal website. As the submissions roll in, you can track, manage, and store them all with Jotform, too, helping you identify areas of improvement and monitor employee progress from the same platform.

Jotform includes a library of dynamic, no-code features and customization tools that can result in professional, on-brand 360 performance reviews that are easy to complete and analyze.

Pricing: Jotform has five plan options — Starter (free), Bronze ($34 per month), Silver ($39 per month), Gold ($99 per month), and Enterprise (custom pricing).

2. SurveySparrow

Topping many 360 feedback tool lists, online survey platform SurveySparrow has all the features you need to conduct thorough 360 performance reviews. With SurveySparrow’s easy-to-use platform, you’re able to prioritize personal growth and development for your valued, hardworking employees. You can also import employee data and contact information through a CSV file or one of SurveySparrow’s third-party integrations for an easy 360 evaluation.

SurveySparrow allows you to create and customize feedback reports and emails to give specific, actionable insights, including review sections for strengths, weaknesses, and blind spots. Each team member (as well as admins and managers) can keep track of all their open and closed review tasks in a central employee portal.

Pricing: With SurveySparrow, the pricing varies according to the number of team members you’re evaluating, not the number of evaluators. Rates start at $19 per person evaluated, but the more employees you evaluate, the lower the rate per person.

3. Qualtrics

With code-free solution Qualtrics, employers use data-driven insights to empower teams, build on their skills, assist with their challenges, and drive productivity. To scale processes and programs more efficiently, Qualtrics offers automated nomination and reporting workflows.

Employees can navigate their personal development and growth tracks and improve specific skills through integrations with LinkedIn Learning, learning management system (LMS) courses, and other third-party apps. Employers can also ensure feedback is anonymous and relevant to specific job roles and growth goals.

Best of all, you can track and measure employee performance over time with the Qualtrics dashboard, which enables you to follow trends, prove ROI, and identify development gaps.

Pricing: You’ll need to request a demo to get pricing information and learn how the platform would work for you.

4. Leapsome

Powerhouse companies like Babbel, Spotify, and Mercedes-Benz trust Leapsome as their one-stop shop for employee performance management.

With this 360 feedback tool, premade templates help you tackle traditional and 360 reviews as well as evaluations of probation periods and projects — with the ability to customize everything from questions to anonymity settings. You can see pending and upcoming reviews thanks to automated review reminders, invitations, and notifications for all involved parties.

You’ll even improve your decision-making process by tracking employee performance and development to better understand what your teams already have and what they still need to grow.

Pricing: Request a demo for Leapsome’s pricing options.

You have plenty of options to choose from for your next (or first) round of 360 performance reviews. With each of these tools, you can create survey forms, collect and track valuable assessments, generate actionable reports, automate workflows, and, most importantly, ensure your employees get the feedback and training they need to thrive in their roles.