Glossary

360 Degree Reviews - 360-degree feedback, also known as multi-rater feedback, multi-source feedback, or multi-source assessment, is feedback that comes from members of an employee's immediate work circle. Most often, 360-degree feedback will include direct feedback from an employee's subordinates, peers (colleagues), and supervisor(s), as well as a self-evaluation. It can also include, in some cases, feedback from external sources, such as customers and suppliers or other interested stakeholders. The results from a 360-degree evaluation are often used by the person receiving the feedback to plan and map specific paths in their overall career development.

Auditor - Individual reviewing a Target's list of Raters.

Automatic Report Distribution - The Automatic Report Distribution (ARD) feature autonomously generates and emails Targets their PDF feedback reports once their reviews reach a pre-determined level of completion. This feature is useful in situations where the Project Administrator does not feel it is necessary to be involved in the report-generation process, or where Targets are being run through the system asynchronously and there's not a set, uniform reporting date for the feedback project. This feature is available in the Professional and Enterprise Editions of EchoSpan's 360-degree feedback tool.

Developmental Planning - Allows an organization to close the loop on their 360-degree feedback process by enabling employees to create and manage professional development plans based on their review results. This is an opportunity to take the data collected and really apply that information toward an employee's growth. EchoSpan's development planning module is easy to use and requires no additional training for your Participants. Each competency has an action guide that helps the Target craft their objectives and solicit feedback from observers who participated in the initial 360.

Category Type - This determines how the responses to a particular category or competency are scored and reported. There are two choices when it comes to category types: 

1) Scored (default). Use this type if the category contains normal, rated items. Responses in this type of category will be scored normally. Scored categories can also include qualitative or comment-box items. Use this category type if you are unsure of which type to select. 

2) Comments Only. Use this type if the items in the category are written-response only. The Comments Only category will be omitted from normal scoring in standard reports.

Competency/Category - A specific skill or behavioral trait that assists the person in performing required tasks with pre-determined results. In other words, the abilities that one possesses that assist them in doing their job. Ex: Accountability, Conflict Management, Problem Solving. "Category" and "Competency" are used interchangeably in the EchoSpan tool. A "super-competency" is a Category that encompasses a set of Competencies to be reported on as a whole.

Competency Library - A listing of competencies that can be added to a project. You can use our proven competency library as a starting point, or, import your own content.

Developmental Resource Library - A repository of helpful developmental content EchoSpan has gathered and mapped back to competencies in the EchoSpan Competency Library. The library is comprised of two key components:

• Developmental Reading Suggestions : A collection of articles that are presented in partnership with Harvard Business Review and other high-quality content sources. These reading recommendations are intended to assist Targets in their professional development and have been selected based on the results of the Target's 360-degree feedback review. Recommendations are based on Self-scores, as well as ratings provided by others. Some articles are available for free while others require that they be purchased from their respective publishers.

  Reading recommendations are presented to review Participants as part of their final report and are shown dynamically based on review scores. In addition to the standard EchoSpan reading suggestions, Administrators have the ability to add custom reading recommendations from their own repositories. 
   

• Action Planning Guide : A collection of very specific actions a Target can consider when working on improving in specific competency areas. These Action Guides appear in the Development Planning tool as action tips or recommendations for selected competencies. This feature requires purchase of the Development Planning module.

Exports - In addition to our standard Feedback Reports, review data can be exported/downloaded from the EchoSpan tool in Excel or CSV format from the Reports menu option >> Export Data Files page. This data can make it easier for Administrators to monitor activity during the feedback process, as well as view overarching trends among the participants as a whole.

Item - A question or statement associated to a specific competency group. Item types are rated, reverse-scored, multi-choice, comment box, or behavioral anchor.

• Rated Item - Associated to the standard rating scale for your project and is the most common type of Item designation. The Rater selects a single rating for an item along an equally spaced continuum of possible choices. This scale is selected from the Setup menu option >> Rating Scale section of the site. This item-type works with all of EchoSpan's standard report components.
• Reverse Score Item - The standard values for a rating scale are flipped. Commonly used for "derailer" items (Items that are meant to make sure the Reviewer is doing a thorough review of the Target).
• Multiple-Choice Item - Allows the Rater to select one or more options from a list of answers that you define. The standard rating scale is replaced with multiple choice options. This item-type only works with certain EchoSpan standard report components.
• Comment Box Item - Open-ended survey question that requires respondents to type their answer into a comment box.
• Behavioral Anchor Item - The standard rating scale is replaced with behavioral attributes that you define associated with the numerical scale. Respondents select behavioral traits for the response rather than a standard rating.

Participants - Any individual who is participating in the 360-degree feedback review process. This includes Targets, Raters, and Auditors.

Project - An individual set of unique review items, rating scale, and relationship groups for Targets to be reviewed by.

Queued Message - Email that has been automatically generated by the tool, created when a Target selects their Raters, or created by an Administrator and is awaiting Administrator approval to send to the designated Participants.

Rater - Individual that provides feedback to a Target(s) during the review process. Also known as a "Reviewer" or "Respondent".

Relationship Groups - The groups you establish to participate in the review process. Examples include: Direct Reports, Managers, Supervisors, Peers.

Reports - EchoSpan's 360-degree feedback reports are bright, clear and easy to understand. You are able to customize your reports or select a ready-to-use template from our library.

• Individual Reports - Includes data related to a single Target.
• Group Reports - Includes aggregated data for multiple Targets.
• Gap Analysis - A radar chart showing gaps between Self and all other Rater groups.
• Benchmark - The overall company score for a particular competency or item.
• Percentile Scores - Percentiles rank Targets by segmenting them into 100 groups according to the distribution of a particular rating or score.
• Quartile Scores - Quartiles rank Targets by segmenting them into four equal groups based on the distribution of a particular rating or score.
• Response Pooling - Combines the scores submitted by Rater groups when too few responses exist in any particular group.

Report Components - Various components that can be included in the feedback report (Note: This is not an all-inclusive list of items).

• Competency Profile - A radar chart that shows the scores for each Rating group across all competencies. Radar charts are useful in easily spotting gaps between Rater groups' perceptions and observations of an Individual's behaviors. More favorable scores fall toward the outside of the chart.
• Competency Summary - This report shows average ratings for each competency in the review segmented by Rater group. The HI and LO columns present the highest and lowest ratings submitted by each Rater group for a given competency.
• Individual Review Items - This report shows average ratings for each individual item in the review segmented by each Rater group. The HI and LO columns present the highest and lowest ratings submitted by each Rater group for a given review item. The N column shows the number of responses submitted in a given Rater group for a particular item.
• Dimension Summary - Shows results for super-competencies.

Review Status - Shows the current status of the Target or Rater in the overall review process.

• Needs Review - The Rater needs to be reviewed and approved by a designated Auditor or the project Administrator in order to be allowed to begin the feedback process.
• Approved - The Rater is approved to start the review process.
• Declined - The Rater has NOT been approved to participate in the review by the project Administrator or the Auditor.
• Finished - The Target/Rater has successfully completed the review.
• In Progress - The Target/Rater is in the process of completing the review.
• Opted Out - The Rater has decided to opt out of participating in the review.
• Disabled - The project Administrator has disabled the Rater's access.

Summary Message - An email option that allows the Administrator to send invitations and reminders to Raters who are providing feedback to multiple Targets. The Rater receives one consolidated message rather than one email per Target requesting feedback.

Target - Individual being reviewed. Also known as a "Reviewee".