Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (ADP) is one of the largest providers of a broad range of mission-critical, cost-effective transaction processing and information-based business solutions. Since purchasing 20/20® Insight GOLD in 2000, ADP has assessed more than 15,000 individuals.

The software is used on an almost daily basis for the Ohio Valley Region of ADP's Major Accounts Division, which covers Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati, and Indianapolis. The 20/20® Insight GOLD administrator sets up projects for a variety of applications, including: 360-degree feedback, internal and external customer feedback, and training evaluation.

Because 20/20® Insight GOLD is so flexible, they can set up a department to receive feedback, not just individuals. As a result, ADP has had excellent success using the program for annual internal quality surveys requested by the region Management Team. In this application, other departments provide feedback to a specific department whose services they receive. Since they all need to work together for the benefit of the client, it's important for each department to learn about its strengths and areas for improvement from its internal customers.

First, the manager of a given department identifies the departments that will give feedback, along with the specific individuals who will complete the questionnaires. The manager provides the administrator with the information needed to create the survey. The number of questions is kept to a minimum, typically no more than 10 scaled items, plus one open-ended question for general comments. Respondent relationships are the names of each department giving feedback, such as Client Services, Implementation, Finance and Sales. That way, the data in the reports can be broken out according to different customer groups.

Once all responses have been collected, the administrator prepares a PDF file of the report and sends it to the department managers, who then discuss the results with their up line manager. Afterwards, managers share the report with their peers in their department. Together they identify problem areas to be targeted and create an action plan for improvement.

20/20® Insight GOLD’S Advanced Report function lets the administrator create a summary report for senior staff combining data from all departments. And the flexibility of the reporting component makes it easy to give each senior manager exactly the display of data he/she wants. Since they're already familiar with the report formats from other applications, such as 360-degree feedback, they know what to ask for in these summary reports.

Because ADP has now conducted these surveys over multiple years, they're also able to compare the current year to the previous year to check progress towards completion of goals and evaluate the effectiveness of their action items. These internal quality surveys have significantly improved the level of service that ADP's departments provide to each other.

Case Study #2
How 360 Feedback Helped One Manager Get Results

John* was a newly promoted manager with a major utility company. With his new position, he inherited a team of 13 supervisors. Most were long-term employees, and John was much younger than most of his direct reports. Many of the supervisors thought they deserved the promotion and resented John's appointment.

He soon discovered that the performance of his supervisors was below par. He spent a lot of time working on relationships with each of them, clarifying service standards and trying to build a cohesive team.

Despite his best efforts, John encountered resistance; and performance did not improve. He knew that the supervisors were unhappy, but he couldn't get them to talk about their dissatisfaction. When he learned about 20/20® Insight GOLD, he decided to use it to ask for feedback about his leadership practices. He hoped that the information gained would provide a basis for dialogue and team building.

Working with a consultant, John selected the behaviors critical to his leadership. The consultant then met with the team and explained how the feedback would be collected. She assured everyone that their responses would be anonymous.

After the feedback was collected, the consultant met with John to help him to interpret the data and establish his priorities for action. She also coached him on how to respond to the feedback.
Over the next few weeks, John met with his direct reports individually and as a group. He asked them to clarify certain aspects of the feedback. He also explained which priority areas he planned to work on first and why he did not plan to alter some behaviors.

He saw an immediate change in his team. Resistance decreased, productivity increased and a customer service orientation began to take hold. Over time, he was able to rebuild his team of supervisors. They pulled together to become the only team to meet or exceed all established performance goals for the next quarter. They continued to perform well, and within the year John received a substantial promotion. He attributed much of his success to the feedback process and the open dialogue it produced. Based on this experience, his division obtained the 20/20® Insight GOLD system for general in-house use.

*The name of the manager has been changed to protect confidentiality

Case Study #3
Making 360 Part of Hershey Foods' Culture for Leadership Development

Hershey Foods Corporation is a confectionery and grocery products company. With headquarters in Hershey, Pennsylvania, it has about 12,000 employees with plants throughout North America, including Canada and Mexico.

Executives at Hershey wanted a 360-degree feedback system that was easy to customize for a variety of groups across the organization. They wanted key functional areas and plants to manage their own programs, so they needed software that was easy to install and use. They foresaw that, over time, multi-source feedback would be used many times by a lot of people. Therefore, the software had to be affordable. 20/20® Insight GOLD’S quantity discount pricing made this possible.

The goal at Hershey is to make multi-source feedback a permanent part of the corporate culture. The HR staff consulted with experts familiar with 20/20® Insight GOLD and the 360 process to ensure that their strategy was developed thoughtfully and that their first programs were successful. Their approach was to introduce multi-source feedback gradually, gaining acceptance along the way. Senior Hershey Foods executives were assessed first, enabling them to refine the core items, spark interest and establish credibility.

One of the first groups to be assessed included more than 120 sales managers. Internal leadership consultant Jim Czupil explained to subjects: "You have an opportunity to grow professionally with this information. How you handle the feedback and the methods you use to share it with your team and your manager will have a significant impact on the benefit you receive from the process. Take time to reflect on the feedback and look for trends that outline current strengths and opportunities to further develop your leadership style." He coached participants to share the feedback with their team and set development goals with their managers.

According to Czupil, 20/20® Insight GOLD has promoted a more profound awareness of leadership developmental needs. Analyzing aggregate 360 feedback data has helped define leadership competencies for present and future leaders, and it has helped the organization determine exactly the kind of leadership development programs needed by different divisions. Feedback from participants has been positive, and requests for additional programs continue to rise.