BUSINESS PSYCHOLOGYside of the nervous candidate. In this regard, there are some intriguing
research-findings which show, for example, that it can make a difference
where you sit in a group interview. In a 2006 study, Priya Raghubir and
Ana Valenzuela analysed episodes from the TV quiz show The Weakest
Link, which features eight contestants standing in a semi-circle, with one
player – “the weakest link” – voted off each round by the other players.
Those occupying the central positions were far less vulnerable to being
voted off. In another experiment, 111 students were shown different
versions of a group photo featuring five candidates for a business intern-
ship arranged in different positions. The student participants knew the
candidates had similar abilities, but, when asked to play the role of staff
recruiter, they still tended to choose the central candidate in the photos
they were shown.
The 360-degree evaluation
One of the most popular tools used by occupational psychologists is
the 360-degree evaluation. This involves gathering feedback about an
employee from his or her manager, subordinates, peers and sometimes
customers too, and comparing that feedback with how the employee
sees him or herself. This can reveal “blind spots” – something other
people know about a person, but which that person or her immediate
superiors didn’t realize.
For 360-degree evaluations to be beneficial, it is vital that they are
executed appropriately. A poorly executed evaluation can damage
staff morale and cripple an employee’s self-esteem. It should be
decided at the outset whether the exercise is for personal develop-
ment or is being used as a means of appraisal, and coaches should
be on hand to guide an employee through their feedback and how
to respond to it. Ideally, the exercise shouldn’t only be performed on
one person, because this can create the sense that they are somehow
a problem that’s being investigated.
It’s also important to choose the right people to provide feedback.
Factors such as the time that participants have known the target can
affect the quality of the feedback: research suggests the optimum time
is one to three years – not too short for first impressions to dominate,
and not too long for over-familiarity to skew the results.
It’s also important that the right questions are asked. Ideally these
should be customized and relate to an organization’s overarching
goals. It’s also vital that those providing feedback are trained in how
to provide constructive information. For obvious reasons, feedback
tends to be more useful when participants are told that their answers
will be anonymous.