360° feedback advantages & disadvantages: what HR & managers need to know

In 2025, 360° feedback continues to be a core tool for employee growth, used by over 70% of organizations.* Its strength lies in highlighting insights that traditional reviews often miss, giving a fuller picture of individual performance.

HR leaders and managers appreciate the clarity and detail it brings to development conversations. Still, many employees view 360° feedback as flawed — 79% say they’d opt out if given a choice — often due to concerns about bias and office politics.*

‍Bridging that perception gap is key. When done right, 360° feedback is one of the most effective ways to understand and develop team strengths.

This article explores the benefits and pitfalls of 360° feedback and offers clear steps to make your program more trusted and impactful.
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🙌 Cultivate a thriving culture with 360° feedback

With Leapsome, it’s easy to create transparent, unbiased 360° review processes that work for your people’s growth.

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*LiveCareer, 2025
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What is 360° feedback?

360° feedback is a process where an employee receives regular assessments and feedback from a variety of sources, including themselves, direct reports, colleagues, and supervisors. This is usually facilitated through a feedback survey or 360° feedback software solution that streamlines survey distribution, data collection, and analysis.

The intention of 360° performance reviews is to understand someone’s performance from all perspectives to better identify strengths and areas for improvement.
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45 advantages of 360° feedback

There’s a reason why 360° feedback remains so popular. With the right approach, a 360° feedback program can empower your people to grow in their roles and your teams to flourish.

1. Provides a complete picture of employee success

Because 360° reviews source insights from the people being reviewed, peers, direct reports, and supervisors, they provide a detailed, well-rounded overview of work performance. This helps identify consistent trends and paint a holistic picture beyond just manager feedback.

💡 “Feedback from peers and managers often gives me new perspectives. Sometimes even surprising ones. It’s valuable to see how others experience working with me.”

— Carlotta von Wrede, Workplace & People Experience Manager at Leapsome

2. Encourages a culture of continuous & reciprocal feedback

360° performance reviews encourage more frequent feedback, helping teams build a culture of ongoing learning and openness — especially for those companies working to build more psychological safety.

According to Carlotta von Wrede, the structure surrounding 360° reviews encourages employees to look inward more frequently.
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💡 “Taking time for regular feedback on a company-wide level (especially with set time blocks across the org) really helps me step back, reflect, and notice where I want to grow. It’s something I might not prioritize without that structure.”

3. Supports employee development

Although receiving constructive feedback isn’t easy, it’s a powerful tool for growth. And getting feedback from various sources gives professionals a solid idea of what they’re doing well, where they need to improve, and what they should prioritize for career progression.

Implemented properly, 360° feedback is especially helpful in coaching employees to improve in-demand aptitudes, such as soft skills (e.g., listening, helpfulness, and communication). Although these skills may not be directly tied to career progression, they’re critical to practice at nearly every level of leadership.
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4. Empowers teams to collaborate

Something incredible happens when you repeatedly encourage your people to look inward while also providing peer-to-peer feedback. By becoming more in tune with their performance as well as that of their colleagues, teams start to collaborate more effectively, leaning into each other’s respective strengths.
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4 disadvantages of 360° feedback

It’s important to understand why some employees may feel hesitant about 360° feedback. By addressing the stumbling blocks in your evaluation process, you can create a feedback culture that’s more honest and productive.

1. Variable feedback, honesty & quality 

Some people will spend hours reflecting on their self-assessment and providing helpful, in-depth feedback for their peers, while others may speed through evaluations. Similarly, some respondents may share positive assessments because they’re friends with a colleague. The result is the same: inaccuracies in your performance data.

The best way to circumvent these issues is to communicate early and often about the impact and importance of 360° feedback rounds. If your people understand why accurate feedback matters, they’re more likely to provide detailed, consistent responses.
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2. Higher chance of bias

Most employees will default to honesty when providing feedback, but there’s always a chance that someone’s answers will be influenced by personal feelings. You can avoid this by prioritizing open and honest feedback throughout your company’s culture and during the feedback process in particular.

Furthermore, tools like Leapsome can help encourage honesty with context-building reminders about an employee’s past performance, peer feedback, and goal progress.
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3. Possible source of anxiety 

You can assuage fears related to feedback by openly discussing the role of 360° feedback and assessing responses fairly and objectively. Software designed for 360° feedback, like Leapsome, can make this much easier with AI-powered sentiment analysis and built-in analytics.

Sometimes, the potential for constructive feedback can also cause anxiety. Remind your team that constructive criticism isn’t personal; rather, it’s an essential element of continuous improvement. You might also consider providing targeted team training on sharing actionable constructive feedback with a tool like Leapsome Learning.
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💡 “Getting feedback that challenges you can be hard in the moment, but I’ve found those are often the ones I grow from the most — especially when the intention is clear and kind.”

— Carlotta von Wrede, Workplace & People Experience Manager at Leapsome

4. More time-consuming performance evaluation method

Collecting and reviewing 360° feedback takes time. Without the right tools, the process can feel overwhelming.

Save yourself and your team time by using 360° feedback templates and adopting

360° feedback software

A centralized solution like Leapsome can help you organize your 360° feedback process, automate feedback cycles, collate and analyze data, and leverage AI so managers and HR pros can extract meaningful insights faster.
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💡 “Reviews take time and energy, both to reflect on your own performance and give thoughtful input to others. If the drive for reviews comes from the core of the company (not just as a task but as part of the culture), people are more likely to take it seriously and see the value in it.”

— Carlotta von Wrede, Workplace & People Experience Manager at Leapsome

Unlock the advantages of 360° feedback with Leapsome

The success of 360° feedback at your organization relies on your ability to decode and apply the massive amount of insight each review cycle provides. Without the right resources, this becomes a daunting task.

‍But Leapsome unlocks a deeper understanding of your people’s strengths and weaknesses at scale. The platform can adapt to your existing review schedule and automate the process of deciphering and sharing results.

Thanks to Leapsaome AI, HR leaders can unlock real-time performance insights and sentiment analysis. Meanwhile, managers and employees can more easily understand their feedback and build relevant action plans… all with the click of a button.
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🦸 Turn 360° feedback into your organization’s superpower

Supercharge your feedback culture with the HR platform that does it all.

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