A rapidly growing equipment supplier with around 900 employees across sales, service, and back-office teams was facing a leadership and feedback challenge. Performance appraisals were predominantly top-down, driven only by manager ratings and sales numbers, with little input from peers, subordinates, or cross-functional stakeholders. High-potential employees felt under-recognized, and there was no structured way to capture areas of improvement for managers and team leaders. The organization partnered with Phi EDGE to implement a 360-degree feedback mechanism on Phi EDGE HRMS, supported by HR industry experts from Phi EDGE’s HR Advisory vertical to interpret insights and drive meaningful development actions.
The leadership and feedback challenge
The company’s HR team observed recurring signals: exit interviews mentioned lack of feedback and growth conversations, engagement surveys reflected low confidence in managerial effectiveness, and internal conflict often surfaced late because employees had no safe, structured way to share upward or peer feedback. Existing performance reviews captured “what” targets were met but not “how” they were achieved—behavioral competencies like collaboration, coaching, communication, and customer orientation were rarely measured. HR wanted a model that would provide a complete view of performance for key roles like sales heads, regional managers, service supervisors, and functional leaders, while also identifying leadership readiness and development gaps across the mid-management layer.
Why they chose Phi EDGE: 360° + HR Advisory, for HR by HR
The client selected Phi EDGE because the 360 Degree Feedback system is natively integrated with performance and talent modules, enabling multi-rater inputs (self, manager, peers, direct reports, and in select cases, customers) within one HRMS platform. The solution is designed for HR by HR professionals, meaning the workflows, competencies, and questionnaires reflect real HR practice rather than generic survey tools. Additionally, Phi EDGE brought in its HR Advisory team—HR industry experts with deep experience in OD, leadership development, and competency frameworks—to co-create the model, facilitate stakeholder buy-in, and translate feedback into actionable development plans.
Data sensitivity was a major concern, as 360° feedback involves candid views about behaviors and leadership styles. Phi EDGE HRMS operates as an ISO/IEC 27001:2022 certified company, which reassured the leadership that confidential responses, reports, and talent insights would be handled under robust, audited information security controls.
Designing the 360° framework with HR experts
In phase one, Phi EDGE’s HR Advisory consultants conducted discovery workshops with HR, the CEO, and business heads to clarify objectives: build stronger people managers, identify future leaders, and create a culture of constructive feedback rather than blame. Together, they defined a competency framework covering leadership, collaboration, customer focus, execution discipline, and people development, mapped differently for role clusters such as frontline leaders, mid-managers, and senior leaders.
Using Phi EDGE’s 360 module, HR and advisors configured tailored questionnaires and rating scales aligned with this framework, avoiding jargon and focusing on observable behaviors. Stakeholder mapping was automated through the HRMS hierarchy for managers and direct reports, while peers and cross-functional raters were nominated jointly by employees and HR to ensure balance. Phi EDGE configured anonymity rules so that individual rater identities remained confidential where required, encouraging honest and constructive inputs.
Running the 360° cycle and consolidating insights
The first cycle was launched for 120 leaders across sales, service, and support functions. The platform automated invitations, reminders, and response tracking, which significantly improved completion rates versus earlier manual surveys. As responses came in, Phi EDGE’s analytics engine compiled the data into role-wise and individual reports that highlighted strengths, development areas, gaps between self-perception and others’ perception, and patterns across rater groups.
Once reports were generated, Phi EDGE’s HR Advisory experts conducted debrief sessions with HR and business heads to interpret trends—such as recurring feedback on coaching skills in certain regions, or communication gaps at specific leadership levels. Individual leaders received facilitated 1:1 or small-group feedback sessions, where HR and Phi EDGE advisors walked them through their 360 reports and helped them accept, understand, and act on the inputs, rather than treating reports as a one-time document.
From feedback to real development and change
The real impact came in the translation of insights into development action. For each leader, Phi EDGE’s advisors and the internal HR team co-created Individual Development Plans (IDPs) focusing on 2–3 priority behaviors, rather than overwhelming lists. These IDPs were then connected to learning and coaching interventions—targeted workshops on coaching conversations, conflict management, and influencing skills; peer learning circles; and follow-up check-ins aligned with the next performance cycle.
At an organizational level, aggregated 360 data was used to spot systemic themes. For example, feedback scores showed strong customer focus but weaker delegation and empowerment in middle management. HR used these insights to design focused leadership programs and tweak the competency expectations in PMS for certain roles. Over the next two cycles, participation increased, and leaders began proactively asking for 360 feedback as part of their growth journey, a strong sign of cultural shift.
Business and people outcomes for the equipment supplier
Within 12–18 months, the equipment supplier saw tangible outcomes. Internal engagement surveys recorded higher confidence in managers’ ability to listen, coach, and provide constructive feedback, especially in sales and service teams that interacted directly with customers. Attrition among identified high-potential employees reduced, as they experienced clearer conversations about their development and saw real behavior shifts from their managers.
Performance reviews became more nuanced and fair, as 360° inputs complemented target achievement with behavioral evidence, helping leadership distinguish between “only numbers-driven” and “sustainably effective” leaders. HR gained a sharper view of succession pipelines, using 360 results as one of the key inputs alongside performance and potential assessments.
By combining an integrated 360-degree feedback platform, HR-industry-expert advisory, and a secure, ISO-certified HRMS backbone, Phi EDGE helped this equipment supplier move from ad-hoc opinions about leadership to a structured, data-driven, and humane approach to feedback and development—delivered truly for HR, by HR, and trusted across the organization.
