Rainer Hensel

360 degree feedback: how many raters are needed for reliable ratings on the capacity to develop competences, with personal qualities as developmental goals?

360 degree feedback is a widely used technique in the area of strategic human resource management (SHRM) and strategic human resource development (SHRD). The reliability of 360 degree feedback on the capacity to develop personal qualities has been investigated. This study shows to what extent the number of raters is related to an increasing reliability and an enhancement of correlation between supervisor and peer ratings. Ten raters are needed to reach a satisfying reliability level of 0.7 for the rating of the capacity to develop personal qualities, while six raters are needed for a reliability level of 0.7 with regard to the rating of motivation to develop these qualities. The use of two or three peer raters, as is common in the daily HRM/HRD practice, results in low reliability levels and in low agreement between supervisor and peer ratings. These results imply that 360 degree feedback is more useful in a personal growth system than in an administrative system, where the outcomes of the feedback are considered to be objective representations of work behaviour. Further implications for the SHRM/SHRD practice, especially concerning the development of competences, with personal qualities as developmental goals, are discussed.

Shared leadership in entrepreneurial teams: the impact of personality

The purpose of this paper is to develop a model to better understand which personality traits and personal values impact transformational leadership qualities in self-directed entrepreneurial teams as perceived by team members.,A cohort consisting of six self-directed entrepreneurial teams was selected. A multi-rater system was applied to assess the perceived transformational leadership qualities. A model was developed, using three dimensions of transformational leadership as dependent variables: inspiring others, stimulating interaction among group members and communicating a strong vision.,The ability to inspire others was predicted by friendliness, measuring a positive labeling of social phenomena. In addition, two positive moderation effects emerged as being related to inspirational capacities: assertiveness and despondency, and assertiveness and emotional empathy interacted. The second moderation effect also impacted the capacity to stimulate group interaction. The personality traits “modesty” and the personal value “human relations” were negatively related to the perceived capacity to communicate a strong vision. Furthermore, a significant but moderate effect of team membership on the capacity to inspire others respectively stimulate interaction seems to exist.,The research results offer valuable opportunities to enhance or to develop those informal, transformational leadership qualities positively influencing entrepreneurial effectiveness.,As entrepreneurship in small, self-directed teams is a popular phenomenon, research results add to the understanding of group interaction related to informal leadership.,Shared or informal transformational leadership in the context of self-directed, entrepreneurial teams is a relatively new phenomenon. Integrating a multi-rater assessment of leadership with personality combines interesting perspectives.