360 Degree Appraisal is based on the feedback of opinionsobtained from all the people around the assessed-employee, i.e., his peers, his subordinates, the internal and external customers and, in short, all those who happen to deal with him in the course of his official functions. The views expressed by the people in the 360 degrees around him form the very basis of assessment of the employee's worth and performance. HR experts believe that such a system of assessing the merit or demerit of an employee turns out to be more realistic; inasmuch as, the system either minimizes or eliminates the scope for human weaknesses, like prejudices, grudges and whims to influence the outcome of the process.

"Too many cooks spoil the broth" is an old saying. But is it always true? It does not appear to be so, if one sees what the well-known "fortune 500" companies in the US like Intel and Hewlett-Packard practice in appraising the worth of their employees. The emerging system of appraisals as theirs, now practiced increasingly by many corporate employers, is based on the feedback of the circle of people around the assessed employee. This modified process that is becoming increasingly popular with many of the corporates, in the regular or special assessments of an employee's merit, is based on the feedback of opinions obtained from all the people around i.e., the employee's peers, his subordinates, internal and external customers and, in short, all those who happen to deal with him in the course of his official functions. The views expressed by the people in any of the 360 degrees around him form the very basis of assessment of the employee's worth and performance. According to HR experts, such a system of assessing the merit or demerit of an employee turns out to be more realistic; inasmuch as, the system either minimizes or eliminates the scope for human weaknesses like prejudices, grudges and whims to influence the outcome of the process. May be it is true, then, that `many cooks' do turn out a tastier broth!