Leadership assessments are designed to improve the effectiveness of supervisors, managers, executives, and other leaders within your organization.
Ultimately, the end result should be a return on your investment, which brings up the question, what is the cost of a 180 degree leadership assessment?
180 Degree Leadership Assessment Cost
A 180 degree assessment is a feedback assessment that takes data from two sources: the employee or leader being assessed, and their manager.
This is far less comprehensive than other types, such as 360 degree assessments that take data from subordinates, direct reports, supervisors, and managers. As a result, 180 degree leadership assessments cost less.
The ultimate cost of a 180 degree assessment is based on the company delivering the assessment, though there are other factors that may come into play as well.
Factors Influencing Cost Of A 180 Degree Leadership Assessment
Among the factors that influence the cost of a 180 degree assessment are the number of people being tested, the party administering the test, and the overall comprehensiveness of the assessment.
Number Of Employees Tested
The number of leaders you want to test will naturally affect the overall cost.
Even if you develop your own assessment, there will still be a cost in terms of time.
Supposing each of your employees earns $40 per hour and their manager earns $50 and assuming the test takes about an hour to complete, the overall cost per person will be $90 (one hour for the person being tested and one for their manager).
This doesn’t count development time, which would mean many hours for your HR department. Even with that cost, it won’t necessarily cost that much, but there may be other drawbacks of developing a test in-house.
Test Administrator
If you opt to have the test administered by an outside consultant or agency, you save on the costs of developing the test on your own, but you add the costs of their services.
The cost of the test will ultimately depend on the development company providing it, but the main advantage of using a pre-made test is it will have had all glitches and kinks ironed out.
For smaller organizations that don’t have the funds or manpower to develop their own exams, using an outside test may be the best option.
5 Things Companies Do Wrong During 180 Assessments
Level Of Detail
Administering just the basic test has its own costs, but if you want any additional support, that will cost extra. On top of the cost of the exam itself, most companies charge a setup fee to get everything ready.
In addition, companies may provide additional support, including training, coaching, scoring, setup assistance, customer support, and analysis. These will add on to the cost, but they can be beneficial for certain companies, depending on the circumstances.
Comparing 180 Degree Leadership Assessment Cost With 360 Degree Assessments
One of the major advantages of 180 degree assessments is the fact that they are less expensive than other exams.
With setup fees and add-ons, 360 degree exams can reach up to thousands of dollars in costs. 180 degree exams are less comprehensive, and they frequently cost only a fraction of what you’d pay for a 360 exam.
Even just in terms of time, a 180 degree leadership assessment costs far less than a 360, and in many situations, it’s all that’s really necessary. Let’s break it down…
360 Degree Leadership Assessments
A 360 degree assessment will gather information from the individual, their superiors, their peers, and those below them. Depending on the size of your organization, this means several people will be tested to get feedback on one individual.
Let’s look at an example from a medium-sized company. Manager Bob is being assessed, meaning he’ll get feedback from the following individuals:
- Supervisor Janet, who earns $60 per hour
- Fellow managers Pete and Jerry, who each earn $50 per hour
- Direct reports and other employees, who total twelve people each earning $30 per hour
- Bob, himself, at $50 per hour
Assuming it takes each person an hour to complete the assessment, that comes out to $570 in time alone. The cost of scoring the tests and analyzing the results equates to more time and money.
180 Degree Leadership Assessments
Conversely, a 180 degree assessment in this situation would only involve Bob and Janet. They each take an hour on the exam, totaling $110 worth of company time. Scoring and analysis would also take far less time since there are fewer responses to take into account.
While a 360 degree exam provides highly comprehensive feedback, it may not be the right choice for everyone.
For instance, suppose you need to assess an employee who has no direct reports and who is fairly new to the company. A 360 degree assessment wouldn’t have any direct reports to take into account, and his peers wouldn’t know him well enough to provide accurate responses. As such, a 180 degree assessment would probably be best.
Read: 6 Benefits of 180 Degree Feedback
Choosing The Right Leadership Assessment
When deciding between a 360 and 180 degree leadership assessment, the cost is certainly one of the factors you want to consider. However, it’s not the only one. The level of feedback and detail you need should play a greater role in deciding on the assessment you choose.
In addition, you’ll want to select a leadership assessment that is well designed. Some companies may charge more than others to administer these exams, but you’ll get better quality as a result.
Keep Reading: 180 Degree Feedback Examples
You may also be interested in these leadership assessment posts:
- What’s The Difference Between A 360 And 180 Leadership Assessment?
- 180 Degree Feedback Questions
- What is a 180 Feedback Appraisal