After more than 25 years of using 360 feedback to support leadership development, one conclusion has consistently stood out: repeating the 360 process every 18 months delivers the best results.
Organisations often ask how frequently 360 feedback should be done. Should it be annual, every two years, or even more often? In our experience, an 18-month cycle strikes the right balance between giving leaders the time they need to develop and maintaining momentum in their growth.
Here is why 18 months consistently proves to be the sweet spot.
Meaningful behavioural change takes time to happen. Leaders need time to reflect on their insights, set development goals, practise new behaviours, and embed those behaviours until they become habits.
But change is not just about the leader’s actions. Colleagues, peers, and direct reports also need time to see, trust, and validate new behaviours before their perceptions change.
An 18-month gap ensures feedback is based on sustained patterns rather than short-lived adjustments. It captures the before-and-after picture more accurately and produces insights that are genuinely useful.
360 feedback can be a powerful driver for personal improvement. However, if it is conducted too frequently, the process risks becoming routine and losing the sense of importance that drives meaningful engagement.
An 18-month gap allows leaders to prepare more thoughtfully, engage more deeply, and take greater ownership of their development, ensuring the process feels significant rather than transactional.
The frequency of 360 feedback directly affects rater quality in several ways:
Spacing the process every 18 months gives raters enough time to observe consistent patterns of behaviour. This results in richer, more balanced, and more credible feedback.
The full 360 process requires investment in time and money. Running it too often risks overloading participants, teams, and budgets, while also diluting the value of the insights.
An 18-month cycle ensures each round of feedback is meaningful, actionable, and worth the effort, while also keeping costs and administrative demands under control.
Q. How often should 360-degree feedback be done?
A. After more than 25 years of using 360 feedback to support leadership development, one conclusion has consistently stood out: repeating the process every 18 months delivers the best results.
Q. Is annual 360 degree feedback too often?
A. Meaningful behavioural change takes time, and colleagues need space to see, trust, and validate new behaviours. If 360 feedback is conducted too frequently, it risks becoming routine, losing the sense of importance that drives engagement, and being based on short-lived adjustments rather than sustained patterns.
Q. How long does it take for behavioural change to be seen in 360 feedback?
A. Meaningful behavioural change takes time to happen. An 18-month gap ensures feedback is based on sustained patterns rather than short-lived adjustments.
Q. Why is an 18-month cycle recommended for 360 feedback?
A. An 18-month cycle strikes the right balance between giving leaders the time they need to develop and maintaining momentum in their growth. It also enables sustained motivation, maintains high-quality and reflective feedback, and maximises value for money.
