360-Degree Assessments Support Hierarchy-Free Relationships

SurveyMars 360 Assessment lets you skip levels such as superior, peer, and subordinate. After you turn on "No level required", a rating relationship keeps only "Evaluatee" and "Evaluator". Use it when you do not need results rolled up by level and only need to record who evaluates whom.

Overview

On the Add Rating Relationships page, open "No level required" under "Create Levels" on the left. The switch is off by default. When it is on, every level above is cleared and grayed out, so you cannot select those levels. "Set Self-Evaluation Level" is not affected, and you can still set self-evaluation as usual.

If you leave the switch off and select only one level, relationships still display and edit in the existing level-based mode. They do not become no-level relationships.

How to Use

1. Turn on No level required

1. Open the 360 Assessment and go to the Add Rating Relationships page.

2. Under "Create Levels" on the left, turn on "No level required".

3. If you need self-evaluation, keep "Self-evaluation" under "Set Self-Evaluation Level". Then click "Save".

Note: After you turn it on, levels such as superior, peer, and subordinate cannot be selected. Turn the switch off to select levels again and manage relationships by level.

2. Manage rating relationships

1. After you turn it on, the "Rating Relationship List" on the right no longer shows levels. Only the "Evaluatee" and "Evaluator" columns remain.

2. When you edit a relationship, the dialog lets you edit "Evaluator" only. Other levels such as superior and subordinate are hidden, and "Add More Levels" is no longer available at the bottom.

Note: If you clear every evaluator for an evaluatee and then save, the system asks you to confirm deleting that evaluatee. There is no separate button to delete an evaluatee. Clear all of their evaluators to remove them.

3. Import with Excel

1. Turn on "No level required" and save first. Then click "Excel Import" or "Import Example".

2. The template you download is the no-level template. Fill in "Evaluatee" and "Evaluator". It no longer includes columns such as superior or subordinate.

3. After upload, evaluatees appear in the same order as in the file. To import again, click "Re-import Rating Relationships". When you return to the previous page, "No level required" stays on, and levels do not reappear.

4. After the import, use "All evaluatees require self-evaluation" to turn self-evaluation on or off in bulk.

Changes on Distribute and Results

After "No level required" is on, the distribute page and results pages remove options that process scores by level, so results are not still calculated by superior or subordinate.

1. "Weight Settings" for rating relationships is no longer shown.

2. "Show superiors, subordinates, and similar levels as others' scores in the report" is no longer shown.

3. "Batch rating by level" cannot be turned on. Clicking the switch prompts that this assessment uses no-level relationships and cannot be batched by level.

4. The option for removing extreme scores is renamed "Remove highest and lowest scores (not by level)". When it is on, one highest score and one lowest score are removed from all evaluators. If an evaluatee has fewer than 3 evaluators, the highest and lowest scores are not removed.

5. The first screen of the individual assessment report shows the number of evaluators. In "View & Download Responses", the relationship column shows "Evaluator". Excel exports use Evaluator as well and no longer show level names.

FAQ

Q: After I turn on "No level required", can evaluatees still complete a self-evaluation?

A: Yes. Self-evaluation is not affected by this switch. Set it under "Set Self-Evaluation Level". After you import rating relationships, you can also turn it on or off in bulk with "All evaluatees require self-evaluation".

Q: I only selected "Superior". Why does the list still show levels?

A: If "No level required" is off, selecting only one level still uses the original level-based mode. The list shows only "Evaluatee" and "Evaluator" after you turn the switch on.

Q: Why do superior and subordinate columns still appear after import?

A: Make sure "No level required" is turned on and saved before you import, and use the template downloaded from the current page. Older templates that include levels do not apply to no-level relationships.

Q: Why can't I find weight settings, and why can't I batch ratings by level?

A: Both depend on rating levels. After you turn on "No level required", weight settings are hidden. The "Batch rating by level" switch cannot be clicked, and a prompt appears.

Q: When highest and lowest scores are removed, is one pair still removed for each level?

A: No. With no-level relationships, "Remove highest and lowest scores (not by level)" removes one highest score and one lowest score from all evaluators for that evaluatee. If there are fewer than 3 evaluators, nothing is removed.