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Back to the Performance Improvement Journal Home PageJanuary, 2006 Editor's Notes: Adopting HPT for New Year and Performance Resolution |
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Executive Summaries
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| The Missing Link in HPT by Richard F. Gerson, CPT, PhD The Human Performance Technology (HPT) model is an excellent resource for identifying and closing performance gaps. The model clearly describes steps we must follow to improve performance. However, the model pays little or no attention to the performer. This article makes a case for adding another box to the model that focuses on analyzing the performer's internal states--motivations, thoughts, attitudes, and so on--and how they affect performance and performance improvement. The components of the "messy middle" (things going on inside a performer) are described. Inclusion of the Performer Analysis in the standard HPT model brings to light what performance technologists have long talked about but have not truly focused on, possibly because they could not always measure it. The Performer Analysis will also go a long way to identifying why performance sometimes does not improve, even when all other factors are appropriate and in place. Online Learning: E-learning Fast, Cheap, and Good by George M. Piskurich, PhD E-learning can be a powerful learning intervention for the performance technologist, but in both its synchronous and asynchronous formats it suffers from a number of problems in both design and implementation. This article explores online learning, a third e-learning format that combines aspects of both synchronous and asynchronous e-learning. This hybrid methodology maintains many of the advantages of e-learning, while negating a number of the weaknesses that are inherent in both of the other formats. Incentive Compensation Management: Making Pay-for-Performance a Reality by Mark A. Stiffler Performance-driven organizations seek to create reward systems that not only link employee contributions to organizational results but also align closely with the organization's strategic goals. However, the complexity of implementing and managing plans, communicating objectives and results to individuals, and analyzing plan effectiveness--across the entire enterprise--hinders the effectiveness of even the best pay-for-performance plans. Many companies are successfully addressing these challenges with third-party Incentive Compensation Management (ICM) solutions that improve their ability to communicate goals, align individual and organizational performance, and clearly link pay to performance. This article discusses why pay-for-performance programs often fail and how ICM solutions have been used to address these problems. Collecting Sophisticated Evaluations Even When Corporate Culture Is Resistant by Mary L. Lanigan, CPT, PhD, and Jennifer Bentley, MA Evaluating human performance interventions is a task often neglected because practitioners face a number of challenges. Organizational roadblocks can derail any evaluation strategy; however, with the appropriate evaluation approach and tools, performance technologists can collect sophisticated evaluation data. This article introduces such an evaluation framework and instruments. Additionally, it presents a case study to illustrate how one organization transcends environmental limitations by implementing the tools from this evaluation approach. Afterward, a debrief highlights how this company acquires more information from these evaluation instruments in comparison to traditional measures. The Training Database: Building a Safe Sandbox to Play (and Learn) In by Peter J. Pallesen, MA A system training database that provides a safe sandbox for learners to play and learn in is a valuable performance improvement tool for supporting large enterprise-wide system implementations. While a major undertaking, building such a training tool has commensurate payoffs that more than compensate for the efforts involved in creating it. Learners who get an opportunity to practice skills in a safe but realistic training environment are more likely to retain skills than those who are taught using a static, simulated environment. A training database leverages the existing production database and is less expensive than a simulation built with multimedia authoring software. Having a training database requires coordination with system database administrators and configuration managers. Other challenges include populating the database with employee profiles for exercises, sizing the database to support concurrent use, and keeping the training database current and in synchronization with the actual production environment. The Performance Management Continuum in Municipal Government Organizations by Thomas Plant, MBA, MPA, and Janine Douglas, LLB, MBA Performance measurement is increasingly being seen by senior decision makers in governmental organizations as an important tool for dealing with financial pressures, public demands for higher service levels, and the increased need for government transparency and accountability. However, these measurement systems often focus only on developing and reporting performance measurement information with little tangible benefit. This article proposes that true benefits will only result when the measurement information is integrated into key processes and systems within the organization and actively used to improve organizational performance. In this way, performance measurement is one element of a general management system in a local government, which comprises many essential components that together form a performance management framework, thus establishing a continuum of evolution from performance measurement to performance management. |
