Page 8
What's It All About, Alfie?
by Marilyn Gilbert
Marilyn Gilbert was Tom Gilbert's partner in life, as well as work. No one knew him better. It is from this knowledge that she writes this article. In it she details two performance improvement projects in which they applied several of Tom's most frequently used ideas: the Behavior Engineering Model, the Performance Audit, and three principles for producing excellent instructional design. The information that Marilyn provides validates each of these practices. It also illustrates the insight that Tom wanted us all to bring to our performance improvement projects as we refine our skills in observation and analysis. Additionally she discusses the development and value of Human Competence, the book that this issue of performance improvement is honoring.
Page 13
Allow Me to Introduce . . . Thomas F. Gilbert
by Peter J. Dean
Human performance technology is a relatively new field of practice that can boast a strong contingent of contributors. But among the names, one stands out as the grand synthesizer--Tom Gilbert. He recombined elements from the work of others to develop some of the models, methods, and measures that are foundational to HPT. This article describes Tom's evolution from psychologist to instructional designer to performance engineer. It also illustrates that the effective practices we now utilize as performance improvement specialists have a sound basis in theory, especially those practices related to "fixing the work place instead of the worker." If you're involved in performance improvement of any kind, the ideas of Tom Gilbert influence the way you work. By becoming better acquainted with Tom and his ideas you will better understand why we do some of the things we do.
Page 18
Vision: Accomplishment-Based Content for Public Education
by Joe Harless
To illustrate the value of Tom Gilbert's work, look no further than public education. Joe Harless, a student then colleague of Tom's for 35 years, suggests that among the causes of the crises in education that this country faces is the essence of education itself. He identifies three primary problems: 1) the derivation of content from a subject matter instead of a purposeful, goal-driven, accomplishment base; 2) inadequate instruction; and 3) low student motivation that can be increased when numbers 1 and 2 are properly addressed. The results of surveys with educators and non-educators alike, and current research findings support Harless' contention that these are indeed primary problems. Unlike some of the other problems in education, however, these can be solved. The solution lies in applying the some of the performance improvement principles pioneered by Tom Gilbert and refined by Joe Harless.
Page 27
Careful What You Ask For...
by Carol Panda
In his book, the author writes, Gilbert taught us that accomplishment specification is the only logical way to define performance requirements. Moreover, accomplishments are the linchpins for the development of performance-based job descriptions. The value of developing and using accomplishment statements for position descriptions is that they allow management to describe measurement that is important to the organization, specific to the position, and observable. The models developed at the position level are derived from a Roles Matrix and are built around accomplishment statements--Job Models.
A typical Job Model contains information that shows the link to the larger work unit or function process. The TURN Test helps clients learn to build accomplishment statements and gives them a way to evaluate the quality of a completed statement. The TURN Test includes the following elements: Tangible-the product of and/or reason for some activity or behavior; Unique/Specific-identifiable or traceable to a process and/or performer; Reconciles-fits with or directly contributes to the mission or purpose of the position, work unit, function, and organization; and Number-quantifiable, measurement of this outcome can be represented by a number.
Page 40
Quantifying the Gap: Realizing the Value of Exemplary
Performance
by Ann W. Parkman, Paul Staples, Ph.D., and Nancy J. Haines
Tom Gilbert introduced, in his seminal book Human Competence, the concept of using exemplary performers to set performance standards. Defined as "the most sustained worthy performance that we can reasonably be expected to attain," exemplary performance establishes the level of performance employees should be expected to reach and asses the potential for improving their performance.
Twenty years later, helping employees become exemplary performers is still the most effective way for organizations to get the greatest possible return on their training and performance improvement investments. Exemplary performers represent an organization's ideal workforce, yet they typically make up less than 15% of employees. This gap provides a ready opportunity for organizations to significantly improve workforce performance. Gilbert provides a process for calculating the Potential for Improving Performance of employees, or the PIP. The PIP puts a quantifiable value on raising the performance of employees to the exemplary level. Quantifying the gap between exemplary and average employees demonstrates the tremendous potential for organizations to increase the performance of their workforces.
Page 44
The Dreaded Performance Audit: Did It Scare You Away?
by Randolph I. James
Another important measurement tool that Tom Gilbert put forth in Human Competence is the performance audit and its use in looking at a large work environment in which many different jobs are being performed. The performance audit helps the analyst sort through all the options in a simple and systematic way. It uses "general-to-specific" approach in a multi-level format, which ensures that the most valuable opportunities are identified. It is not necessary to have the statistical precision of an accountant because the performance technologist is dealing with "measures of opportunity."
Page 48
The Six Boxes: A Descendent of Gilbert's Behavior Engineering Model
by Carl Binder
Thomas Gilbert contributed many powerful ideas and models to the practice of improving human performance in organizations. Many of his contributions, including the Behavior Engineering Model, were useful models or templates for performance analysis or design, tools that served subsidiary roles in relation to his overall accomplishment-based approach.
This article describes applications that have been developed by adapting the categories from Gilbert's model in a trademarked approach. Six Boxes, the particular model addressed by Binder, sorts behavior influences into six easy-to-understand sets used to effectively communicate and apply performance improvement principles with ordinary non-technical people in organizations.
Page 53
Performance-Based Selection-Practicing What We Preach
by John Swinney
Take a moment and reflect on the selection and promotion process of candidates that is implemented in your place of employment. Does the organization practice what we preach? This article describes the performance-based selection process as it was developed to recruit and hire performance engineers. It also describes samples of some of the decision tools added to the process as it has evolved over the years to apply to the internal selection of field training and performance consulting staff.
As we all know, hiring the right person-whether external to the organization or internal-is often a guessing game, and the intent of any selection process is to provide a consistent, unbiased method for selecting qualified people. While not fallible, the process highlighted in this article can help take some of the guesswork out of the selection-both for the organization and the candidate.
Page 57
Keep Customers Coming Back: A Model and Job Aid for Creating Loyal
Customers
by Bob Cicerone
Customer loyalty is critical to the success of any business. A company risks its success every time one of its employees has contact with someone outside the organization or when a customer uses its products and services. Each of these contacts is an opportunity to enhance the reputation of the business-or to lower it. Long-term success for a company depends on how consistently employees, products, or services satisfy the customer.
This article presents a model for creating loyal customers and a job aid that can be used to determine whether conditions that threaten customer loyalty exist for employees in any position. Applied on a regular basis, this methodology will ensure that employees perform more consistently in ways that keep customers coming back. As a result, customer base, sales, and market share will grow.
Page 63
Engineering Worthy Performance on Internet Time
by Timm J. Esque
At the rate that information technology is changing today, performance technologists can take solace in the fact that the essence of performance technology has remained stable. But, at the same time, the environments in which we practice technology have changed and continue to change at a rapid pace. Savvy customers now have to ask, "Should I buy this product today, or should I wait a couple months (or weeks) for the next revision?" This new consumer stance is at the heart of what it means to operate on Internet time.
The need for speed, along with the growing complexity of products in the information age, has changed work environments in ways that are very relevant to the application of performance technology. For those who use the principles and methods laid out by Tom Gilbert and a few others, these two factors-speed and complexity-have driven changes not to the essence of performance technology, but to the way it is applied.
This article describes why these changes are critical to the performance technologist and discusses how Gilbert's methods were modified at Intel to account for speed and complexity.
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