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International
Society of Performance Improvement Newsletter
July 2005
Is your Training Truly Performance-Based? Seven Keys to Unlocking the Power of Performance-Based Training
How do you know if the training you
are designing or buying is performance-based? There are seven key characteristics
of true performance-based training that you can use as a yardstick for determining
how your organization’s training rates, and where you can potentially
make improvements.
True performance-based training applies scientific principles on how people,
learn, think, and remember. Does your training meet these criteria?
1. Does Training provide clearly stated performance objectives?
Each module of instruction should have a performance objective that states
clearly what the learner should be able to do and how well he should be able
to do it. The objective should directly match a job performance requirement.
This is different from a typical learning objective that says what a learner
should know, understand, be aware of, etc.
2. Is Training derived directly from the job?
It’s common sense, but not common practice, that training should
be derived from job performance requirements. Before design or development
begins, you must first determine (for each job task) precisely what it is you
want the learner to be able to do. If you are unclear about what the performance
target is, the learner will be too. True performance-based training is designed
from the job out. This eliminates all “knowledge transfer” issues.
3. Does Training meet the specific needs and characteristics
of the learners?
Training should consider the background, education, preferences, and other
general characteristics of the learners. The training should use vocabulary
and examples that learners will relate well to. The training is about the learners,
not about the instructors.
4. Does Training provide practice and immediate feedback
on every skill?
At its core, performance-based training is focused on providing learners with
practice and immediate feedback on all the skills required to perform a job
to meet management expectations. Every learner must be provided practice on
every skill. The majority of training time should be spent in practice. It’s
also critical that learners get immediate feedback on their performance, including
what they are doing right, and what they need to do differently to meet the
performance objective.
5. Does practice mirror actual job conditions?
The quality of the practice also matters. The practice should mirror the real-world
job as closely as possible. Learners should practice all the major situations
they are likely to confront, under all the conditions they are likely to
face. So, for example, if there are requirements for speed and accuracy,
the training should provide sufficient practice so that learners can meet
these same requirements while still in training.
6. Does every learner demonstrate competence in every
skill before training ends?
To be performance-based, every learner must be able to show that he can meet
all the performance requirements to the pre-set criteria stated in the performance
objective while still in training. In other words, there should be a 100% success
rate. Training and Performance Improvement departments should be able to guarantee
that every learner can demonstrate full competence on every skill taught.
7. Does Training include only what is needed to perform
to expectations—no more and no less?
If training is truly performance-based, then any information or knowledge that
doesn’t relate to a job performance requirement isn’t needed. Information
that is “nice to know,” but not essential, can and should be eliminated
from training. This makes your training lean, efficient, and performance-based.
If you are concerned about training effectiveness then use these
seven key characteristics as means of determining how the training you are
buying or designing measures up. CEP-developed training applies all seven characteristics
of true performance-based training, so we are able to actually guarantee instructional
results. Don’t settle for less!
Note: Reprinted with permission of CEP, The Center for Effective Performance.
For more information, contact Paula Alsher at 770.458.4080 or palsher@cepworldwide.com
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Trendspotters:
Future Watch, Featuring Allison Rossett
by
Carol Haig, CPT and Roger Addison, CPT, EdD
This month’s TrendSpotter, Dr. Allison Rossett, CPT, is a professor of Educational Technology at San Diego State University, and has served as vice-president for Research and Development for ISPI. Allison consults with many large international organizations as well as e-learning and outsourcing start-ups. Her books—Beyond the Podium: Delivering Training and Performance to a Digital World, First Things Fast: A Handbook for Performance Analysis, and A Handbook of Job Aids, currently under revision—have earned ISPI awards.
During our lively exchange with Allison, she identified three significant trends that she expects will impact Human Performance Technology (HPT) and organizations in the next two to three years.
Top Three Predictions
Allison predicts that the continued evolution of hard technology will make
possible significant changes in how and where workers in organizations
access information, learn new skills, and perform their jobs.
First, hard technology will enable the convergence of work, learning, and support to enable people to do their work, access information, update their skills, and communicate with colleagues from a variety of locations using an ever-expanding selection of electronic tools.
Second, multimedia solutions will enable planned and elegant redundancy in training and communication so that “naked” training, standing alone, will be replaced by a complete learning and support system that delivers consistent messages from the initial skill building through performance evaluation.
Third, we will continuously capture analysis and evaluation information, blending them so that we always have current information about how performance solutions are working and how workers are using new skills and knowledge. We will track usage now, not later, and we will act on the data to improve systems and advise employees.
Reasons for These Predictions
Probably the best example of technology’s impact on business is in
the world of sales. In the past, the very best salespeople researched, selected,
and provided targeted information for their customers. Now, their organizations
have assembled an array of technological and human resources to support their
efforts to ensure that the necessary habits and resources are at hand. Indeed,
the convergence of technologies is already evident. At a patient’s
bedside, a physician can use her PDA to download information about appropriate
medications and prescribe medications immediately without having to consult
references in her office. She can be warned about possible allergic interactions
because the PDA is smart and recognizes this patient and his medical history.
Later, the doctor can access an online course or distant e-coach to further
her own education while still making herself available to respond to other
demands of her practice.
Planned redundancy enables an organization to deliver the same message to employees in multiple environments, providing consistency and reinforcement. For example, a worker can attend an online class to learn a new skill. His supervisor can access an electronic coaching module to help him refine the skill on the job, and a link to the worker’s performance plan can embed a measurement for the skill in time for his next review. The opportunities to aid the transfer of learning are almost limitless. In fact, Allison contends, “Transfer becomes, well, irrelevant, when information, policies, and education pervade the work.”
For as long as most of us can remember, analysis has been something we do in the present to plan for the future. It is the first stage in identifying the performance issue that is standing in the way of the results the organization would like to see. Similarly, evaluation is something we do after solution implementation to judge how well it worked. What happens when our new approaches enable and even demand that both analysis and evaluation be done continuously?
In the United States, the Transportation Security
Administration (TSA), the folks responsible for airport security,
uses technology to continuously analyze the efficacy of their
procedures and systems to make ongoing safety improvements. One
example is rotating employees’ duties during each shift
so that variety keeps them fresh and alert. Others include adjustments
to screening procedures, test performance situations, enhanced
technology, and ongoing data reviews to provide continuous security
improvements.
How Organizations Will Be Different
Convergence is happening. New software systems enjoy improving embedded systems.
With wrap-around technology available to record, remember, and update, and
with communication tools to link workers around the world, distances will
continue to matter less and less. Technology changes foster better travel
for ideas and maybe less travel for people. More and more, Allison tells
us, it will be “virtual assets that bind the organization together,” and
HPT practitioners will use the technology to orchestrate these possibilities.
If we think about it, the ultimate sign of success for HPT will be when our tools and techniques live at the heart of each organization and become so interwoven that they are “virtually invisible.”
Do the people behind these invisible efforts retain their jobs? Yes. Allison believes this is a work-in-progress, and that, “There is no better way to add value to an organization than to be building the systems and assets that surround people at work, helping them to do what they do better. Our titles may change, but not our contributions.”
Implications for Allison’s Work at
the University
The competition for public funding in higher education today is fierce, mostly
because of scarce state dollars and skyrocketing medical costs. At the same
time, the marketplace offers other educational options to aspiring and practicing
professionals that typically require less work and less time than an academic
degree program. Professional development has become a commodity, and universities
are experiencing competition for students.
To compete successfully for continually shrinking dollars and to draw student enrollment, academic disciplines must have a compelling story to tell, one that employers recognize and value. An interdisciplinary field, like HPT, remains largely unfamiliar to prospective students and often on university campuses.
The challenge is to tell the HPT story in a way that is measurably good, with impact at manufacturers, hospitals, zoos, and schools, so that added value is apparent. “We must breach the ivy walls to help organizations solve problems and realize opportunities,” Allison believes. “It’s good for the communities, in the broadest sense of the word, and it’s good for our students too. Today we have online students all over the world, not just those in San Diego.”
The pressure is on, and there is little future for sleepy academics. Academic programs and faculty are being asked for contributions that are demonstrably important to students and their organizations.
Tips for New HPT Practitioners
Allison, who may be reached at arossett@mail.sdsu.edu,
encourages everyone to keep reading; attend conferences, workshops, and institutes;
and of course, “come on back to school.” Click here for
a list of books, articles, and web-based programs.
If you have been spotting trends that may be of interest to the PerformanceXpress readership, please contact Carol Haig, CPT, at carolhaig@earthlink.net or http://home.mindspring.com/~carolhaig or Roger Addison, CPT, EdD at roger@ispi.org.
Have you ever had a goal or a dream you wanted to obtain, but felt you were not competent to reach it or were unsure of where or how to start? Or maybe you wanted to hear stories of how others had obtained their goal or dream. With these considerations in mind, the New Mexico Chapter of ISPI (NM ISPI) developed a CPT Mentoring Program to support both the ISPI Certified Performance Technologist (CPT) program and chapter members who want to obtain the CPT designation.
I (Stacy) have been thinking about starting my journey of distinction to a CPT designee for about a year. Being a relationship-oriented person, and knowing I have a deeper and more fulfilling experience when I collaborate in an activity with someone and not in isolation, I decided I needed and wanted a CPT mentor. After some exploration, I found there was no program to support or provide a mentor.
Beginning of a Dream
Several months ago, I posted a request on our NM ISPI listserv for current
CPTs to be mentors and got one response. I wondered why only one person had
replied when I knew the chapter had at least a dozen CPTs. Upon reflection,
I decided that one reason people may not have responded was that they did
not know what they were “signing up” to do. There was no formal
CPT mentor program, just my desire and dream to get my CPT, and I could not
tell my one volunteer what was needed or expected.
Strength in Numbers
I asked myself, “Where do I go from here?” I contacted two current
CPTs whom I consider “experts” in the areas of HPT, coaching, training,
and adult learning: Jean Strosinski, a friend, colleague, exceptional coach,
and longtime associate of NM ISPI and ISPI; and William Dudeck, 2004-05 chairperson
of the ISPI Chapter Partnership Committee (CPC). I made my pitch for developing
a CPT Mentoring Program for NM ISPI. They were both excited about the idea.
After some talk, Jean and I set our sights on developing a purposeful and useful
chapter-level CPT Mentoring Program, with the support and guidance from William,
whose point of view would be of the CPC and ISPI. Our goal was to get the program
created and implemented in the NM chapter and then offer it to other ISPI chapters
around the world to support the professional development of their members.
Program Overview
One of our first actions was to develop a program timeline. The biggest part
of the program was the creation of the CPT Mentoring Program binder. We brainstormed
what we thought needed to be in the binder (our chosen tool to communicate
and guide the program), created a list of topics, and designed and developed
the binder contents.
The NM ISPI CPT Mentoring Program binder is divided into four sections:
Each section contains documents such as the mentor and protégé application; roles and responsibilities; checklists; mentor and protégé interview questions; and a program evaluation from the sponsor, mentor, and protégé perspective. We also looked at the Mentoring Relationship Model developed by Michelle Halprin, Margo Murray, and Ron Ryan (2005) for their session presented at the Chapter Leadership Workshop in April 2005 at ISPI’s Annual Conference in Vancouver. Their model outlines in detail the mentoring relationship—from getting acquainted to concluding the relationship. With their model as a guide, we developed a CPT Mentoring 3 Step Model to meet our members’ needs and desired objectives.
NM ISPI CPT Mentoring Program 3 STEP MODEL
Step 1
Coming Together (Kick-off Orientation): a time to get acquainted, discuss “ground
rules” (timeframes, deadlines, communication, etc.), build the relationships,
review “What is HPT?”, and implement the tool “Defining Your
Personal Performance Success Patterns.”
Step 2
Next Steps: connecting the mentors and protégés, defining the
personal and professional commitments, discussing (by partners) next steps,
and concerns or barriers, milestones, and deadlines.
Step 3
Celebration: a time to celebrate the accomplishment(s) of the protégé’s
goal(s) (which could be learning about CPT, starting the CPT journey, or mailing
the CPT submission packet and application).
Each of these steps is aligned with a meeting to include the sponsor (NM ISPI), the mentors, and protégés. If during the implementation of the program it is determined that more meetings are needed, they will be held.
Phases of Implementation
As a committee, we determined our own phases of the NM ISPI CPT Mentoring Program:
Phase 1
January 2005: Program announcements and Kick-off Orientation.
Phase 2
March-December 2005: Program implementation, tracking and building of the program,
mid-year evaluations from the mentors and protégés with follow-up
communication as necessary, and ongoing social events.
Phase 3
January 2006: Impact at one year, lessons learned, final program evaluations,
growth of the program, what is working, problem areas, where do we go from
here?
Phase 4
After January 2006: Long-term impact, ongoing support, and continued assessment
of the program.
You have just read the “nuts and bolts” of the NM ISPI CPT Mentoring Program, and in the August issue of PerformanceXpress, you will have the opportunity to learn about the implementation of the program.
Reference
Halprin, M., Murray, M., & Ryan, R. (2005, April). Mentoring: A career
energizing option for human performance technologists. Presented at the
Annual Conference of the International Society for Performance Improvement.
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
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CPT@Work
Welcome to CPT@Work. Analyzing performance issues. Designing targeted solutions that provide value to the organization. Implementing those solutions and evaluating the effectiveness of the solution in delivering that value. These collected stories are meant to provide a showcase for CPT successes. Share them with your clients.
Performance Issue
The problem was one of ensuring a quick and effective reorganization. A Real
Estate and Relocation Services firm announced a major reorganization that
closed multiple existing offices and relocated operations to a single site
located in a new city. As a result of this announcement, the firm needed
to 1) respond to accelerated turnover in service centers targeted to close,
2) create a new workplace, and 3) hire and develop a new workforce in 10
months.
One critical challenge in this initiative was to reduce the amount of time required to bring newly hired employees to an acceptable level of job proficiency. Historically, it took new hires about six months to reach a full operational level for each of the five core job functions. A goal was set to reduce time-to-proficiency from six months to approximately six weeks.
Performance Analysis
The firm is a major domestic organization that provides individuals, institutions,
and real estate affiliates with cost-effective, stress-free relocation and
real estate solutions.
Metrics
Given the speed of the reorganization and the need to train 600 new employees
in 10 months, a long-term, broad performance learning system required the
delineation of the primary metrics of success for the initiative. Metrics
were developed that focused on key performance and business results, which
were then presented to the team for feedback. Final metrics presented to
senior leaders for validation and commitment included:
Critical Assumptions
Project Limitations
Performance Solution
The Performance Learning System (PLS) was created to initially address requirements
of the reorganization and establish a foundation for the learning and performance-support
needs of the workforce for the next 10 years. The PLS would further enhance
the company’s competitive advantage and ability to attract and retain
qualified employees.
The overarching components of the PLS included:
To foster a holistic view, the following model for the PLS—based on ongoing phases of individual performance—was created.
Figure 1. Performance Learning System (PLS).
Select: Provide the tools, information, and resources to hire people who meet minimum requirements.
Orient: Provide a process that establishes base level knowledge about the business, company, and business procedures. Clarify job and team performance expectations.
Assess: Define current knowledge and skills for individuals and, collectively, for each job function.
Prescribe: Provide a custom plan for knowledge and skill development.
Learn: Develop programs and learning resources supporting the required level of performance.
Support: Provide access to tools and resources needed to perform daily tasks.
Excel: Ensure staff stays on track during the development period and beyond by 1) reaching the desired proficiency level as scheduled, and 2) quickly identifying areas needing improvement and responding accordingly.
Capture: Capture existing intellectual capital.
Track: Maintain a record of individual growth and development.
Organizational Results
The following process components (see figure below) are being utilized to capture
ongoing data with which to evaluate the effectiveness of the performance
solution. To date, the program was implemented as designed. The transition
was made, and the new center opened successfully to meet the desired business
goals. The new hire program was reduced to six weeks through a blended approach,
which resulted in significant direct cost savings.
Figure 2. Evaluation at the Organizational and Project Levels.
About the CPT: This project was performed by Howard B. Lewis, PhD, for Prudential Real Estate and Relocation Services. Dr. Lewis received his CPT designation in 2003. He may be reached at howardlewis@ipsTeam.com.
To submit a CPT story, contact Brian Desautels at briandes@jb2dperformance.com.
Brian Desautels, CPT, is a past ISPI Board Director and Society Treasurer, 2000 ISPI Conference Chair, and co-founder of the Seattle chapter of ISPI. He is a former Sr. HR Manager for Microsoft Corporation and is currently the Managing Partner of JB2D Performance, a Seattle-based consulting firm which applies performance technology strategies to human resource management.
Let’s
Explore Virtual Teams
A virtual team is a group of geographically dispersed individuals who are connected primarily by different types of electronic technology, including online conferencing, video conferencing, audio conferencing, e-mail, bulletin boards, websites, and shared databases. They work across time, space, and organizational boundaries. As with other teams, members of the virtual team share a common goal; have different skills, knowledge, and perception; and work in an interdependent fashion.
Many human performance technologists are working as members of virtual teams. If you frequently use e-mail, voicemail, and instant messaging to interact with your clients and colleagues, you are using important components of virtual teamwork. My associates and I are currently involved in several virtual teamwork projects. To a large extent, ISPI’s Board of Directors operates as a virtual team.
A Different Approach to Simulation
Gaming
I am currently working on a project to improve the performance of virtual
teams. It is obvious that some form of simulation (including the case method)
can play a critical role in exploring principles and procedures associated
with effective virtual teamwork, including the impact of national, linguistic,
cultural, and personal diversity among team members.
One of the interesting facts about simulation design is that the people who learn the most are the designers of the simulation. That fact, plus my abiding faith in letting the inmates run the asylum, led me to the choice of an online interactive fiction activity that involves the co-creation of a simulated case.
An Invitation
I would like for you to come and play with us in our interactive fiction
website. The website began with the first two paragraphs of a story (tentatively
titled “Chandra’s Virtual Team Adventures”). These
paragraphs were written by me to get the story started. After this beginning,
I stepped aside and let the participant-authors take over.
You can become a co-author of this story that keeps growing one segment at a time. To participate in this creative venture, read the current version of the story and add the next brief segment to it. Then, click a button and immediately see the evolving story with your segment appended at the end. (Your name will appear below the segment to ensure that everybody recognizes your brilliance.)
You can come back to the story page and watch it grow. You may add additional twists and turns, but with an important constraint: You can add another segment only after some other author has contributed a segment.
The website also contains a comments page. This page is for recording your reflections about virtual teamwork in the story and about the virtual teamwork used for creating the story.
To join the virtual team of authors, simply fill out a brief form with a user name and a password of your choice. Once you have done that, you can visit the interactive fiction pages any time. You may choose to lurk and read the story, or participate and contribute to the evolving story.
Some Suggestions
Based on our experience, here are some suggestions to enhance your participatory
experience:
If You Are Ready…
Go to the IntFic
website and join the virtual team, log yourself in, and let your creative
juices flow!
From
the Board:
Building International ISPI Chapters
In a globalized economy where the performance of most companies is measured by their success in competing and expanding beyond national borders, international expertise and scope becomes a critical asset.
ISPI international chapters provide unique opportunities for U.S. and non-U.S. professionals to share the HPT framework, exchanging best practices and developing cross-cultural awareness and competencies.
While developing chapters in Latin America and Europe during the last 12 years, I learned several valuable lessons that I’d like to share:
Lesson One: Create awareness, focus on topics
Experience shows that successful international chapters survive the “second-year
itch” (when the founding members’ start looking to “pass the baton” to fresh
volunteers) by focusing on offering high-quality content and activities rather
than by simply networking.
ISPI Argentina, Portugal, and Europe started by offering HPT seminars and publications that positioned them as interesting professional forums. Publishing articles and interviews in local forums, publications, and newspapers is another key factor in raising awareness and interest in performance improvement and human performance technology (HPT) topics.
Lesson Two: International is a two-way
street
Successful international chapters not only distribute HPT knowledge but also
attract seasoned local experts to participate and to contribute their own expertise
and practices.
Conventional global approaches fail because they operate only as a one-way channel for distribution of existing knowledge. Successful non-U.S. chapters use a two-way approach focused on multinational exchange and international knowledge creation.
Is your chapter’s strategy global, multinational, or truly international? Take this test developed for the ISPI’s 2005 Annual Conference in Vancouver to find out.
Lesson Three: Focus on meaningful multinational issues
The best way to raise interest in HPT internationally is to show its possible
applications to regional and national issues. ISPI Europe selected “East meets West” as
the theme for its 2005 Berlin Conference, connecting HPT topics with the
local and regional business realities of integrating different economic models
and companies in the European Union and particularly in Germany, the conference’s
host country.
The recently formed ISPI Mexico is developing a strategy to partner with the New Mexico, California, and Arizona chapters to conduct events on regional business issues such as regional trade, professional competencies for growth, and networking for business.
ProComms
Foster Two Fall Conferences
Management
of Organizational Performance Fall Conference
Are you an executive officer, CEO, leader, manager, supervisor, or project leader of an organization? Are you responsible for the performance of an organization with all its complexities? Do you have executives, presidents, or CEOs expecting you to impact the bottom line? Who has the greatest stake in organizational performance and outcomes? Almost everyone interested in achieving organizational results via a systemic process. True?
Managers of organizations: You are the one held accountable by shareholders and employees alike for achieving results and meeting the corporate goals, objectives, financial projections, and so on. As an employee, you have a stake in the success of the organization in which you work.
Performance consultants: You are the one who knows that the way to achieve sustainable performance is by viewing the system as a whole and understanding that a modification in one process area may significantly impact another process area.
It is likely you fall into one of the two categories above. If so, you can’t miss ISPI’s Management of Organizational Performance Fall Conference, September 19-24 in Las Vegas, Nevada. It was created just for you!
ISPI has put together a top-notch series of workshops, keynote speakers, and presentations that will provide you with current information in the area of managing organizational performance that is influenced by a number of content areas including:
These are just a few areas extracted from the large body of fascinating work that makes up the context of organizational performance.
Register today!
We have much to contribute, and there is much to be accomplished!
Instructional
Systems Fall
Conference
Today’s riddle: What do Richard Clark, Judy Hale, Roger Korman, Harold Stolovitch, Thiagi, Timm Esque, Darryl Sink, and 25 other consummate Human Performance Technology professionals have in common?
They will all be at Harrah’s Las Vegas on September 19-24, 2005. No, it will not be for a production of “Guys and Dolls,” but they will be on stage providing lucky attendees with valuable knowledge and skills at ISPI’s Instructional Systems Fall Conference.
Are evaluations in adult learning useful and effective? Want to know how to plan your needs assessment? Want reliable metrics for your organization? Get the answers you need by attending this conference. This highly charged, intimate event provides you with an opportunity to learn from and rub shoulders with the best that HPT has to offer. The conference is focused on determining when learning should occur and the best way to achieve learning through manipulation of display, response demand, and instructional management.
Many of the sessions are small enough that each attendee has an opportunity to participate and be heard. And, the best part, access to expert presenters does not end at the session room door. If you find yourself with a nagging question 24 hours after a presentation, you will probably be able to find the presenter and re-visit the topic.
As part of the Masters’ Series, Roger Korman will speak about talking to C-level executives, and Judy Hale will explain why implementation is the weakest link. And, prepare your standing ovation for Richard Clark when he gives the Keynote Address on Training in the 21st Century.
Click here to register today!
5+1+1:
The 7 HPT ProComms
The ISPI Annual Conference in Vancouver was the first time that the seven new Human Performance Technology (HPT) Professional Communities (ProComms) made their formal debut for the Society. While we are still in the very early stages of implementation (read: getting our act together), we are beginning to make some visible progress.
The inaugural ProComm conference sessions were well attended in a reasonable enough balance to say that they each seem to have their own drawing power. The attendance at the Lunch & Learns also demonstrated attendee interest in each.
A funny thing about the seven ProComms—there are really 5 + 1 + 1. At least that is how I look at them.
Five of the seven are closer to the “technology domains” that we first used to frame our multiyear Society initiative on “Clarifying HPT.” Those are:
These five ProComms have some overlap at the model, method, tool, and technique levels. It was unavoidable. Couldn’t “structured brainstorming” or “process mapping” be used in some manner in each of the technologies or interventions of the five ProComms above? You bet! Those are two examples, and there are more.
1 + 1
Science & Research and the Management of Organizational Performance ProComms
are the 1 + 1. Each of these is both similar to the other five and yet unique.
They are communities of theorists and practitioners, as are the other five. But,
they are each different in that they overlap the other six ProComms completely.
The Science & Research ProComm (SR) is focused on the research of all five technology domain ProComms and the Management of Organizational Performance (MOP) ProComm. They will help us clarify the scientific underpinnings of the technologies and applications of HPT.
The Management of Organizational Performance ProComm addresses two target audiences: the leadership of any performance improvement department, program, or team (Training & Development or Learning, QA, Performance Improvement, etc.), and the line and staff managers who should ideally begin to recognize the need to apply HPT in an integrated manner. These target audiences are not expected to be the practitioners that work the detailed use of the tools and methods (the other five ProComms plus the SR ProComm), but they are the individuals that recognize the need and call for the expertise to institute HPT solutions. Again, this ProComm overlaps the other six ProComms: The Science & Research ProComm provides the foundation knowledge, and the other ProComms may contribute some level of tools, methods, and so on.
It’s Still Early but We Are Moving Ahead
The ProComms are in their infancy. We are still getting organized. But, we
are making some early progress. Look later this summer for the inaugural
ProComm quarterly newsletter. This, too, is just a start for the ProComms.
But just what will the ProComms become for the Society? That remains to be seen. They will each play a major role in ISPI’s 2006 Annual International Performance Improvement Conference in Dallas as the conference session tracks reflect the seven ProComms. Each ProComm can be a source within the Society for some of our other Committees and Task Forces. And each ProComm might very well be expected to “do their own thing” to some extent. The needs of each ProComm may differ. That is to be expected.
What you should also expect is some language and label changes.
When the Task Forces of the initiative that led to the ProComms arrived at the point in the effort when we had to name the ProComms and explain them, I convinced the assembled to allow the next President, Don Tosti, to take the first shot at each name and the description. I said something along the following lines: “As Don will be President next year and will have to explain this many times, why don’t we use his language as the starting point? After all, won’t each ProComm want to take what we give them and massage it later for their own comfort level?”
Everyone immediately saw the truth: that the next group of Society members involved might certainly want to redefine themselves. It’s just the way we are in ISPI. Of course, I am over-generalizing a bit here. But not much. So, look for some near term refinements in the language we use to describe the ProComms. And please remember, the ProComms exist to enable the Society to meet its four major goals:
Coming Attractions
An exciting ProComm undertaking is what is “tentatively” being
labeled as an “HPT Validity Matrix.” In the words of Dale Brethower
and Richard Clark, who are leading the initial efforts to “frame” the
matrix tool, “We propose to lead the development of a categorization
scheme for HPT interventions and intervention packages in general.” The
categorization scheme and criteria are intended to support the ISPI Standards
of Performance Technology and Code
of Ethics for Certified Performance Technologists. We invite each ISPI
ProComm to provide supporting detail so that the four categories:
Below are the four proposed categories:
Stage #4: Validated by Research
The intervention is consistent with a relevant and defined body of knowledge;
there is strong evidence about the conditions under which it works and does
not work in practice.
Stage #3: Respected HPT Practice
The intervention is often used and is consistent with a large and relevant
body of knowledge; the evidence that it works in practice might be weak,
incomplete, or simply not documented thoroughly enough to be considered validated
by research.
Stage #2: Intuitive HPT Practice
The intervention is relatively new but appears to be consistent with a growing
body of knowledge; evidence that it works in practice is suggestive but not
definitive.
Stage #1: Invalidated by Research
The intervention might be commonly used but the body of knowledge supporting
the intervention is weak; the preponderance of evidence supports the conclusion
that it does not improve human performance.
The ProComms can certainly help ISPI achieve its key goals, but it will take the involvement of many. Please contact me at guy.wallace@eppic.biz, if you have any questions, comments, or concerns.
Tidbits from Behavior Science
Measuring the Probability of Response
“Whew! Is this going to be another of Binder’s academic discourses?” Well, maybe. But I’m hoping that a description of how a science of behavior was born from an advance in measurement will make you think more deeply about how we measure learning and performance in the field.
It goes back to my teacher, B.F. Skinner, when he was a graduate student in 1930. He was at Harvard trying to improve the orderliness of data obtained from experiments in learning. He had noticed that most experiments did not produce data stable or orderly enough to allow prediction or management of behavior in real time. Most lab experiments in those days involved mazes or “alleyways” in which rats received rewards or punishments by choosing a direction or running to the end. Typical measures were reaction time or percent correct. Between each “trial,” the experimenter would grab the animal, put it back at the start of the alleyway, and repeat. The subjects’ emotional and physical states (thus, their performance) depended on how the experimenter handled them. Reaction time or percent correct data were highly variable and did not allow good prediction or generalization beyond the experimental situation. Skinner was trying to find a way to make experimental results more orderly and predictive.
In the history of science, going all the way back to Egypt, Greece, and other early cultures, it has most often been advances in measurement that have allowed science and technology to make quantum leaps. This was also true for the science of behavior, as we shall see.
Back to Skinner. He found that grabbing and re-positioning experimental subjects after each trial introduced unwanted variability in performance. He devised an alleyway in which the rat could run back to the starting place by itself, allowing more “self-management” and choice. Then he came up with the famous operant conditioning chamber—often called the “Skinner Box” despite his objections—in which subjects (initially rats, but eventually birds, dogs, chimps, dolphins, people, and other species) simply pressed a bar, pecked a key, pulled a plunger, or made another easy-to-repeat response that did not cause fatigue; could move as fast they wanted; and allowed for automatic counting with electric switches. (Does this remind you of “point and click”?)
Then came the big breakthrough. He decided to count responses over the duration of learning sessions as “response rate” or count per unit of time (e.g., count per minute). He devised the cumulative response recorder that recorded rate of response on a standard graph while the subject responded so that he could observe the response rate and make adjustments to conditions based on continuous feedback. These two things, response rate measurement and the cumulative response recorder, were what Skinner later called his most important contributions (Evans, 1968). When he initially discovered the orderliness of data produced by these measurement tools, and the degree of control and prediction he could maintain using them as feedback (Bjork, 1993, p. 93ff; Lattal, 2004), he realized that this opened the door for a new and powerful science of behavior.
Practically everything Skinner later discovered about behavior, and much of what his descendents continue to discover and apply (e.g., Lindsley, 1991), would have been missed using percent correct or reaction time measures. He called response rate the most sensitive measure we have of behavior tendency, response strength, or probability of behavior (Skinner, 1953, p. 62 ff). Put another way, if one is trying to predict the likelihood of a given behavior at a given moment in time, rate of response is the most sensitive indicator we have.
Examples at two ends of a spectrum illustrate this point. In a learning program, percent correct is an insensitive measure that does not predict performance because it ignores the time dimension, does not tell how many opportunities there were to respond, and cannot be compared directly with any real time measure on the job. On the other hand, with counts per minute of correct and incorrect behavior, we can extrapolate to job performance in real time. In assessment of manager competence, the count per day with which he or she sets expectations or provides specific feedback is an excellent success indicator. Checklists or percent scores without a time dimension do not reflect performance in real time.
There is a lot more to say about this topic, but I have run out of space. Next month we will continue by considering more practical situations that show how Skinner’s advance in behavior measurement can help us do a better job in Human Performance Technology.
References
Bjork, D.W. (1993). B.F.
Skinner: A life. New York: BasicBooks.
Evans, R.I. (1968). B.F. Skinner: The man and his ideas. New York: E.F. Dutton.
Lattal, K.A. (2004). Steps and pips in the history of the cumulative recorder. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 82, 329-355.
Lindsley, O.R. (1991). Precision teaching’s unique legacy from B.F. Skinner. Journal of Behavioral Education, 1(2), 253-266
Skinner, B.F. (1953). Science and human behavior. New York: The Free Press.
Dr. Carl Binder is Senior Partner at Binder Riha Associates, a consulting firm that teaches clients to apply the FluencyBuilding™ training and coaching methodology, the Six Boxes™ Performance Management model, and practical performance measurement for evaluation and decision making. His easy-to-remember email address is CarlBinder@aol.com, and you may read other articles by him at www.Binder-Riha.com/publications.htm, access his work in performance management at www.SixBoxes.com, and read Measurement Counts!, his previous PerformanceXpress series.
I-Spy:
Websites of Interest
July is a month for the celebration of independence. According to Barbara Sanders’ Barbara’s Entourage—Facts About July website, several nations celebrate their independence in July, including Canada (July 1), the U.S.A. (July 4), Venezuela (July 5), Argentina (July 9), France (July 14), Belgium (July 21), and Peru (July 28). As performance technologists, we strive to assist organizations in identifying the unique challenges and opportunities in the independence (and interdependence) between internal and external customers. This month we explore some sites of value related to this effort: Independent Performance. Bring your elephants and acrobats.
Quick recap: Every month, three sites, one theme. While far from comprehensive, hopefully these sites will spark readers to look further and expand views about HPT. Please keep in mind that any listing is for informational purposes only and does not indicate an endorsement either by the International Society for Performance Improvement or me.
These are the general categories I use for the sites featured:
E-Klatch
As businesses strive for independence from certain process functions to focus
on core initiatives, performance technologists need to understand the relationship
between outsourcing, shared services, innovation, and success. The Shared
Services and Business Process Outsourcing Association, “the leading,
independent, global body for shared services and business process outsourcing
(BPO),” provides a wide array of valuable links and resources. Of note,
their “channels” focus on various topics (e.g., Change Management
and Benchmarking) with relevance to HPT—in particular, Measuring & Managing lists
articles on controversial aspects of the results of outsourcing. You can
also learn of future
events, including Transform
or Fail—Mastering Outsourcing to Maximize the Strategic Value of HR (September
25-27, 2005, in Phoenix, Arizona). Finally, they have a Website
of the Week section with formal evaluation measures for the sites reviewed.
HPT@work
On the flipside of BPO, independent business consultants offer a different
perspective in an article titled “The BPO Beat Goes On” in
the May issue of Management
Consulting News. This same issue also features results from M2
Consulting, Inc.’s third annual Survey of Independent Consultants in an
article titled “Are You Bullish on Consulting?”Management
Consulting News “is a not-for-profit, monthly newsletter and
website intended for people involved with the Management Consulting profession.” The
site features articles, links, and resources on a variety of aspects of
independent consulting, including Consulting 101, Marketing, and Practice
Management. If you are interested in submitting articles, you can read
their author
guidelines online.
I-Candy
OK, this one requires some...er...independent thinking. One of I-Spy’s
early efforts at explaining Human
Performance Technology elicited this response from a colleague: “Oh,
so you work with the circus?” On some days, with some clients, it’s
not far from the truth. So, in honor of one of the greatest independent providers
of unique human (and animal) performance, we join with the Barnum
Museum to celebrate P.T. Barnum’s 195th birthday on July 5, 2005.
The Barnum Museum’s exhibits not
only chronicle Mr. Barnum’s life and the circus, but also include some
interesting artifacts, such as Tom Thumb's miniature carriage; the over-2,500-year-old
Egyptian mummy Palb; and Baby Bridgeport, “a 6' 8" 700-pound mounted
pachyderm...the second elephant born in captivity and...the first elephant
born in captivity to be preserved.”
This month’s contest: What is another connection between ISPI, I-Spy, Chicago, and PT Barnum? E-mail me your reply to be entered for a special prize. Answer in next month’s column.
Until August, celebrate independence, performance, and excellence.
By the way, previously we issued a challenge to our readers: How can we advocate for a day, week, or month in honor of HPT and our excellent profession? What date should we pick and why? Please continue to send your suggestions to tp@toddpacker.com, and we’ll share some ideas in a future column.When he is not Internet trawling for ISPI, Todd Packer can be found improving business, non-profit, government, and individual performance through research, training, and innovation coaching as principal consultant of Todd Packer and Associates, LLC, based in Shaker Heights, Ohio. For sample articles on performance innovation and additional information, please visit www.toddpacker.com. He may be reached at tp@toddpacker.com.
Preparing
for a Run for the ISPI Board of Directors
The authors believe that they have noticed a very positive trend in the Society in the past several years. The trend is that it has been increasingly difficult to choose which candidates to vote for from the several qualified candidates who appear on the slate for ISPI’s Board of Directors election. Indeed, there have been many recent ballots where we would look at the slate and feel that we would like to vote for all of the candidates. This speaks well of the Society as well as the work being done by the Nominations Committee. In case you’re not familiar with the process, the Nominations Committee does a lot of research, checking of references, and so forth to help screen potential candidates, as well as solicit nominations of qualified members from the membership. In the past few years, the authors have talked with several members of the Society who have been interested in running for the Board but weren’t sure how to go about doing it. While there is no magic process, the remainder of this article will provide a few tips based on the authors’ experience and, it is hoped, will encourage involvement of people who may be thinking about running for the ISPI Board of Directors.
First, some general observations:
So where do you start? Here are some tips compiled by the authors and other successful candidates who have been elected to the Board. Remember, these are just tips. There is no sure-fire technique to prepare to run for the Board of Directors, but a combination of the below may help to increase your chances by providing what you need—visibility and a track record of serving the Society.
Tip #1
Get involved with the leadership of your chapter. Many of ISPI’s past Board
members started in local chapters. Presenting at chapters helps
you prepare for a similar experience at the International Conferences. Being
a member of a chapter Board of Directors can do the same, although it’s usually
a bit more hands-on than the strategic work you would encounter as a member
of the International Board. All chapters appreciate work done by their committees
to help them run smoothly and keep the membership interest. If you don’t have
a chapter in your location, find some like-minded colleagues and start one!
Tip #2
Submit a proposal to present at the Annual or Fall ISPI Conferences. You don’t
have to be a guru. You just need to have something of value for the general
membership. If you are a CPT, chances
are you’ve got experience that would be worth sharing.
Tip #3
Write an article for Performance
Improvement or PerformanceXpress.
Ditto the comments in Tip #2.
Tip #5
Serve as chair of an ISPI committee. Take all of the comments under Tip #4
and magnify them. The committee chairs are the folks who step up to take
a leadership role in the Society by coordinating all of the work of the
various committees and subcommittees. Typically, a committee chair serves
one year as the “deputy chair.” This allows the person to share and support
some of the duties of the committee chair prior to assuming full responsibility
for the role the following year.
As you review some of these tips, you could easily reach the conclusion that this is a lot of work. The authors will not disagree; it is a commitment. But we would like to think of this commitment as “a labor of love”—supporting both the Society and our profession. It’s also important to note that almost all of the suggestions we’ve offered to help prepare for a term on the Board have the added benefit of helping you build your necessary credentials for renewing your CPT!
The experience you gain from any of the tips we’ve suggested as a means to prepare to run for election to the ISPI Board of Directors can be very rewarding in their own right. However, work on the Board takes feeling of accomplishment to a different level. The authors consider their time on the ISPI Board of Directors as a highlight of their professional careers. There is much work involved; there is also a sense of being able to contribute to this organization that is impossible to describe.
We sincerely hope that some of you readers will take on the task of preparing for a run for the Board, and that the suggestions we’ve offered will help you prepare your road map. By the same token, if there is anything we can do to provide assistance, our contact information is below.John Swinney, CPT, is a performance consultant with Bandag, Incorporated, a global manufacturing firm with headquarters in the Midwest. He has been a member of ISPI since 1972, is a co-founder of the Kansas City ISPI chapter, and served as a member of the ISPI Board of Directors from 1997 to 2001, ending his term as President in 2001. He may be reached at jswinney@bandag.com.
Guy W. Wallace, CPT, has been a performance improvement consultant since 1982. He has been a member of ISPI since 1979 and served as treasurer/director on the 1999-2000 ISPI Board of Directors and as President for the 2003-2004 year. His professional biography was listed in the Marquis Who’s Who in America in 2001. He may be reached at guy.wallace@eppic.biz.
Two Dedicated ISPI Members Recognized for Their Service
Mentor of the Year 2004
The Associate Directorate for Education and Training (ADET) in a Department
of Defense organization recently awarded longtime ISPI member Dr. Clare
Carey, CPT, their Mentor of the Year Award. ADET’s annual learning
excellence awards recognize dedicated civilian and military professionals who
exhibit high-quality performance and make outstanding contributions in education,
training, knowledge-transfer, and literature in support of the ADET vision to
provide extraordinary learning experiences to master the challenges of the 21st
century. The Mentor of the Year Award recognizes individuals who provide exceptional
support and show exceptional commitment to assisting less experienced individuals
in becoming more proficient in their professional activities.
As the ADET’s Pacific Regional Education & Training coordinator, Dr.
Carey has been instrumental in furthering education and training efforts and
aggressively developed an organizational structure within the Pacific that fosters
close coordination and teamwork. She is an outstanding mentor and leader whose
work has a positive and far-reaching impact. Dr. Carey was awarded ISPI’s
Distinguished Service Award in 2001, ADET’s Learning Innovator Award in
2003, and currently serves on ISPI’s Board of Directors as President-elect.
Distinguished Contribution to Workplace Learning
and Performance 2004
The American Society for Training and Development recently awarded former ISPI
president Dr. Roger Kaufman, CPT, the award for Distinguished
Contribution to Workplace Learning and Performance. With a background in industrial,
human factors, and systems engineering, Dr. Kaufman was one of a few pioneers
who created new approaches for training and performance. His first book published
in 1966, Why System Engineering, and his 1972 landmark book, Educational
System Planning, propelled Dr. Kaufman into fame; and since, he has published
35 books and 230 articles on strategic planning, performance improvement, quality
management and continuous improvement, needs assessment, management, and evaluation.
Dr. Kaufman is professor emeritus at Florida State University, where he received
a Professorial Excellence award and served as director of the Office for Needs
Assessment and Planning from 1978-2003. He is also research professor of Engineering
Management at the Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia. In addition
to being the director of Roger Kaufman and Associates, he is a Fellow of the
American Psychological Association, a Fellow of the American Academy of School
Psychology, and a Diplomat of the American Board of Professional Psychology.
Dr. Kaufman was awarded the highest honor of the International Society for
Performance Improvement in 1998 by being named Member for Life and received
its Thomas F. Gilbert Distinguished Professional Achievement Award in 1997.
Submit to Present in Dallas: ISPI 2006
The International Society for Performance Improvement’s 44th Annual International Performance Improvement Conference in Dallas, Texas, April 6-11, 2006, will feature several opportunities for you to develop your professional skills, learn new HPT tools and techniques, and hear the latest research findings in our field.
How can you participate? Attend! Present! Volunteer! It is not too early to mark these dates on your calendar:
Here are some suggestions to help you prepare a successful submission, especially if you are a novice speaking at ISPI:
If you have any questions or would like additional information, contact ISPI at 301.587.8570 or by email at conference@ispi.org.
Volunteer Opportunities: Calling All Students!
Are you interested in attending ISPI’s 44th
Annual International Performance Improvement Conference but unable
to afford the registration fee? If you are willing to attend pre-assigned sessions
or workshops, are open to monitoring sessions you may not have selected on your
own, and are able to distribute and collect evaluation forms and assist ISPI
presenters, please send your name, complete mailing address, phone, fax, and
e-mail address to conference@ispi.org.
ISPI will significantly reduce the conference registration fee for all conference volunteers. Volunteers will be responsible for their own travel, hotel, and other costs associated with attending the conference. Volunteers are assigned on a first-come, first-served basis. ISPI will contact you regarding your assignment in the fall.
Performance Marketplace
Annual Conference Sponsors
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Conferences, Seminars, and
Workshops
ISPI Hits Las Vegas. Seeing Double? Nope, ISPI is holding two conferences
simultaneously September 19-24. One conference is focused on Instructional
Systems and the second on Management
of Organizational Performance. For more information, visit www.ispi.org.
Job and Career Resources
ISPI
Online CareerSite is
your source for performance improvement employment. Search listings and
manage your resume and job applications online.
Magazines, Newsletters, and Journals
The International Journal of Coaching
in Organizations (IJCO) is a professional journal, published quarterly
to provide reflection and critical analysis of coaching in organizations.
The journal offers research and experiential learning from experienced practitioners
representing various coaching schools and methodologies.
Performance Improvement journal is ISPI’s premier HPT publication, reporting on the latest applications, trends, and ideas in the field. A subscription to PI is a benefit of membership, and non-members can subscribe for only $69 in the United States ($105 international).
Performance Improvement Quarterly, co-published by ISPI and FSU, is a peer-reviewed journal created to stimulate professional discussion in the field and to advance the discipline of HPT through literature reviews, experimental studies with a scholarly base, and case studies. Subscribe today!
ISPI Membership: Join or Renew Today!
Are
you working to improve workplace
performance? Then ISPI membership is your key to professional development
through education, certification, networking, and professional affinity programs.
If you are already a member, we thank you for your support. If you have been
considering membership or are about to renew, there is no better time to join
ISPI. To apply for membership or renew, visit www.ispi.org, or simply click here.
Newsletter Submission Guidelines
ISPI is looking for Human Performance Technology (HPT) articles (approximately 500 words and not previously published) for PerformanceXpress that bridge the gap from research to practice (please, no product or service promotion is permitted). Below are a few examples of the article formats that can be used:
In addition to the article, please include a short bio (2-3 lines) and a contact e-mail address. All submissions should be sent to april@ispi.org. Each article will be reviewed by one of ISPI’s on-staff HPT experts, and the author will be contacted if it is accepted for publication. If you have any further questions, please contact april@ispi.org.
PerformanceXpress is an ISPI member benefit designed to build community, stimulate discussion, and keep you informed of the Society’s activities and events. This newsletter is published monthly and will be emailed to you at the beginning of each month.
If you have any questions or comments, please contact April Davis, ISPI’s Senior Director of Publications, at april@ispi.org.
ISPI
1400 Spring Street, Suite 260
Silver Spring, MD 20910 USA
Phone: 1.301.587.8570
Fax: 1.301.587.8573
info@ispi.org
http://www.ispi.org
