Human performance technology

Human Performance Technology (HPT), also known as Human Performance Improvement (HPI), "uses a wide range of interventions that are drawn from many other disciplines, including total quality management, process improvement, behavioral psychology, instructional systems design, organizational development, and human resources management" (ISPI, 2007).

HPT is a systematic approach to improving individual and organizational performance (Pershing, 2006). HPT is a field of study which is related to Process Improvement, Six Sigma, Lean Six Sigma, Organization Development, Motivation, Instructional technology, Human Factors, learning, performance support systems, knowledge management, and training, and is focused on improving performance at the organization, process and individual performer levels.

HPT stresses a rigorous analysis of the requirements of organization, process and human performance for new design and/or identifying the causes for performance gaps, and attempts to provide new designs and/or solutions to improve and sustain performance, and finally - to evaluate the results against the requirements.

Contents

History of HPT

HPT grew out of the fields of educational technology and instructional technology. The term technology is one of the foundational ideas in the field. In application, the word technology refers to applied science. A common misunderstanding is to define technology as media (such as the Internet and Personal Computers).

Another foundational idea of the field comes from Philosophy, in particular epistemology. In short, how can we know the pertinent reality of a situation. Is a human performance problem due to (or best remediated by) an intervention from just one perspective (such as learning). Human Performance Technology has emerged as a field designed to lead practitioners to critically analyse and prescribe, influence business leaders, and develop interventions that are best suited to the performance problem presented.

HPT evolved as a systemic and systematic approach to address complex types of performance issues and to assist in the proper diagnosis and implementation of solutions to close performance gaps among individuals.

The origin of HPT traces mainly to the work of Thomas Gilbert, Geary Rummler, Karen Brethower, Roger Kaufman and Joe Harless. They (Gilbert in particular) were the pioneers of the field. Any serious investigation of early and later citations of Gilbert's work will reveal subsequent academic and professional leaders in the field.

HPT professionals work in many different performance settings such as corporate settings, educational institutions, and the military (Bolin, 2007).

Definitions of the field

Because the field is relatively new, there have been a lot of attempts to define the theory that supports it as a field of professional practice. This section describes some of the definitions that have been provided thus far.

The American Society for Training & Development (ASTD) defines Performance Improvement as "the process of identifying and analyzing important organizational and individual performance gaps, planning for future performance improvement, designing and developing cost-effective and ethically justifiable interventions to close performance gaps, implementing the interventions, and evaluating the financial and non-financial results."

A 2003–04 Task Force of the International Society for Performance Improvement (ISPI) updated the definition of Human Performance Technology in a March 31, 2004 Report to the ISPI Board: HPT Definition and Criteria Human Performance Technology – An integrated systems approach to improving human performance:

Criteria to judge applications of HPT

  1. Is focused on scientific research-based evidence that guide decision making for optimal outcomes ;
  2. Considers the larger system;
  3. Provides valid and reliable measures of the effectiveness of HPT interventions;
  4. Clearly supports the application of HPT interventions that are grounded in prior research or empirical evidence (or are not discouraged by either one). Repeatable HPT success is a hallmark of technology and a foundation of HPT. Conditions vary so it is the expertise of the HPT to research, adapt, and apply.
Assumptions
  1. A technology is a set of empirical and scientific principles and their application
  2. Human performance technology is the technology concerned with all variables which impact human performance
  3. All organizational processes and practices impact the production of valued results, whether positively or negatively and whether those results go measured or unmeasured, acknowledged or not. (Everything that an organization does affects what it accomplishes, whether or not the results are acknowledged or desirable.)
  4. The purpose of all organizations is the same: to create value for their stakeholders; this is accomplished by aligning all processes, practices, and resources to maximize the production of that value.
  5. We collaborate with and value the expertise of other disciplines; human performance technology becomes the integrator and multiplier.

HPT can become the leverage organizations need to increase improved performance and focus on results using a variety of means and methods. The International Society for Performance Improvement has defined ethical standards for professional practice of HPT at http://www.ispi.org/content.aspx?id=418

Standards of practice

The International Society for Performance Improvement (ISPI) codified a series of standards in an effort to raise the quality of HPT practice:

See also

For further reading

References