Section 4: Human Performance Technology

Section 4: Human Performance Technology

1. Chapter 14 discusses the concept of the evolution of human performance improvement. Several sections of Chapter 14 present a variety of non instructional solutions to performance problems. Identify a performance problem in your area of work and provide a non instructional solution to solve the problem.

Human Performance Improvement (HPI)…"achieve, through people, increasingly successful accomplishments that are valued by all organizational stakeholders: those who perform their managers and customers, their peers and colleagues, shareholders, regulatory agencies, and ultimately society itself."
(Reiser & Dempsey, 135)

The performance problem that I am addressing has to do with colleagues who perform inefficiently and ineffectively at the workplace. Workplace problems are occurring more frequently lately. Most of the problems are disciplined-based, performance-based, and low morale based. Some examples include: forgetting to do paperwork, blatantly refusing the assigned task given by the administrator, speaking inappropriately about anyone in the workplace or public, and disappearing or leaving the workplace without informing anyone for an unreasonable amount of time are just a few of the problems that need to be addressed in the workplace. Unfortunately, the problem is due to poor leadership management by the administration.

Poor leadership lacks the qualities needed by a successful “manager” so to speak, in our case the principal. Qualities such as providing clear expectations, timely and specific feedback, access to required information, adequate resources, properly aligned policies, efficient procedures, appropriate incentives and consequences, targeted training, comprehensive selection systems, communication of values, knowledge sharing, and varied management support activities are just a few examples of leadership resources needed to run a successful school. Poor leadership will result in problems in the workplace by individuals doing substandard job performances, and deficiencies in job duties and objectives.

So, what is the solution to this problem? How do I expect to solve the issue when the problem is management and leadership?

Gilbert’s Behavior Engineering model (Figure 14.1, 140) and the HPT model of the International Society for Performance Improvement (Figure 14.2, 141), and the volume Improving Performance: How to Manage the White Space on the Organizational Chart (Rummler & Brache, 1995) all wrapped up in a pretty bow to give to the principal would be a start. Unfortunately, it may be an insult coming from an employee, so this might not be the best idea. I think having a meeting to discuss the problems in the workplace with research based resources on hand, such as the ones mentioned earlier, can be disguised as helpful tools to improve personnel problems. Being a media specialist, research is second nature so helping in that department may be a plus for me and everyone else on our campus.

2. Chapter 15 presents several definitions of electronic performance support systems. In addition to these definitions, locate a few more and indicate your preference explaining why you prefer it. Additionally, describe why you believe EPSS have not been widely used and if they are more likely be or become more prevalent in the future.

Electronic Performance Support Systems, EPSS, can help an organization to reduce the cost of training staff while increasing productivity and performance. It can empower employees to perform tasks with a minimum amount of external intervention or training. By using this type of system an employee, especially a new employee, will not only be able to complete his or her work more quickly and accurately, but as a secondary benefit the employee will also learn more about the job and the employer's business. (Wikipedia)

Definitions

In Electronic Performance Support Systems, published in 1991, Gloria Gery defined EPSS as: an integrated electronic environment that is available to and easily accessible by each employee and is structured to provide immediate, individualized on-line access to the full range of information, software, guidance, advice and assistance, data, images, tools, and assessment and monitoring systems to permit job performance with minimal support and intervention by others.

Also in 1991, Barry Raybould gave a shorter definition: a computer-based system that improves worker productivity by providing on-the-job access to integrated information, advice, and learning experiences.

From a business perspective, a former Nortel Networks executive, William Bezanson (2002) provides a definition linked to application usability and organizational results: A performance support system provides just-in-time, just enough training, information, tools, and help for users of a product or work environment, to enable optimum performance by those users when and where needed, thereby also enhancing the performance of the overall business.

According to the textbook, the EPSS system hasn’t been widely accepted because of “lack of awareness, a fear of upfront cost and time required for EPSS development and implementation, commitment to the status quo, resistance to change, and redefining jobs which employees find threatening” (Reiser & Dempsey, 152).

I prefer having an EPSS system especially with today’s emerging technology trends. I think these systems will be more accepted by managers to address performance problems, employees will become more comfortable using this system because technology in the workplace is so common now. They will not feel threated at all with the system and instead look to it as an added resource to save time at work to learn new skills. Workers will expect more electronic performance support to help mange time in the workplace.

3. Knowledge management is the way we manage information, share that information, and use it. Organizations, such as schools, are full of information/data and we must organize that data in a way that we can make sense of it. We use data to make decisions and good data=good decision making. Identify a real or hypothetical problem in your line of work. How might a blended learning approach, including the use of knowledge management system, be used to solve the problem?

A real problem in my district would be researching to problem solve or gain accurate information for students and teachers. For some reason, we seem to be behind the times when it comes to using valid sources and resources for projects in education. I continually fight the Google search engine and others because the school databases are too complicated or hard to get to because of user IDs and passwords. Instant gratification is what everyone wants and I can completely understand time management.

So daily I will guide educators and students to use the databases we provide and try to find information for them to save time. I also have trouble getting patrons to use the online catalog to locate books, movies, or other materials. I am completely obsessed with trying to help everyone but sometimes the time constraints leave me at a loss of my “to do list”. This leads to frustration on both parties.

How can I use the knowledge management system to solve my problem? Well, this is something I have been working on for the past three years. I have been working on my media specialist website which when finished will have as many research tools that I have encountered in my classes for masters in library science. I believe with the knowledge management in action, our school will enable to improve teacher/student performance through easier, more direct access to reliable information and expertise from the media specialist. Training teachers and students doesn’t always mean that they will listen or remember what was learned during that meeting or class after instruction. With these tools easlily accessible, patrons will have reliable information at their fingertips and quickly at that. “By immersing people in knowledge culture…they learn to be better knowledge seekers and better researchers…develop a critical thinking skill: the ability to identify, access, evaluate, and effectively use information.” (Reiser & Dempsey, 163)

4. Describe the types of informal learning you have been exposed to in your adult life. What was the purpose? What was the experience like? Was it engaging? Social? What role did you play? What role did the instructor play?

I have had much informal learning during my adult life. Going into education in college, I was just into my education courses when I was offered my first teaching job. I had enough English credit hours to graduate with a Bachelor of Arts degree. I had exactly twelve college hours of education when I was offered a teaching job in my hometown. The teacher’s military husband had been transfereed and I was at the right place at the right time. I didn’t student teach, but learned through co-workers how to do everything on my own. Between lesson plans, grades, and paperwork, my colleagues were a life saving device for me at the time when I was teaching all day and going to classes at night. It was very difficult and time consuming. It also had unfortunately a negative impact on my marriage because I was so busy and didn’t have time for anything other than my career and college work. Online classes weren’t really an option for me going to college in the 80s. I drove an hour to get to my classes two nights a week from 5:00 to 9:00 p.m. My instructor’s would lecture the whole class period. We would have one break and sometimes we could work on our homework or otherwise we did it on our own time.

Fast forward a few years and I go from teaching middle school students to teaching high school seniors. A former coach of mine had a coaching position open and she asked me to apply. I decided since I was newly divorced, I had plenty of free time on my hands and I loved sports so it seemed like the right move. Again, much of my time learning was informal. I was thrown into a teaching field that was unfamiliar (Government & Economics), to teaching seniors (bigger middle school students), and coaching freshmen girls in volleyball, basketball, and track. I learned from my colleagues again, my students, and my athletes informally. These were some of the best years of my life. A tragic accident of one of my athletes led me to quit coaching and I had a child at this point because I had remarried. I decided coahcing took too much of my time and I wanted to spent every minute I could with my child because I wasn’t going to miss anything in his life.

The last three years I have embarked on a new adventure. Our district librarian left abruptly, and I was offered the position and with that the commitment to attain a masters degree. Again, I was introduced to informal learning experiences. Working with a certified librarian through our region, I was able to learn all the “ropes” about running the library while learning the majority of information through my online college classes. I did learn from my mentor many daily, tedious tasks to run the media center and how to manage my aides wisely. I was truly blessed to have a wonderful person as she was to help a “rookie” like me turn into a professional media specialist.

But, that being said, I have learned so much from my online classes. The knowledge that I have attained so far has been the most rewarding. All of my classes and learning experiences have been so useful in my activities within the media centers I manage. I have not taken a single class that has not motivated, given me useful tools and resources that can only make me to do a better job with my career. I think the professors are so knowledgeable and technologically masterful, that I can only gain more knowledge and experiences through technology with them to guide me.

My experiences have been truly amazing; having both ups and downs. I truly love going to work daily. I can’t seem to get enough and helping everyone satisfies me in a way I don’t even understand. I hope to always have some informal learning experiences because that seems to be how I learn best.