Handbook of hpt third edition

Handbook of Human Performance TechnologyThird Edition Principles, Practices, and Potential James A.. Praise for the Handbook of HumanPerformance Technology, Third Edition “This third edi

Handbook of Human Performance Technology

Third Edition

Principles, Practices, and Potential

James A Pershing

Editor Foreword by Harold D Stolovitch and Erica J Keeps

Tai Lieu Chat Luong

Praise for the Handbook of Human

Performance Technology, Third Edition

“This third edition of the seminal Handbook weaves in two decades of applied

HPT experience to provide even more relevant guidelines to today’s performanceimprovement practitioners as they continue the important work of leveraging

an organization’s most precious capital—its people—toward verifiable, surable, and valuable outcomes.”

mea-—Clare Marsch, senior principal, global learning consulting,

Convergys Learning Solutions

“The Handbook of Human Performance Technology is a valued resource for

pro-fessionals who lead learning and performance improvement efforts in zations In this edition, top thinkers in our field take on the tough issues,summarize current thinking, and offer valuable new insights.”

organi-—Catherine M Sleezer, CPT, Ph.D., professor, humanresource/adult education, Oklahoma State University

“This Handbook not only bridges the gap between European and American

per-formance improvement strategies, it also includes key multicultural approachesfor change agents that focus on business results.”

—Steven J Kelly, CPT, managing partner, KNO Worldwide

“Taking the helm with the third edition, James Pershing ensures that the

Hand-book of Human Performance Technology retains its leading role in the field Two

aspects particularly resonate: a new classification of interventions at the workerand team levels and workplace and organizational levels, and a superb section

on measurement and assessment, which concisely applies a variety of researchand evaluation techniques specifically for use in our field.”

—Saul Carliner, assistant professor, graduate program in educational

technology, Concordia University, Montreal, Canada

“The Handbook’s clear and supportive structure and the high scientific and/or

practical expertise of its authors makes this excellent documentation of HPT’smission, values, processes, and tools very beneficial and credible for both man-agers and HPT practitioners in work or social settings as well as academic read-ers with interest in state-of-the-art HPT related knowledge and experience.”

—Verena Dziobaka-Spitzhorn, house of training/head of learning and communication, METRO Cash &

Carry International GmbH, Germany

“The Handbook reflects the vast and diverse experience of the very best

think-ing and applications of HPT in the world today It is an invaluable and prehensive reference for anyone interested in improving human performance inthe workplace.”

com-—Christine Marsh, CPT, principal, Prime Objectives,

United Kingdom

“As the knowledge revolution takes hold, victory will go to the smartest nizations and societies This must-have reference handbook provides consul-tants and business leaders with visual models, practices, and case histories toachieve measurable improvements in human performance and business results.”

orga-—Geoffrey A Amyot, CPT, CEO, Achievement

Awards Group, South Africa

Handbook of Human Performance Technology

Third Edition

Principles, Practices, and Potential

James A Pershing

Editor Foreword by Harold D Stolovitch and Erica J Keeps

Copyright ©2006 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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To Patricia Lorena, James Frederick, and Dara Lynn

S

Foreword to the Third Edition xiii

Harold D Stolovitch, Erica J Keeps

Preface xxiAcknowledgments xxviiThe Editor and Editorial Advisory Board xxixForeword to the First Edition xxxi

Thomas F Gilbert

Foreword to the Second Edition xxxvii

Robert F Mager

PART ONE: FOUNDATIONS OF HUMAN PERFORMANCE TECHNOLOGY 1

Monique Mueller, editor

1 Human Performance Technology Fundamentals 5

James A Pershing

2 The Performance Architect’s Essential Guide to the PerformanceTechnology Landscape 35

Roger M Addison, Carol Haig

3 Business Perspectives for Performance Technologists 55

Kenneth H Silber, Lynn Kearny

vii

4 Performance Improvement: Enabling Commitment to ChangingPerformance Requirements 93

William R Daniels, Timm J Esque

PART TWO: THE PERFORMANCE TECHNOLOGY PROCESS 189

Jim Hill, editor

8 Aligning Human Performance Technology Decisions with

an Organization’s Strategic Direction 191

12 Dimensions of Organizational Change 262

Larissa V Malopinsky, Gihan Osman

13 Using Evaluation to Measure and Improve the Effectiveness of HumanPerformance Technology Initiatives 287

Robert O Brinkerhoff

14 The Full Scoop on Full-Scope Evaluation 312

Joan C Dessinger, James L Moseley

PART THREE: INTERVENTIONS AT THE WORKER AND WORK TEAM LEVELS 331

Karen L Medsker, editor

15 Instruction as an Intervention 335

Michael Molenda, James D Russell

16 Designing Instructional Strategies: A Cognitive Perspective 370

Kenneth H Silber, Wellesley R Foshay

17 Games and Simulations for Training: From Group Activities

to Virtual Reality 414

Robert L Appelman, John H Wilson

18 Distance Training 437

José Manuel Ochoa-Alcántar, Christy M Borders, Barbara A Bichelmeyer

19 Innovations in Performance Improvement with Mentoring 455

22 Principles and Practices of Work-Group Performance 516

Michael F Cassidy, Megan M Cassidy

23 Performance Support Systems 539

Steven W Villachica, Deborah L Stone, John Endicott

PART FOUR: INTERVENTIONS AT THE WORKPLACE AND ORGANIZATIONAL LEVELS 567

Mark J Lauer, editor

24 The Impact of Organizational Development 571

Brian Desautels

25 The Fifth Discipline: A Systems Learning Model for BuildingHigh-Performing Learning Organizations 592

M Jeanne Girard, Joseph Lapides, Charles M Roe

26 Knowledge Management, Organizational Performance,and Human Performance Technology 619

29 Six Sigma: Increasing Human Performance TechnologyValue and Results 692

Darlene M Van Tiem, Joan C Dessinger, James L Moseley

30 Normal Excellence: Lean Human Performance Technologyand the Toyota Production System 717

Joachim Knuf, Mark J Lauer

PART FIVE: PERFORMANCE MEASUREMENT AND ASSESSMENT 743

Jana L Pershing, editor

31 A Commentary on Quantitative and Qualitative Methods: Mythsand Realities 745

Jana L Pershing

32 Constructing Effective Questionnaires 760

Sung Heum Lee

33 Interviewing to Analyze and Evaluate Human PerformanceTechnology 780

Jana L Pershing

34 Observation Methods for Human Performance Technology 795

James A Pershing, Scott J Warren, Daniel T Rowe

35 Using Content Analysis in Human Performance Technology 819

Erika R Gilmore

36 Quantitative Data Analyses 837

Mary Norris Thomas

37 Evidence-Based Practice and Professionalization of HumanPerformance Technology 873

Ruth Colvin Clark

PART SIX: PERFORMANCE TECHNOLOGY IN ACTION 899

Debra Haney, editor

38 Making the Transition from a Learning to a Performance Function 903

Dana Gaines Robinson, James C Robinson

39 Using an HPT Model to Become Management’s Partner 924

Danny Langdon

40 Managing Human Performance Technology Projects 943

Nicholas Andreadis

41 Leadership in Performance Consulting 964

Dennis Duke, Robert Guptill, Mark Hemenway, Wilbur Doddridge

PART SEVEN: LOOKING FORWARD IN HUMAN PERFORMANCE TECHNOLOGY 1085

Darlene M Van Tiem, editor

47 SWOT Analysis 1089

Doug Leigh

48 Sustainable Development and Human Performance Technology 1109

Scott P Schaffer, Therese M Schmidt

49 Rapid Reflection Throughout the Performance-ImprovementProcess 1122

Sharon J Korth, Brenda S Levya-Gardner

50 Appreciative Inquiry: Unraveling the Mystery of Accentuatingthe Positive 1147

Darlene M Van Tiem, Julie Lewis

51 Comprehensive Performance Evaluation: Using Logic Models toDevelop a Theory-Based Approach for Evaluation of HumanPerformance Technology Interventions 1165

Barbara A Bichelmeyer, Brian S Horvitz

52 Aligning the Human Performance System 1190

John Amarant, Donald T Tosti

53 Systems, Measures, and Workers: Producing and Obscuring theSystem and Making Systemic Performance Improvement Difficult 1224

Donald J Winiecki

54 Hidden Order of Human Performance Technology:

Chaos and Complexity 1251

Darlene M Van Tiem, Swati Karve, Jennifer Rosenzweig

55 Quantulumcunque Concerning the Future Development

of Performance Technology 1274

Klaus D Wittkuhn

About the Editor 1286About the Contributors 1288The International Society for Performance Improvement 1311Name Index 1312

Subject Index 1326Addendum to the Copyright Page 1364

FOREWORD TO THE THIRD EDITION

Human performance technology (HPT) is a professional field of study and

application, the main purpose of which is to engineer systems that allowpeople and organizations to perform in ways that they and all stakehold-ers value HPT is a derivative field that for over a half of a century has evolvedfrom a number of disciplines, such as psychology, communications, neuro-science, management science, information science, economics, ergonomics, andmeasurement and evaluation It is also the progeny of a number of appliedfields, such as instructional technology, human resource development, organi-zational development, and industrial engineering

Eclectic as this all sounds, HPT has grown to become a distinct specialty withits own international, national, and local professional societies as well asnumerous publications, university programs, and certification structures thatlend it credence It has emerged as a domain of practice that is increasingly rel-

evant, if not essential, for today’s organizational success The term human

per-formance technology sounds somewhat dry and mechanistic Hence, human performance improvement (HPI) has begun to appear in professional publica-

tions as a more acceptable euphemism We view HPT as the rigorous means forachieving valued performance, that is, what we as performance-improvementspecialists do, and HPI as the end result, that is, what we accomplish Regard-less of the terminology, HPT-HPI has come to represent a unique area of study,research, and professional practice, one that is worthy of recognition in theworld of work and, more recently, in nonwork and social settings

xiii

THE HANDBOOK OF HUMAN PERFORMANCE TECHNOLOGY:

A FOUNDATION DOCUMENT

Such an energetic field must, at points in its development, stop for a moment

to consolidate its thinking, values, position, mission, direction, and practicesand make a statement about what it is and why anyone should care This state-ment serves three purposes: (1) to help its diverse scholars and practitionersdisengage themselves from their daily, disparate, and pressing activities andreflect on who they really are as a family; (2) to inform the outside world ofwhat the field is all about and why its existence is so excitingly important; and(3) to guide those entering the field and those responsible for informing newmembers on what and where to focus

The statement HPT has made is this Handbook of Human Performance

Tech-nology In 1988, the then National Society for Performance and Instruction (NSPI),

now the International Society for Performance Improvement (ISPI), realized thatwhile it was preaching HPT vigorously and vociferously, the message was notcoming through very clearly A stronger affirmation had to be made A source doc-ument was necessary to inform the world of what HPT was all about The resultwas the launching of a publication initiative We were selected to be the parents ofthis publication, and our job was to give birth to a powerful HPT manifesto.Here was our mission as it appeared in 1992 in the preface to the first edition

of the handbook:

What has been needed as a solid cornerstone for the field is a major publication that clearly articulates, to the world and to HPT professionals, that

we have arrived That is the purpose of the Handbook of Human Performance

Technology: to announce the existence of an emerging, highly relevant field, and

to express what this field is about, where it comes from, what it does, and how its principles and practices can very significantly benefit organizations that seek outstanding results [Stolovitch and Keeps, 1992, p xx].

Little did we realize what an undertaking this was to be, involving almost threeyears of intense work Also, little did we anticipate its impact Not only werethe handbook’s sales outstanding, it soon became the major textbook for uni-versity programs that were adding ever-increasing numbers of professionals tothe field The first edition also generated widespread, international enthusiasmfor HPT This resulted in a second edition, this time with a global thrust Whatcame out of this two-and-a-half-year effort was a markedly increased worldwideprofile for HPT and many new adherents to the field from a host of nations.However, as optimistic as we were about the staying power of the handbook,

we certainly could not have predicted an entirely new, amazingly updated thirdedition some fourteen years after the first one We view the contents of this

outstanding, highly evolved volume with awe and admiration for what sor Pershing and his authors have accomplished and strong emotion at seeinghow far the field has evolved in so short a time.

Profes-HPT: HOW FAR WE HAVE COME

Speaking about our advances as a professional group, it is tremendously sive to note the indicators of our dramatic growth Witness the numerous books,chapters, periodicals, and articles dealing with HPT themes Since 1992, publica-tions have multiplied tenfold The number of university programs and coursesfocused on human performance at work has burgeoned, and not only in the UnitedStates and Canada where the movement began, but also in Europe, the MiddleEast, Africa, South America, Australia, New Zealand, and throughout the worldwhere there are people searching for ways to achieve organizational results val-ued by all As an example, over the past year, we ourselves received requests forHPT guidance, suggested readings, and learning opportunities from countriesincluding China, Mongolia, Uzbekistan, Malaysia, Singapore, Bangladesh,Romania, South Africa, Colombia, Israel, and Niger In this listing, we do not evenname the Western European countries, as they have now become normal fare,something we would not have said even ten years ago

impres-Along with the impact on publications and programs are the noticeable changes

to professional societies and organizations that once were centered exclusively ontraining The American Society for Training and Development, now ASTD, and

VNU, publishers of Training, have begun to include the term performance in their

taglines, including those for their various certificate programs Recently a new

magazine, Workforce Performance Solutions, sprang into existence, an offshoot of the Chief Learning Officer magazine Also, let us not forget the emergence of the

HPT certification program from the flagship organization for HPT, ISPI The ISPICertified Performance Technologist (CPT) program now has produced over onethousand CPTs worldwide In contributing to growing the field, ISPI has alsodesigned and developed a comprehensive set of professional development insti-tutes for individuals and organizations interested in integrating HPT Several largecompanies and organizations now have performance-improvement units Promi-nent among these is the United States Navy Human Performance Center

THE RELEVANCE OF HPT

While HPT has dramatically evolved since the first edition of the handbook, it isnot one of those flash-in-the-pan fads that explodes on the organizational scene

with blinding éclat, only to dissolve into forgotten history like a celebrity diet.

Here is why HPT has stood and will continue to stand the test of time

• A concern with bottom-line results and return-on-investment (ROI) issues.

Yes, HPT possesses strong processes Nevertheless, its central focus, as one of

HPT’s major founders, Thomas F Gilbert, often stated, is valued

accomplish-ment, meaning verifiable results that far exceed their costs The ferociously

com-petitive global marketplace drives organizations In a world of limited resources,for-profit, nonprofit, and social welfare organizations all find themselves com-peting for these as well as scarce funds Anything that can deliver high ROI andpositive cost-benefit ratios as well as demonstrate impact supported by data

immediately draws attention This is HPT’s raison d’être HPT is bottom line

and measurement conscious, imbuing it with ongoing relevance

• The high stakes of high investment As technology and communications

inno-vations generally cause major changes to organizations, virtually any significantinitiative demands the investment of large sums to ensure successful adoption Anew way of tracking customer buying behaviors can quickly mount into the mil-lions of whatever currency one is using Will the employees adapt well to it? Willthe full potential of its promise be realized? These are the concerns of the enter-prise These are also the key issues with which HPT professionals deal

• The increased emphasis on measurement: Six Sigma and its relatives Long

before Six Sigma, reengineering, and even total quality management appeared onthe scene, there was HPT using a language very similar to all of these movements.HPT has always emphasized systemic analysis, systematic processes, holistic inter-vention design, and measurement From time to time, individual practitionersmay have been swayed by enthusiasms and fads, but not so for the field itself.HPT is about demonstrated hardcore results If HPT could have a motto, it mightvery well be, “let data talk.” Its caution would be, “beware enthusiasms!”

• Systems thinking HPT is an applied offspring of general systems theory.

Unlike science, which focuses on ever more minute phenomena viewed throughthe lens of a microscope, HPT employs a macroscope (de Rosnay, 1975) toexamine all of the relevant elements that interact to affect the activities and out-comes of a system Human performance is, as Gilbert (1996) suggested, valuedaccomplishment derived from costly behavior To achieve valued accomplish-ment means analyzing all of the costly behavior elements and designing an inte-grated set of interventions that most efficiently generates desired and measuredresults In our complex current and most likely future world, HPT possesses theappropriate viewpoint, processes, and validated tools to achieve constantlyaccelerating organizational goals

• Changes to departmental titles In the same way that personnel morphed into human resources and accounting into finance, training is in a period of

transition to a new and more strategic state The first transformational baby steps

have been to learning, learning services, or learning and development The bolder organizations have changed to workforce development, workplace learning and

performance, learning and performance support, and even performance ment What is in a name? Opinions abound Nevertheless, changes in labels

enhance-when accompanied by modifications and additions in activities, services, anddeliverables certainly alter expectations and outcomes The newer departmental

or service titles appear to match more closely the needs of organizations As suchthese augur well for evolved, more strategic, systemic roles than tactical trainingever provided

• The interrelationship of HPT with human resource development (HRD),

organizational effectiveness (OE), and organizational development (OD) What

we have asserted to date about HPT is in many ways true of other related fields.Gilley, Maycunich, and Quatro (2002) forcefully pointed out that the role of HRDprofessionals has been mainly a transactional one just as in the case of train-ing They encourage greater focus on becoming more transformational and per-formance focused As they assert, “the challenges facing organizations requireHRD professionals to adopt a role that improves firm performance, enhancescompetitive readiness, and drives renewal capacity and capability” (p 25)

From the field of OE, we witness a growing emphasis on helping the zation fulfill its mission through a blend of sound management, strong gover-nance, and a persistent redirection to achieving results The concerns of OEsound markedly familiar to HPT professionals

organi-What is true for HRD and OE can also be repeated for OD While OD ally operates at macro levels of organizations, its mission is that of increasingorganizational effectiveness and health through planned interventions in the orga-nization’s processes or operations OD may not adopt the engineering style ofHPT; it is more characterized by its emphasis on communication and facilitation.However, its purpose, as with HPT, is to deliver valued organizational results,largely through people This is not a far cry from HPT’s concern with improvinghuman performance

gener-These convergences, although seemingly threatening to the exclusivity of HPT’sterrain, in fact only enhance its relevance All desire valued performance Each has

its approach HPT’s is that of engineer In this respect, it is well positioned for

cre-ating solid business cases for its activities and presenting data-based evidence ofdesirable outcomes Increasingly, organizational decision makers demand this

THE EMERGENCE OF HUMAN CAPITAL

Perhaps we should speak more of human capital’s reemergence TheodoreSchultz, in 1979, and Gary Becker, in 1992, both won Nobel prizes in econom-ics for their work in human capital There was a brief period of excitement for

this then-new concept in the early 1980s that quickly faded However, in the lastseven or eight years, the human capital theme has once again emerged as a seri-ous and strategic business issue A number of authors such as Davenport (1999),Edvinsson and Malone (1997), Fitz-enz (2000), Kravetz (2004), Pfeffer (1998),and Stewart (1997) have fanned the flames of human capital accounting andpotential and have demonstrated the high returns to be derived from human cap-ital management By human capital, we mean the sum total of all knowledge,experience, and performance capability an organization possesses that can be

applied to create wealth The key words are performance capability This is HPT’s

purview, and in this respect, the HPT professional, as portrayed throughout thechapters of this handbook, is above all a leverager of human capital In fact, one

might sum up the essential elements of this third edition of the Handbook of

Human Performance Technology in the following ways:

• The key mission of HPT: the leveraging of human capital in the most

efficient manner to achieve targeted, valued results

• The key process of HPT: the engineering of valued and effective

individ-ual and organizational performance based on systemic, systematic, andscientific principles and demonstrated through credible measures

• The key roles of the HPT professional: analyst, consultant, designer,

evaluator, facilitator, project manager, management mentor, and, asrequired, organizational therapist

• The key contexts of HPT application: the workplace or work setting.

However, increasingly, HPT is being applied in social settings, forexample, reproductive health in developing nations, communitysubstance abuse programs, public education, and improved quality

of life for the chronically ill and aged

AND SO THIS THIRD EDITION OF THE HANDBOOK OF HUMAN

of authoritative guide and standard bearer for HPT’s mission, processes, values,and practices

Having twice stood in the shoes of editor James Pershing, we can appreciatethe many months of tireless effort that he, the editors, and all of the contribu-tors have invested to bring forth this important milestone that is the new hand-book It marks a significant moment in the history of HPT It also represents achallenge for even greater HPT achievements in the years ahead.

Erica J Keeps

Los Angeles, California

References

Davenport, T B (1999) Human capital: What it is and why people invest in it.

San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

de Rosnay, J (1975) Le macroscope, vers une vision globale Paris: Le Seuil.

Edvinsson, L., and Malone, M S (1997) Intellectual capital: Realizing your company’s

true value by finding its hidden brainpower New York: HarperCollins.

Fitz-enz, J (2000) The ROI of human capital: Measuring the economic value of

employee performance New York: American Management Association.

Gilbert, T F (1996) Human competence: Engineering worthy performance.

Washington, DC: International Society for Performance Improvement.

Gilley, J W., Maycunich, A., and Quatro, S A (2002) Comparing the roles bilities, and activities of transactional and transformational HRD professionals.

responsi-Performance Improvement Quarterly, 15(4), 23–44.

Kravetz, D J (2004) Measuring human capital: Converting workplace behavior into

dollars Mesa, AZ: Kravetz Associates.

Pfeffer, J (1998) The human equation: Building profits by putting people first Boston:

Harvard Business School Press.

Stewart, T A (1997) Intellectual capital: The new wealth of nations New York:

Doubleday/Currency.

Stolovitch, H D., and Keeps, E J (Eds.) (1992) Handbook of human performance

technology: A comprehensive guide for analyzing and solving performance problems

in organization San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

It is true; the one constant we can count on in this modern world is change

Since 1992, when Harold D Stolovitch and Erica J Keeps so ably coedited

the first edition of the Handbook of Human Performance Technology, the world

in which we live and work has undergone significant transformation Several

of these changes and their impact were captured in Stolovitch and Keeps’s ond edition of the handbook, published in 1999 However, when one comparesand contrasts the first two editions of the handbook, one will note that thereare constants in the forms of truisms and principles in the field of human per-formance technology (HPT) that transcend time Our goal in producing this thirdedition of the handbook, some six-plus years after the second edition, wastwofold: to capture the truisms and principles of HPT and to address what wejudge to be some important transformations

sec-We purposefully established seven objectives to achieve these two purposes

In 2004 we worked with trusted formal and informal leaders in HPT, seekingtheir advice and counsel in setting the direction and content for the handbook

At HPT conferences and meetings we spoke in person with a number of viduals we judged to be established leaders in HPT We sought their input andasked them to suggest others to contact This led to our contacting a total offifty individuals from whom we received valued advice in person, by e-mail, orover the telephone Their input helped us to develop further objectives as well

indi-as to identify authors and to select members for the handbook editorial advisoryboard

xxi

Given the interlude between the first two editions of the handbook and thisthird edition, the second objective was to have all new chapters This objectivehas been met with fifty-five new information-rich chapters for this third edition.

A third objective was to have well-recognized leaders and subject-matterexperts in HPT author at least one-half of the chapters The reason for thisobjective was to give the handbook credibility and marketability As a leadingcontributor to the field of HPT, the handbook must contain the ideas and views

of our thought-and-practice leaders Each of you may count differently; ever, in our judgment, thirty of the fifty-five chapters have one or more authorsthat meet this criterion The remaining chapter authors are emerging leaders inHPT or thought-and-practice leaders from fields closely aligned with HPT

how-As a fourth objective, we sought diversity among the chapter authors, interms of (1) demographics such as gender, years of experience in HPT, andnationality; (2) position, including academics, consultants, practicing profes-sionals in business and the public sectors, and expertise representing a broadrange of HPT interventions; and (3) what some affectionately dub old, new, and

no guards in terms of perceived roles in the field of HPT and our flagship nization, the International Society for Performance Improvement These judg-ments too will be in the eyes of the beholder In our judgment we achieved ourdiversity objective

orga-Objective five had to do with a personal bias of mine, which stems from myyears of experience in academia I believe that knowledge is best advancedwhen it combines theory and practice and when we recognize that worthwhileideas and views evolve from the in-depth study of and appreciation for the work

of those who preceded us as well as from our contemporaries In short, thereare no giant leaps in knowledge development or practice in disciplines and fields

of study associated with the social sciences There are incremental steps, oftenforward, but sometimes backward, that come from synthesizing, integrating,and trying out the ideas or practices of others in different settings or ways Tothis end, we were insistent that all chapter authors overtly acknowledge theimpact of others on their work by citing and referencing the pertinent research,theoretical, and professional practice literature generously and accurately.Our sixth objective also reflects a professional bias I have about the field ofHPT It is generally recognized that many of the principles and practices of HPTevolved from the field of instructional technology (IT) Over time, many per-formance technologists have expanded both the principles and practices of HPT,embracing ideas and views from a number of other academic and professionalpractice fields However, the pervasiveness of education and training in HPT issubstantial in my judgment This dominance of IT in HPT exists in part for twoimportant reasons First, many practicing performance technologists and stu-dents of HPT have as their primary professional homes institutionalized

programs that have education or training as a first line of business There arenot large numbers of organizations or academic programs with HPT as the sin-gle or even dominant focus Second, education and training, especially whenbroadly viewed, are more often than not a part of the intervention set that per-formance technologists often settle upon to address performance issues This isparticularly true when one looks at primary or first-level interventions versussecondary or second-level interventions Even if training is not a primary inter-vention, it often comes into play as other interventions are implemented Forexample, retooling may be a logical choice to solve quality problems with amanufacturing process However, the personnel responsible for implementingand using the new tooling may need formal or informal training or job aids to

be effective Whether this pervasiveness of education and training in HPT is real

or perceived, I believe that it has existed for too long and has in part retardedthe development and use of non-education interventions Perhaps this is epito-mized best by the number of HPT models and publications about HPT practice,including the first two editions of this handbook, that categorize or classifyinterventions as being of an instructional versus noninstructional nature Forthis third edition of the handbook, we have chosen to address this issue by hav-ing parts of the book dealing with interventions designated as “Interventions atthe Worker and Work Team Levels” and “Interventions at the Workplace andOrganizational Levels.” Four of the sixteen chapters in these two parts deal withsome aspect of education and training The others deal with a wide array ofother interventions

Finally, we had as our seventh objective the development of a brand new partfor the handbook For the first time, the handbook addresses issues related to

a core practice of HPT, the gathering and analysis of data, and its tion to information for use by performance technologists and their clients Wehave a number of chapters devoted to performance measurement and assess-ment We hope this added dimension is valued by our readers and contributes

transforma-to improving the practice of HPT

INTENDED AUDIENCES

As with the first two editions of the handbook, we believe that this third tion will appeal to a broad array of readers and users We anticipate that humanperformance technology practitioners will use the handbook as their primaryreference tool We also believe that students and faculty in academic programsand those in professional development programs will use it as a textbook

edi-We anticipate that the ways we have treated and presented interventions willhave greater appeal to a number of individuals and groups that are interested

in performance improvement but come from disciplines and fields other thaneducation and training We are also hopeful that managers and executives incorporations, government, the military, and public agencies and organizationsfind that many parts of the handbook resonate with their goals to improve indi-vidual and organizational improvement.

Finally, we are confident that the well-established community of HPT tioners, regardless of their experience and expertise, will find many chapters thatchallenge their thinking and rekindle their enthusiasm for our field of HPT There

practi-is evidence that in the past the handbook has significantly reinforced the ity and devotion that practicing HPT professionals have for our field, and wehope that this third edition continues to achieve this lofty goal

vital-OVERVIEW OF THE CONTENTS

Although all of the chapters are new, parts of this third edition of the book resemble the first two editions Other parts are quite different As before,

hand-we have leading HPT thinkers and doers sharing with the readers their riences and views We also have some authors who are familiar with HPT butare not mainstream performance technologists They share with us a variety

expe-of perspectives about performance improvement that come from other fieldsand disciplines that are concerned with quality and effective performance inorganizations

The book itself is divided into seven parts Some readers will read the bookfrom beginning to end, obtaining a complete and comprehensive view of HPT.Others will be more interested in specific parts that align with their interests andpractices Still others will pick and choose among chapters in different parts of thebook, being motivated by particular topics, authors they admire or want to learnfrom, and so on The handbook will accommodate all of these approaches.Part One, “Foundations of Human Performance Technology,” has informationabout the practice of HPT as well as its more esoteric or academic attributes.The first three chapters paint a clear picture of what HPT is all about The mid-dle chapters deal with foundational ideas that support and justify practice Thelast chapter is a comprehensive overview of the origins and history of the fieldthat will provide readers with a sense of why and how HPT has evolved.Part Two, “The Performance Technology Process,” covers the main elements

of HPT practice It begins with explanations about strategic alignment, moves

on to analysis, design, and change, and ends with evaluation The symbioticrelationships of analysis and evaluation are made clear, and the importance ofevaluation and accountability are evident given the two information-richchapters that address evaluation issues

Part Three, “Interventions at the Worker and Work Team Levels,” is one oftwo parts that address HPT and related interventions In Part Three, we havethe first four chapters addressing the importance and criticality of instructionalinterventions We have five more chapters that address critical interventions inthe areas of mentoring, motivation, behavior in organizations, group perfor-mance, and performance support systems These interventions exemplify prob-lems and quality-improvement initiatives that focus on workers and work teams.Part Four, “Interventions at the Workplace and Organizational Levels,” is thecompanion part to Part Three In Part Four, the focus moves to the workplaceand organization We have chapters that address established as well as new andemerging disciplines and fields of practice that complement and enhance the effec-tiveness of HPT They include organizational development, learning organizations,knowledge management, communities of practice, workplace design, Six Sigma,and lean manufacturing The authors strive to explain in detail these associatedpractices and show their relationships and value in partnering with HPT.

Part Five, “Performance Measurement and Assessment,” presents packed chapters on collecting and analyzing data, a core process in HPT Thefirst chapter addresses issues related to quantitative and qualitative methods,showing the value of each The next four chapters provide the readers with guid-ance on the mainstay means for collecting HPT data: questionnaires, interview-ing, observing, and content analyses The next chapter is a comprehensiveoverview of quantitative data analyses Part Five wraps up with a treatise on theimportance of evidence-based practice in HPT

information-Part Six, “Performance Technology in Action,” has much “how to” tion Several of the chapter authors make up a who’s who of HPT They sharetheir wisdom and insight on a variety of practices, including transforming fromlearning to a performance function, partnering with management, project man-agement, leadership in HPT, and consulting There are two chapters that dealdifferently with the same topic, ethics Given the state of affairs in our worldtoday concerning corporate and government waste and malfeasance, these chap-ters seem most pertinent to HPT practice Part Six ends with a chapter that pro-vides an insider’s view of HPT in practice It is a military application and showsthe power and value of HPT in a large organizational setting that deals withmatters of life and death

informa-Part Seven, “Looking Forward in Human Performance Technology,” presents

a set of thought-provoking chapters The authors challenge conventional ing about HPT and help us to look forward, trying to envision the ways HPTmay change and adapt to the future We are provided with alternative ways toboth think about and do HPT Collectively, the authors present cutting-edgeideas and challenges that we must face as we move forward in developing ourfield of HPT, helping it to meet tomorrow’s needs

think-Given the expanding role of HPT in helping individuals, groups, and zations meet the performance challenges of an ever-changing world, we havestrived to reflect the stabilizing attributes of HPT as well as its potential trans-formations Our new team of editors brings to you, our readers, fresh viewpointsthat we hope advance the field and at the same time reflect its long-establishedstrengths and foundations.

Bloomington, Indiana

Editing the handbook was a team effort The core team members are the

chapter authors who chose to expend the effort and the time to sharewith us in writing their knowledge and expertise about the field of humanperformance technology (HPT) Writing well is a laborious task, and this tal-ented group of individuals has provided us with thought-provoking as well

as valuable “how to” information that will advance the field of HPT Theirinvolvement, which often required substantive reorganization and rewriting

of their chapters in response to reviewer comments and editorial suggestions,was central in helping to produce an integrated volume I offer to the chap-ter authors my sincere appreciation and hope that the final product meetstheir expectations

I also want to thank the seven part editors: Monique Mueller, Jim Hill, Karen

L Medsker, Mark J Lauer, Jana L Pershing, Debra Haney, and Darlene M VanTiem This group of distinguished scholars and practicing professionals alsoconstitute the handbook editorial advisory board All of these individuals pro-vided valued input in identifying and selecting authors, editing the content ofchapters, and encouraging and challenging chapter authors to produce theirbest work They also provided me with encouragement when I needed it andwere very receptive to working with tight timelines and unexpected snafus Myappreciation goes to all seven editorial board members for their dedication andprofessionalism I learned a lot from them

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I want to thank the International Society for Performance Improvement (ISPI)for its sponsorship and support in producing this volume A special thanks goes

to ISPI’s elected leaders, who supported the production of this third volume,represented by ISPI presidents Guy W Wallace (2003–2004), Donald T Tosti(2004–2005), and Sivasailam Thiagarajan (2005–2006) Also a special thanksgoes to ISPI staff, represented by April Davis, senior director and head of thebook-publishing program, and Richard D Battaglia, executive director TheseISPI elected members and staff provided valued resources and logistical sup-port Most of all, they granted the editorial board and me complete autonomy

as we organized and produced the handbook to the best of our abilities.Great appreciation goes to my wife, Patricia L Pershing, and my Indiana Uni-versity graduate assistant Alena R Treat Together, these two talented and patientindividuals helped me to coordinate and set up systems to deal with the logisti-cal aspects of this project They also provided careful and thoughtful editing ofthe entire handbook manuscript They made it feasible for me to invest the nec-essary time and effort to complete the project Also, I want to recognize the mate-rial and moral support provided to me by my colleagues, graduate students, andthe administration of my academic home, the Department of InstructionalSystems Technology, School of Education, Indiana University

My thanks to the very competent and professional staff at Pfeiffer: David B.Horne, the copy editor, for his careful and thoughtful editing of the handbook man-uscript; Nina Kreiden, who managed the production of the handbook; Leota Hig-gins, senior editorial assistant; Matthew C Davis, senior acquisitions editor; andKathleen Dolan Davies, director of development Their guidance, support,and advice at every step of the production process was valued and appreciated.They are very knowledgeable in their craft and insistent that quality be front andforemost in developing valued publications

Producing a handbook of this magnitude is a major undertaking in time andeffort Frankly speaking, it is tedious and difficult work My burdens were signif-icantly lessened because of the input and support I received from the coeditors

of the first two editions of the handbook, Harold D Stolovitch and Erica J Keeps

As I began working on this third edition, they graciously shared with me theirworking notes and production process templates as well as numerous insights as

to what to expect and how to keep the process moving forward Throughout theprocess they were available for consultation and moral support The capstone oftheir support was their agreeing to write the foreword to this third edition Haroldand Erica, thank you very much

J.P

Indiana UniversityBloomington, Indiana

EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD

Part One:

Foundations of Human Performance Technology

Monique MuellerChief Executive Officer

La Volta ConsultingZurich, Switzerland, and Sitges, Spain

Part Two:

The Performance Technology Process

Jim HillChief Executive OfficerProofpoint SystemsLos Altos, California

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Part Three:

Interventions at the Worker and Work Team Levels

Karen L MedskerProfessor EmeritaHuman ResourcesSchool of Business AdministrationMarymount UniversityArlington, VirginiaPart Four:

Interventions at the Workplace and Organizational Levels

Mark J LauerLead ConsultantPerformance Knowledge Incorporated

Bloomington, IndianaPart Five:

Performance Measurement and Assessment

Jana L PershingAssociate ProfessorDepartment of SociologySan Diego State UniversitySan Diego, CaliforniaPart Six:

Performance Technology in Action

Debra HaneyPresidentPerformance Knowledge Incorporated

Bloomington, IndianaPart Seven:

Looking Forward in Human Performance Technology

Darlene M Van TiemAssociate Professor and CoordinatorPerformance Improvement and Instruction Design Graduate Program

University of Michigan-DearbornDearborn, Michigan

S S

FOREWORD TO THE FIRST EDITION

In MemoriamThomas F Gilbert1927–1995

Ioffer my foreword in the hope that it can help readers focus the lenses they

use to look at the Handbook of Human Performance Technology, which

promises to offer a technology—a science, really—of human performance

At least I have had a lot of time to look at this subject in many different ways

It has been almost thirty years now since I advertised my first workshop in

“performance technology.” At that time, I thought I had developed a sort of entific way to improve human performance in the workplace And what did Ithink I meant by that? A philosophy professor who is a friend of mine warned

sci-me, “You have a lot of jargon and excitement—but is it really a science, or just

an urge?”

“Well, I can get results in the workplace,” I huffed

“Can you ever!” he said “You get enough people to share your excitement,and they will improve something!”

He did not know how good a point he had made Since then, I have covered that job performance and job management are still so primitive thatalmost anyone can go into the workplace and find ways to improve perfor-mance, to a noticeable extent An urge and some common sense will doquite well as a start And why should the “modern” workplace not be prim-itive? It has been around only a hundred years or so At Ford Motors, theyare still using Henry Ford’s original metal-stamping machines on the assem-bly lines, and there were no training development departments when I wasborn

dis-xxxi

According to my dictionary, a technology is a system that applies the best

tech-niques and sciences to a subject matter Theoretically, we could have a ogy of just about anything—a “cosmohirsutology,” for example: how the heavensdetermine hair growth Or perhaps we would prefer “hirsutocosmology”: the wayhair growth affects the movements of the stars No bandwagons of this naturehave come along recently, simply because they do not offer much opportunity tomake a difference

technol-Does Human Performance Technology (HPT) pose a greater opportunity?Some economists claim that the best we can do is improve human productivity

by no more than 4 or 5 percent, so why waste our precious days with HumanPerformance Technology? But economists look at large variables that few of ushave any control over, like the weather, the aging of capital plants, governmentregulations, and foreign competition A technology of human performance, how-ever, focuses on those doing and managing the jobs, and here we find muchgreater potential for improving performance—the PIP, or the ratio of exemplaryperformance to the average I have often discussed this elsewhere, but the rule-of-thumb PIP in the workplace runs about double: the top clerks perform 50 to

75 percent better than the average, and the spread in performance grows as jobsbecome more complicated The top performers can usually be emulated becausethey typically do things more logically and systematically than others That is

why I call them exemplary performers—we can make examples of them

Obvi-ously, then, there is a great opportunity to make huge differences in human formance, and not just the 10 or 20 percent improvement that almost anyenthusiastic person walking in from outside might bring

per-The opportunity is there, but it cannot be seized by our just saying that wehave a technology We must really have one and practice it systematically If

we can all agree that science is at the base of a technology, what are the teristics of science, and does our effort here share them? I will use the character-istics of science to help polish the lenses through which you will be viewing thisbook

charac-SCIENCE HAS A CLEAR SUBJECT MATTER

Every science must be clear about its subject matter, and the science of humanperformance has not always been From the start, there was an easy assump-tion that the focal part of our subject is human behavior, and this has caused alot of confusion

A subject matter has two parts: a focus (the philosophers call this the

depen-dent variable) and the controls (they call these the independepen-dent variables) A

little thought must lead us to abandon human behavior as our focal, dependent

variable, since we have no interest in changing human behavior for its ownsake alone In fact, the more we think about it, the more we see that our focus

is on human accomplishment, the valuable output of behavior, and that havior itself is our independent variable This may be very obvious when wetalk about it, but it is not so obvious when we set out to practice our technol-ogy I believe that the most difficult thing we as performance technologists have

be-to do—or have our clients do—is focus on accomplishments rather than on human behavior.

Get a group of managers or HRD specialists together and ask them to tify the accomplishments expected in some rather simple jobs You will findthat this is not an easy task Even bus drivers are often expected to move theirbuses quickly from one point to another (behavior), rather than deposit cus-tomers on time at their destinations (accomplishment) Cities that measure

iden-the behavior of iden-their bus drivers tend to have too many customers

complain-ing that buses did not stop for them The followcomplain-ing memory aid is about themost useful device I have found to help us distinguish accomplishment frombehavior:

Behavior, you take with you;

accomplishments, you leave behind.

SCIENCE SIMPLIFIES

In getting us to focus clearly on improving human accomplishments, the tributors to this book are also making an effort to contribute to Human Perfor-mance Technology The old philosophers of science insisted that scientific

con-contributions be evaluated using a three-edged ruler: parsimony, elegance, and

utility.

Parsimony, simply put, means stinginess A good scientific concept should

be relieved of any unnecessary baggage It should never use three ideas to

explain something if one idea will do as well Elegance means that the pieces

and parts of a scientific theory fit together coherently and that the science is not

a messy jumble of eclectic ideas Utility simply refers to the scientific

contribu-tion’s usefulness—if not in the marketplace today, then at least in the ment of the science

develop-If we look at the early development of Newtonian physics, we see howclosely it adhered to these characteristics The same is true of Skinner’s rules ofreinforcement: they explain the development of behavior patterns with greatparsimony, elegance, and utility

SCIENCE IS GROUNDED IN MEASUREMENT

Acceptable evidence about performance must rely on measurement If sciencedoes nothing else, it measures, and we must become very good at measuringhuman performance As a general rule, our clients in the workplace are notgood at it, and here is where we can be of especially great help We can haveour greatest effects on human performance just by measuring performancecorrectly and making the information available

There are three kinds of measurement, and we need them all Direct

mea-sures are meamea-sures of quality, quantity, and costs (QQC) Quality meamea-sures

con-cern such things as accuracy, class (quality beyond mere accuracy), and novelty.Quantity measures concern rate (speed of productivity), volume (where time isnot critical), and timeliness Cost measures concern labor costs, management

time, and material costs Comparative measures, once we know the critical QQC

dimensions, can enlighten us by showing variance on performance True plary performers can begin to suggest the PIP to us—roughly, the ratio ofexemplary to average performance Where exemplary performers are not avail-able to give us estimates of the PIP, we must use our heads and our experience

exem-and begin to estimate what is possible Economic measures are also necessary;

direct and comparative measures of performance are not enough We need totranslate these measures into dollar values, or stakes What is at stake for us inimproving human performance? Performance engineers should acquire basicfinancial skills to become adequate at estimating financial worth For example,they should know what a load factor is (This is the number by which we mul-tiply a person’s wage in order to obtain a rough estimate of what it costs anorganization to employ the person If a maintenance specialist in a power com-pany earns $15 an hour, for example, it actually costs the company about threetimes that hourly amount to employ him—in insurance, benefits, work space,utilities, supervision, training, and so on.)

One device that performance technologists should not use in measuring

per-formance is the instrument called the perper-formance appraisal Look closely at

one, and you will see that it is largely concerned with people’s estimates of suchvague behavioral traits as initiative, creativity, and attitude Even if we couldestimate those traits reliably, they would be poor correlatives of actual job per-formance It is much easier to measure job performance directly than it is torate such presumed correlatives

SCIENCE IS CAREFUL OF ITS LANGUAGE

Physicists are careful when they use words like velocity and speed, because

those words mean something slightly different In the Human Performance nology business, we need to be careful about some of our basic terms, and we

Tech-can do this without creating jargon For example, I use the term exemplary

per-former, since top or peak performers may have come to be known as such for

reasons other than their performance (Perhaps they buttered up the boss,cheated, worked eighty hours a day, or possessed some sort of genius, but weneed not try to make examples of them.) To take another example, I use the

word accomplishment because it connotes value (Outputs can be malodorous and results disastrous.) It would be nice if we could settle on some basic ter-

minology that really says what we want it to say

ENGINEERING SCIENCE FOCUSES ON ITS MOST PROMISING INDEPENDENT VARIABLES

How many kinds of things could influence our achieving exemplary standards ofperformance? The literature is full of suggestions, from leadership to motivation,from management sensitivity to self-esteem I have concluded that if we makepeople’s pay contingent on their performance, tell them clearly what we expect

of them and whether they have delivered it, and give them excellent instructionwhen they need it, then they will mostly rise to exemplary levels of performance,

no matter what else we do If we get the three I’s right—information, incentives,and instructional design—we will have done 95 percent of the job

I am proud to have written the foreword to the Handbook of Human

Perfor-mance Technology As you read the book, I hope you will stay alert to how well

these characteristics of a science have been considered

January 1992

S S

FOREWORD TO THE SECOND EDITION

“Good grief!” you might exclaim as you note the number of pages in this

volume True, there are a lot of pages, but then there is an incredibleamount of worthy information at your fingertips Fortunately, youdon’t have to read all the pages at once—or ever

Were you to read this entire volume at a single sitting (prudence forbid!), itmight be easy to feel overwhelmed by the sheer magnitude of the information,assertions, techniques, and procedures described herein It would be easy to beawed by the seemingly boundless domain under discussion And, although such

an impression might have merit, it would be improper to conclude that ing one’s way to the level of a competent practitioner in the performance craftwould represent an insurmountable task After all, just as it can easily be veri-fied that the world of music is huge, one need learn only a minuscule fraction ofwhat is knowable to become a very competent musician And, though thedomain of medical knowledge is beyond the ability of any single person to mas-ter, many practitioners provide useful services to their clients Similarly, that

learn-there is much one could know about Human Performance Technology (HPT)

should not deter one from an effort to become worthy in the field

One also need not conclude that a lifetime of academic preparation isrequired to acquire the necessary skills Many of the useful contributors to thefield developed their expertise from the experience and coaching they receivedfrom mentors more professionally senior to themselves

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Thus it would be a mistake to conclude that formal training is the only doorthrough which to enter the exciting and personally rewarding field of HPT, oreven that the HPT classroom is where one will surely observe state-of-the-artHPT practices being modeled Unfortunately, although there are now manygraduate programs teaching aspects of HPT in our universities, few of their fac-ulty members appear as yet to be applying much if any of that technology totheir own instruction It is as if they were still operating on the belief that telling

is the same as teaching, as your own academic experience may confirm Even

so, there are many competent HPT practitioners who ply their profession frominside the walls of academe, and from whom you could learn a great deal

WHAT IS HPT?

That is the question this volume will attempt to answer In the chapters that low, you will read about the nature of HPT, about the breadth of human per-formance problems being addressed, about the techniques and procedures used

fol-to solve these problems, about some of the research from which these niques and procedures have been derived, and about some of the resultsachieved This content will provide you with a solid foundation on which tobuild your own expertise in the field of human performance (Note: though thisvolume is called a handbook, it isn’t intended to serve as a how-to-do-it manual;

tech-it is left largely for you to decide which components and techniques will beapplicable to your own world.)

Because this volume does not tell a story that must be read from beginning

to end, you should feel comfortable reading the chapters in any order you findinteresting To provide a framework, however, a few words about the purposeand scope of the field may be helpful

The term HPT refers to a powerful collection of techniques, procedures, and

approaches intended to solve problems involving human performance Whatkinds of problems? All kinds of problems, in all kinds of locations, for all kinds

of people Here is just a short sampling of the types of events that might triggerapplication of one or more HPT interventions, much as a leaky faucet or a deci-sion to build a new house might trigger the need for a master plumber

“These students have a bad attitude toward school.”

“Production is down in the shipping department.”

“These managers aren’t motivated.”

“My team doesn’t believe that they’ve been empowered.”

“It’s taking too long to get these people up to speed.”