What Really Influences Performance?
The accomplishments of any organization are primarily a product of the accomplishments of its people. Human accomplishments are in turn a product of human behavior or performance. Advancing the accomplishments of the organization therefore requires a reliable approach to improving human performance.
I like the model proposed by Joe Harless, a consultant and a member of the HRD Hall of Fame. Joe has been a leader in understanding and improving human performance in the workplace.
In Joe's model, factors that influence performance are sorted into four categories:
I call this the STEM model (Selection, Training, Environment, Motivation). Any effort to improve performance should consider all four categories. These are not rigid categories, but they help us sort out influences and recognize what will really beget improved performance.
SELECTION determines initial experience and knowledge, skills already possessed, attitudes, and willingness and capacity to learn. Selection creates the raw material.
TRAINING, given adequate raw material, can improve or develop skills. Training is called for when skills must be practiced or rehearsed. Training usually takes place outside the normal work process, mentally if not physically.
The work ENVIRONMENT includes physical and social/political elements. Physical elements include work processes, tools and equipment, and information and support. Information and support might include equipment or software documentation, job instructions, or monitoring systems. Social/political elements include decision-making processes, rules and expectations, and lines of communication.
MOTIVATION includes elements such as incentives, recognition, freedom to act, clarity of the organization's mission, and awareness of personal impact.
To improve organizational performance you must improve human performance. To improve human performance you must do two things right.
· Identify the problem.
· Apply an effective solution.
Sounds simple enough in theory. In practice, often the fog rolls in. Let's look at how the STEM model might help.
Let's say you've discovered that raw material is being wasted because operators aren't following the correct procedure when starting up a chemical process. Someone suggests assembling all the operators for a training session to run through the startup procedure. Before you hop on that horse, let's ask some questions, such as:
If threatened, could they perform?
If the answer is "no", jump to the next bullet. If you answer "yes", the solution probably lies somewhere in Environment or Motivation, not Training. They already know how. What keeps them from doing it?Will practice help, and is it enough?
Is this a procedure that an individual operator might perform once in six months? Will the employee remember what was practiced for that long? Perhaps an on-line guide or checklist, readily accessible whenever needed, is a better solution. Instead of (or in addition to) Training, improve the Environment.
Viewing this as a PERFORMANCE issue rather than a training issue leads to solutions that are more effective and often less expensive to design and deliver.