Rothwell W.J. - Beyond Training and Development[c] The Groundbreaking Classic on Human Performance Enhancement (2004)(2-e)(en)

Exhibit 14-7. A questionnaire to surface success and failure stories about the outcomes of HPE strategy.

Directions: Use this approach to collect information about the results of any HPE strategy after it has been implemented. Select participants or stakeholders in the HPE strategy. Then pose the questions below to the stakeholders through interview or questionnaire. Later, compile an overall summary report to indicate success cases. If you wish, go back to the stakeholders or participants to verify financial savings or benefits claimed.

1.Since participating in (name the HPE strategy, such as an effort to improve feedback to individuals, provide job-related training, or match rewards and incentives to desired results), describe one situation in which you have been personally involved that dramatized the impact of the change in a positive or negative way.

Describe the situation here:

2.What happened as a result of the situation? In other words, what were the consequences of it?

Describe the consequences here:

3.How would you characterize the situation? Was it positive (it helped the organization improve performance) or negative (it failed to help the organization improve performance)?

Explain why you believe the situation or its consequences were positive or negative:

4.If you were asked to place a price tag on the consequences of this situation, what would it be? Estimate the financial gain/loss to the organization in this situation only. Be sure to provide a brief explanation of how you computed the return/loss.

firms, which periodically survey their own members and then provide the results only to those who participated in the survey and in the services of the consulting firm.)

But bear in mind that measurement is key to the mindset of HPE. It is best to determine the cost of a performance problem and its likely benefits before selecting an intervention. Indeed, HPE interventions should be regarded as investments. For that reason, their relative value should be assessed before they are selected.

The Competencies of the HPE Evaluator

When filling the role of HPE evaluator (see Appendix I), the HPE specialist evaluates results before, during, and after HPE strategy implementation. Although it is only one of ten roles for the HPE specialist, it is by no means the least important; evaluation results should be cycled back as a driver for continuous performance improvement (CPI). To carry out the role, HPE specialists need four key competencies:

Ability to evaluate, or coordinate evaluation of, human performance enhancement strategies, integrating evaluation processes with organizational strategy evaluation. This competency links HPE strategy evaluation to organizational strategy evaluation. When displaying this competency, HPE specialists report the outcomes of HPE strategy to key decision makers in bottom-line terms related to the organization’s strategic goals and objectives. Making the connection between HPE and organizational strategy may require HPE specialists to work with the organization’s key decision makers and strategists.

Ability to evaluate, or coordinate evaluation of, human performance enhancement strategies, integrating evaluation processes with corporate culture, structure, and politics. It is not enough to tie HPE strategy to organizational strategy. Within the organization, HPE professionals must integrate HPE evaluation strategy with corporate culture, structure, and politics. Recall that corporate culture refers to the unspoken assumptions about what works and what does not work. It stems from the collective institutional experience of the organization and its members, and it is an aftereffect of organizational learning. Structure refers to reporting relationships; politics refers to the exercise of power in the organization. Competent HPE professionals should be aware of the unique corporate culture in which they work and the implications of reporting relationships and politics on perceptions of HPE strategy evaluation results. What activities or results are particularly prized in the organization? How are results best presented? Whose opinions have greatest import, and why? Such issues should be considered when planning, implementing, and evaluating HPE strategy and presenting the results.

Ability to evaluate, or coordinate evaluation of, human performance enhancement strategies, integrating evaluation processes with work processes

and work methods. Evaluating HPE strategy is most effective when evaluation results shed light on new ways to approach the work. For this reason, HPE specialists can communicate the results of HPE strategy evaluation to workers in terms tied to their work. That may require continuing dialogue with workers about the impact of HPE strategy on what they do, how they do it, and what results they obtain.

Ability to evaluate, or coordinate the evaluation of, human performance enhancement strategies, giving each worker a say in evaluation processes and in feeding results back into future human performance enhancement strategies. The results of HPE strategy evaluation should be presented to each worker. Feedback at the individual level is a powerful HPE strategy in its own right, and evaluation results can be used in practical terms to stimulate ideas about performance enhancement. Moreover, workers should be involved and empowered when HPE strategies are directed at them. Depending on what HPE strategy is evaluated, approaches to involving workers may differ. However, one approach is to establish a standing task force composed of workers from many organizational levels and charge them with finding ways to communicate and feed back the results of HPE strategy evaluation to all workers in the organization.

First, technology will facilitate the process. Software already exists to facilitate decision making in HPE. Indeed, HPE consultants should check out Advisor PITM (see http://www.professional-learning.com/advisorpi.htm). According to the Web site, the software ‘‘is a decision support tool. It conducts a needs analysis of a performance deficiency (gap) and recommends the most cost-effective solutions. Solutions considered by ADVISOR PI include training, job aids, job/ process/organization redesign, new/improved incentive system, policies/procedures, tools, hiring practices, communication plan and others. ADVISOR PI is based on the published work of several experts in the field of human performance technology. It uses a systematic process for improving performance in the workplace.’’ The author predicts that more such software will become available, offering support for anyone who wishes to apply the HPE mindset to human problems in workplace settings.

Second, operating managers will increasingly expect it of training and development professionals. While operating managers may still inappropriately request training, more operating managers are growing more savvy about the range of strategies available to solve human performance problems. Hence, they know that training is not always a preferred, or even cost-effective, performance enhancement strategy. They are increasingly likely to request alternative solu- tions—and even forecasts of the costs and benefits of various human performance enhancement strategies before they are implemented.

Third and finally, the author predicts that HPE will begin to focus beyond mere organizational measures to consider other impacts—on individuals, families, communities, and others. While cost-benefit and ROI may be important to stakeholders, stockholders, and managers, these groups are not the only ones involved in—or standing to benefit from—HPE interventions. Increasingly, individuals will ask how performance intervention strategies will impact them, affecting their work-life balance. Moreover, increased sensitivity to ethical issues will drive HPE specialists to consider the broader impact of their efforts on communities and other groups affected by intervention strategies.

Still, the future is bright for those who are poised to take advantage of it. Enjoy it.