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| What is HPT? |
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Human Performance Technology For a one page overview of the HPT model click HPT Model 7 steps 1 page.pdf How Does HPT Work?Human performance technology is a set of methods and procedures, and a strategy for solving problems, for realizing opportunities related to the performance of people. It can be applied to individuals, small groups, and large organisations. It is, in reality, a systematic combination of three fundamental processes: performance analysis, cause analysis, and intervention selection. A Focus on Performance Workforce performance will take on new significance in our economic future. Human performance technology-the systematic approach to improving productivity and competence-is the key to global competitiveness. Although training and education are critical to increasing competitiveness, meeting the educational challenge is just part of the answer. An effective human resource system needs an outstanding learning system, but it requires more; it requires a focus on performance. A New Way of Thinking To improve human performance, we must manage the performance improvement system. That system must be the core of an organisation's human resource efforts if it is to remain competitive in the long run. Performance Analysis The human performance technology approach begins with performance analysis, which examines the organisation's performance requirements in light of its objectives and its capabilities. It is the identification of the current or anticipated deficiencies in workforce performance or competence. Central to the process is the comparison of two specific descriptions of the workforce. The first, the desired state, describes the competencies and abilities of the workforce that are necessary to carry out the organisation's strategy and achieve its mission. The second, the actual state, describes the level of workforce competence and ability, as it currently exists. The performance gap is the difference between these two states. It represents a current or anticipated performance problem to be solved, or an opportunity for performance improvement. The ultimate goal of performance technology is to close or eliminate this gap in the most cost-effective manner. Cause Analysis Cause analysis identifies specific factors that contribute to the performance gap. Solutions to performance problems often fail to achieve their intended goals because they are selected to treat only visible symptoms rather than underlying causes. When the root causes of a problem are uncovered and eliminated, however, the likelihood of significantly reducing or eliminating problems is greatly enhanced. Cause analysis is thus the critical link between identified performance gaps and their appropriate interventions and is a major strength of the performance technology approach. Intervention Selection and Design Intervention selection involves a systematic, comprehensive, and integrated response to performance problems and their causes as well as to performance improvement opportunities. More often than not, the selected response is a combination of interventions, representing a multifaceted approach to improving performance. How a response is constructed is based on its cost-effectiveness and the overall benefit to the organisation. The evaluation of its success is directly tied to the reduction of the original performance gap, which is measured in terms of performance improvement and organisational results. Comprehensive interventions often result in significant changes throughout the organisation. The implementation of any performance intervention thus must pay careful consideration to changing management issues to ensure acceptance at all organisational levels. Finally, evaluation of those changes provides new data for the ongoing performance analysis process.
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