Human performance technology

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Human Performance Technology (HPT), also known as Human Performance Improvement (HPI), "uses a wide range of interventions that are drawn from many other disciplines, including total quality management, process improvement, behavioral psychology, instructional systems design, organizational development, and human resources management" (ISPI, 2007).

HPT is a field of study related to Process Improvement methodologies such as: Six Sigma, Lean Six Sigma, Organization Development, Motivation, Instructional technology, Human Factors, learning, performance support systems, knowledge management, and training, and is focused on improving performance at the societal, organizational, process and individual performer levels.

HPT stresses a rigorous analysis of requirements at the societal, organizational process and individual levels as appropriate to identify the causes for performance gaps, provide appropriate interventions to improve and sustain performance, and finally to evaluate the results against the requirements.

History of HPT[]

The field of HPT, also referred to as Performance Improvement, emerged from the fields of educational technology and instructional technology in the 1950s and 1960s. In the post war period, application of the Instructional Systems Design (ISD) model was not consistently returning the desired improvements to organizational performance. This led the emergence of HPT as a separate field from ISD in the late 1960s to early 1970s when the National Society for Programmed Instruction was renamed the National Society for Performance and Instruction (NSPI) and then again to the International Society for Performance Improvement (ISPI) in 1995. (Chyung, 2008) HPT evolved as a systemic and systematic approach to address complex types of performance issues and to assist in the proper diagnosis and implementation of solutions to close performance gaps among individuals.

The origins of HPT can be primarily traced back to the work of Thomas Gilbert, Geary Rummler, Karen Brethower, Roger Kaufman, Bob Mager, Donald Tosti, Lloyd Homme and Joe Harless. They (Gilbert and Rummler in particular) were the pioneers of the field. Any serious investigation of early and later citations of Gilbert and Rummler's work will reveal subsequent academic and professional leaders in the field.

HPT professionals work in many different performance settings such as corporate, educational institutions, and the military (Bolin, 2007).

Definitions of the field[]

The International Society for Performance Improvement defines HPT as:

"a systematic approach to improving productivity and competence, uses a set of methods and procedures -- and a strategy for solving problems -- for realizing opportunities related to the performance of people. More specific, it is a process of selection, analysis, design, development, implementation, and evaluation of programs to most cost-effectively influence human behavior and accomplishment. It is a systematic combination of three fundamental processes: performance analysis, cause analysis, and intervention selection, and can be applied to individuals, small groups, and large organizations."(ISPI, 2012)

A simpler definition of HPT is a systematic approach to improving individual and organizational performance (Pershing, 2006).

A common misunderstanding of the word technology with regards to HPT is that it relates to information technologies. In HPT, technology refers to the specialized aspects of the field of Human Performance. Technology: the application of scientific knowledge for practical purposes, esp. in industry. A branch of knowledge dealing with engineering or applied science.

The International Society for Performance Improvement has developed a glossary of HPT related terms.

Characteristics of HPT[]

HPT is based on the assumption that human performance is lawful, drawing principles from numerous fields including psychology, systems theory, engineering and business management (Chyung, 2008).
HPT is empirical, using observations and experiments to inform decision making (Chyung, 2008).
HPT is results oriented, producing measureable and cost effective changes in performance (Chyung, 2008).
HPT is reactive and proactive in situations involving human performance to:

reduce or eliminate barriers to desired performance (reactive);
prevent the conditions allowing barriers to performance (proactive); and
improve the quality of current performance (reactive and proactive)(Chyung, 2008).

HPT uses both systematic and systemic approaches to solving performance problems (Chyung, 2008).
HPT considers various interventions (such as lean and six sigma mentioned above) that will assist in achieving desired goals (Stolovitch and Keeps, 1999).

HPT Model[]

An HPT Model is available for viewing at the International Society for Performance Improvement website.

Standards of Practice[]

The International Society for Performance Improvement (ISPI) codified a series of Standards in an effort to raise the quality of HPT practice:

Focus on Results
Take a Systems View
Add Value
Utilize Partnerships
Systematic Assessment of Need or Opportunity
Systematic Cause Analysis
Systematic Design
Systematic Development
Systematic Implementation
Systematic Evaluation

For further reading[]

References[]

Bolin, A.U. (2007) HPT in military settings. Performance Improvement. 46(3) 5-7
Brethower, K.S. (1967). Maintenance Systems: The Neglected Half of Behavior Change. In Managing the Instructional Programming Effort, Geary A. Rummler, Joseph P. Yaney and Albert W. Schrader (Eds) Ann Arbor: Bureau of Industrial Relations, University of Michigan. Retrieved November 23, 2007 from http://www.nickols.us/Brethower.pdf
Chyung, S. Y. (2008). Foundations of instructional and performance technology. Amherst, MA: HRD Press.
Gilbert, Thomas F. (2007). Human Competence: Engineering Worthy Performance , Pfeiffer, ISBN 978-0-7879-9615-4
ISPI What is Human Performance Technology? retrieved June 12, 2012 from http://www.ispi.org/content.aspx?id=54
Pershing, J.A. (2006). Handbook of Human Performance Technology: Principles Practices Potential, San Francisco: Pfeiffer.
Stolovitch, H., and E. Keeps (1999). What is Human Performance technology? In H. Stolovitch, and E. Keeps (eds), Handbook of Performance Improvement Technology (2nd ed., pp. 3–23). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

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