Performance Support Interventions: Noninstructional
Typical noninstructional categories of performance support interventions include, but are not limited to, job aids, electronic performance support systems, documentation (job specifications), and standards. The use of these interventions is determined by their appropriateness to specific conditions.
Job Performance Aids
Job performance aids (also known as job aids) are used during a task to facilitate job performance and efficiency (see Table 5-6). Job performance aids are useful when employees need immediate assistance to help them get the job done. Tasks that are performed infrequently and are not part of a person's regular job are ideal situations for job performance aids. On the other hand, job aids that are quickly outdated , that convey complex information, or that compromise performance are inappropriate. [30] Job performance aids can be checklists or worksheets, matrix/decision tables, flowcharts, mixed varieties, and virtual reality. Those that guide job performance, reduce the length of time recall is necessary, signal when to take some action, and give directions on actions, are successful job performance aids. Table 5-6 is an explanation of a job performance aid. [31]
| Traditional View | Expanded View | |
|---|---|---|
| What Job Aids Do |
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| When Job Aids Are Useful |
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Electronic Performance Support Systems
A performance support system is "an integrated electronic environment which is available to and easily accessed by each employee and is structured to provide immediate, individualized on-line access to the full range of information, software, guidance, advice and assistance, data, images, tools, and assessment and monitoring systems to permit the employee to perform the job with a minimum of support and intervention by others." [32] In short, an electronic performance support system is a highly sophisticated technological job aid, with the following advantages:
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Access to large databases of information
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Designed to coach the user through questioning, assessing answers, evaluating responses and to offer recommendations
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User-friendly [33]
Documentation (Job Specifications) and Standards
There are a variety of ways to code information, to preserve it, and to make it accessible in the workplace. Written descriptions, policies, procedures, guidelines, reference manuals, quality assurance documents, bylaws, articles of incorporation, partnership agreements, contracts, and letters of intent are most frequently used to codify. [34] When we codify job specifications, we are providing written descriptions of the knowledge, skills, abilities , and other characteristics (interests, personality, training, etc.) that are necessary to be successful on the job. Documented job specifications can be used for employee selection, performance appraisal, and training.
Performance standards are concise statements that serve as a gauge for measuring accomplishment. The organization sets the standards around which performance is judged and the criteria that guide the performer.
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J.C. Penney is a mecca for value-conscious shoppers in the U.S. and abroad. It is a comprehensive department store rich in the traditional values of integrity, initiative, and work ethics. Traditionally, it was noted for good products and services at reasonable prices and a clean and inviting atmosphere with friendly personnel. Employees are called " associates " and enjoy a partnership with the company. Penney's decided to launch an ambitious expansion plan aimed at making it a major player in the international market.
Situation
J.C. Penney was one of the largest retailing chains in the U.S., operating more than 1,000 stores and a major retail catalog business. Keeping track of inventory and product changes was a major corporate challenge. To keep up, the company has become one of the top users of information services in the retail industry, with a host of mainframe computers supporting over 45,000 terminals.
J.C. Penney's training and documentation needs generated over eight million pages of paper documentation in one recent year. Each store has more than 100 reference manuals that need constant updating.
A performance analysis found updating to be a massive problem in the stores. As systems were expanded and modified, the need for timely training in so many locations posed significant logistical challenges.
Furthermore, employees required more and more time to access information, with no assurance that the reference materials were up-to-date. One new system, the Electronic Order File (EOF), part of J.C. Penney's purchase order management system, was so complicated that it required trainers to train people face-to-face, going through the entire system with them, a time-consuming and labor- intensive process.
Intervention
Applying performance technology to job redesign, Penney's developed a performance support system that resides with the EOF application. This system consists of features such as on-line documentation and training that is integrated with the application to help people successfully perform their jobs. When employees used an application system and had a question or needed information, they accessed the performance support system and gained "context-sensitive" information instantaneously. Users could search out additional information or training based on their needs.
The value of performance support was expressed by a company spokesperson: "We want to make people's jobs as easy and user friendly as possible ... if it takes our people an hour to figure out how to do 30 minutes of work, they're going to feel frustrated, and their productivity suffers."
Results
Although the integration of performance support systems into on-line applications was in its initial stages, results were gratifying. Instead of systems, documentation, and training being three separate units, they were integrated. "This will be very helpful," a user said. "Often I know I've read about something, but can't remember where. I think I will use it a lot, and I like it much better than a phone call to a help desk."
Lessons Learned
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Plans were developed for more performance support systems. A J.C. Penney manager commented, "People costs are high and continue to go higher. Enhancing productivity is one way of addressing that controllable expense. Future applications will have performance support built right into the design; the hard copy documentation we know today will disappear."
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Through a performance technology integration of documentation, training, and information systems, J.C. Penney enhanced worker competence, productivity, and job satisfaction.
Deterline, W.A. and Rosenberg, M.J. Eds., (1992) . Workplace productivity: Performance technology success stories. Washington, D.C.: NSPI, pp. 15 “16. Used with permission of the International Society for Performance Improvement .
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Directions: Complete the chart to guide your choice about the performance support interventions. Two interventions are completed for you. Give a work- related example from your present employment.
| Performance Support: Instructional | Definition | Unique Feature | Guidance Questions | Work-related Example or Advantages | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Learning Organization | Organization's competitive advantage enhanced through knowledge | Individual Learning Team; Organizational Learning |
| Employees capitalize on both formal and informal learning opportunities. | |
| Action Learning | |||||
| Self-directed Learning | |||||
| Knowledge Capture and Management | |||||
| Education | |||||
| Interactive Technologies: Distance Learning | |||||
| Interactive Technologies: Telecommunications | |||||
| Interactive Technologies: Satellite Technology | |||||
| Job Performance Aids | A tool or technique for facilitating performance | Varieties of formats: Used prior to, during, after performance |
| If evaluation is this type: | The meaning is: |
| Level 1 | Reaction | ||||
| Level 2 | Learning | ||||
| Electronic Performance Support Systems | |||||
| Documentation and Standards | |||||
ISPI 2000 Permission granted for unlimited duplication for noncommercial use .
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Directions: Training experiences. Use two (2) notecards to evaluate it.
ISPI 2000 Permission granted for unlimited duplication for noncommercial use.
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Directions: Answer the following with an organization of your choosing in mind.
| Learning Organization |
| How is learning valued in the organization? How do people learn? Are employees at every level expected to learn? Is there an evident spirit of flexibility and risk taking? |
| Action Learning |
| How does action learning differ from traditional, work-related learning? Which types of problems are appropriate for action learning? Which types of problems are inappropriate for action learning? Why is the focus of action learning on the learning and development of individual members ? Action learning is neither product nor outcome. It is a process. Discuss the process-oriented nature of action learning. |
| Self-directed Learning |
| Give an example of a self-directed learning project in which you were recently involved. How is it decided that self-directed learning is either appropriate or inappropriate as an intervention? Why would a place of employment value self-directed learning? |
| Training |
| Why is training a vital component of any changes that occur within an organization? What kinds of training are supported by organizations? Why do perfectly good training programs fail to improve skills on the job? How do companies link training to business needs? |
| Knowledge Capture and Management |
| Why are organizations beginning to pay attention to knowledge capture and management? What are competitors doing to capture knowledge? What unique roles does management offer in knowledge capture? How can this intervention be effectively applied in the organization? |
| Education |
| How do education and training differ? How do companies value education? Training? How do education and training contribute to the value chain? |
| Interactive Technology (Distance Learning, Telecommunications, Satellite) |
| Which of the interactive technologies do companies use most often? Why? What was the instruction like? How was it evaluated? |
| Job Performance Aids (Job Aids) |
| Job performance aids cannot be effective unless they are designed specifically for the conditions under which they are used. Why is this so? How does the job performance aid interact with the user as well as with the system? Why is buy in from supervisors and managers, as well as from users, critical to the use and, therefore, to the effectiveness of job performance aids? |
| Electronic Performance Support Systems |
| In what ways do job performance aids and electronic performance support systems represent similar paradigms ? Why is it that electronic performance support systems are not revolutionizing the workplace? How does the absence of organizational infrastructure prohibit use? |
| Documentation (Job Specifications) and Standards |
| Which knowledge, skills, attitudes, and other characteristics are specified in job performance? What standards guide performance? How are job specifications and standards communicated to employees? |
ISPI 2000 Permission granted for unlimited duplication for noncommercial use.
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[30] Rothwell, 1996b
[31] Rossett and Gautier-Downes, 1991
[32] Gery, 1989, pp. 51 “71
[33] Rossett, 1996
[34] Dean, 1998, p. 11
EAN: 2147483647
Pages: 98