International Society for Performance

Improvement

About ISPI

Today the competitiveness challenge and the human capital crisis are at the top
of the business agenda. With its commitment to improving human performance,
the International Society for Performance Improvement is fast becoming the
professional organization whose members have the most effective approaches
for improving workplace productivity and quality. ISPI's mission is to improve
human performance in systematic and reproductive ways. Assembling an Annual
Conference and other educational events, publishing several periodicals,
producing quality books, and providing other services for our 10,000 individual
and chapter members all work together to achieve this mission. The two ISPI
Chapters operating in Australia are located in Sydney and Melbourne (Contact
details below).

Comprehensive interventions often result in significant changes throughout the

organization. The implementation of any performance intervention thus must pay
careful consideration to changing management issues to ensure acceptance at
all organizational levels. Finally, evaluation of those changes provides new data
for the ongoing performance analysis process.

A Breakthrough in Human Resource Management

Human performance technology is not about machines; it is about people and

how to improve and maintain their productivity and competitiveness. It is an
iterative process in which each successful application results in positive changes
to the competence and abilities of the workforce. As new organizational
challenges are addressed, the performance technology process is the key to
ensuring that the workforce is ready to meet them head on.

As Pat Blades of PwC writes:

"The use of performance technology in my role at PricewaterhouseCoopers has been essential.

Most problems in contemporary organisations are complex, cannot be treated in isolation and
require a systematic approach to analysis, solution design and implementation. I have found the
tools and techniques used in this field not just useful but absolutely necessary.

One of the great trends of the modern era is the convergence of ideas and of industries, the great
benefit of performance technology is that it draws from a variety of disciplines and is itself the
convergence of organisational development, training, HRD and other fields.

I commend ISPI to anyone interested in improving their own performance and the performance of
organisations that they work with or for."

Improving human performance in systematic and reproducible ways

 International Society for Performance Improvement

What Is Human Performance Technology?

In what we all agree is a new economic era characterized by rapid and

unprecedented change, we face challenges unlike any we have encountered
before. Economic success in the international marketplace is no longer ensured.
Creativity must be tapped and every available resource must be used to increase
competitiveness and maintain a high level of success in the world. In this new
economic era, the greatest strides in increasing economic competitiveness will
not result from more machines or computers, reliance on cost-cutting, or
dependence on legislative relief, but from our most critical resource: people.

View the HPT Graphical Model

http://www.ispi.org/services/whatshptmodel.htm

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 organization's human resource
efforts if it is to remain competitive in the long run.

How Does It 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
organizations. It is, in reality, a systematic combination of three fundamental
processes: performance analysis, cause analysis, and intervention selection.

International Society for Performance Improvement

Improving human performance in systematic and reproducible ways

Performance Analysis

The human performance technology approach begins with performance analysis,

which examines the organization'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 organization'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 organization. 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 organizational results.

Comprehensive interventions often result in significant changes throughout the

organization. The implementation of any performance intervention thus must pay
careful consideration to changing management issues to ensure acceptance at
all organizational levels. Finally, evaluation of those changes provides new data
for the ongoing performance analysis process.

Improving human performance in systematic and reproducible ways

 International Society for Performance Improvement

ISPI's Role

Today the competitiveness challenge and the human capital crisis are at the top
of the business agenda. With its commitment to improving human performance,
the International Society for Performance Improvement is fast becoming the
professional organization whose members have the most effective approaches
for improving workplace productivity and quality. ISPI's mission is to improve
human performance in systematic and reproducible ways. Internationally, ISPI
assembles an Annual Conference and other educational events, publishing
several periodicals, producing quality books, and providing other services for our
10,000 individual and chapter members all work together to achieve this mission.

Australian Chapters

The two local Australian Chapters are based in Sydney and Melbourne. These
Chapters provide regular program events and networking opportunities. Six
issues of Performance are published each year incorporating Australian and
international content pertinent to local issues and situation.

Separate membership is required for the ‘international’ ISPI and local Chapters.
A person may be a member of one or both. Due to the different offerings,
membership of both is recommended.

For more information, please contact ISPI:

International: info@ispi.org.

ISPI Sydney Chapter: PO Box 60

Croydon NSW 2132
Telephone: 9799 2214 Fax: 9799 0064
IspiSydney at http://www.ispisydney.org.au

ISPI Melbourne PO Box 6713, St Kilda Road Central

Chapter: Melbourne Vic 3004
ISPI Melbourne at http://www.ispimelb.org.au

Improving human performance in systematic and reproducible ways