Human Performance Technology, Essay Example

Technology is a set of empirical and technical values in addition to their application. Performance technology (PT) is the knowledge that includes all of the variables that impact the performance of humans. PT can be used in the workplaces to provide the opportunity to employees to enhance their performance and construct the desired outcome. HPT also enable the organization and its employees to enhance their performance as well as valued options, return on investment and to build excellent performance environments and systems. “The Human Performance Technology task force also suggested the following definition for HPT:

• Focuses on valuable, measured results
• Considers the larger system context of people’s performance
• Provides measurement tools that can be used repeatedly and will consistently show the same outcome.
• Describes programs and solutions clearly enough to be duplicated by others” (Stolovitch & Keeps, 1999).

The applied field of HPT is the field of interest to the instructional designer. The focus of this field would be on “maximizing the valued achievements of people within work settings” (Stolovitch & Keeps, 1999, p.4). HPT enhances the front end analysis to specify the issues and causes related to performance. Therefore, PT takes a broader perspective on performance issues than does a trainer by considering non-training interventions as a solution to a problem. The performance technologist might involve an organizational development specialist, a compensation specialist, an information technologist, and ergonomics specialist, or an industrial engineer to provide a non-training intervention. The human performance system accepts that organizations are open systems that are absolutely dependent for success on their external environments.

Historical evolution of human performance technology

HPT is a result of the pragmatic philosophy that took hold in the 1950s. Nonetheless, earlier actions that designed the evolution of occurrence administration are traced here to supply a perspective on the circumstance in which past hard works occurred; their flaws; their important assistance to successive thinking; plus, where suitable, how the HPT reason distinguishes itself from commonsense approaches. Several of the initial historical report proposes that from the time of the Babylonians throughout the Middle Ages, work was trained by means of individual apprenticeships, after which it was controlled by easy types of administration by incentives. But, the industrial revolution exacerbated the shortcomings of spontaneous incentive schemes that tended to be established on local cultural procedures rather than on performance per se. Also, more dependable approaches to managing the supply chain became essential to build the transition from agriculture to more compound business and manufacturing organizations. The debate that ensued over how best to develop and organize workers made its input to performance management by spurring the development of a number of economic theories.

“Human performance technology (HPT) challenges traditional inspirational theories and the subsequent mechanistic emphasis on causality with its linear structure with a robust scientific logic under printing a conceptual foundation that offers scalable and prescriptive techniques rather than generic best practices” (Lee, 1989).

Incorporation of Social Media

It is very important for corporate leaders to incorporate social media into their organizations. Currently, in this communication, insistent changes and evolution world, social media become crucial than before to provide connection resources to employees and teams so they can link up, create new contacts and remain connected.“The capability to distribute information more rapidly be able to guide to improved conclusion and more commitment from those people who contribute to the discussions or who simply read and stay alongside each other of the problems presented” (Lee, 1989). Employees along with customers quickly become professionals on different products and services. Employees, clients, peers, suppliers can be your strongest allies if they are part of the concretion of products and services. Social media can provide broader connection with broader pool of ideas to the organization. Therefore, every executive needs to incorporate social media into their organization’s daily functions. “To work in the new millennium otherwise is like “sporting the clock to save time”. It just won’t be possible. As we will discuss further in the book, capitalizing on social media can also help in the process of creating sustainable competitive advantage” (Lane, et. Al., 1999). It is very challenging for an organization to have successful social media strategy, but it is also very essential for the organization if the leaders do not try it will be left behind while others try, learn and try again. We believed that courageous can be rewarded with healthy organization, improve business performance, and sustainable business for long term.

References

Stolovitch, H. D. and Keeps, E. J. (1999). Handbook of Human Performance Technology:

Improving Individual and Organizational Performance Worldwide. San Francisco, Ca.: Jossey-Bass/Pfeiffer Publishers.

Lane, M., Walker, G., Peters, M.J. (1999). Survival tactics in human performance technology

Projects. In Stolovitch, H.D. and Keeps, E.J. (eds.). Handbook of human performance technology: improving individual and organizational performance worldwide. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass/Pfeiffer Publications.

Lee, C., (1989), Performance technology. Retrieved from Google ebooks.