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“We cannot live for ourselves alone. Our lives are connected by a thousand invisible threads, and along these sympathetic fibers, our actions run as causes and return to us as results.”
I enjoy exploring the educational potential of blogs and blogging. Blogs are web-based journals in the form of frequent, chronological publications of thoughts and ideas, typically within a specific theme or area of interest. I have a professional blog—called Thoughts on Teaching—that I use to collect, organize, and share my ideas about postsecondary teaching. I have also established other blogs alone and with colleagues on a variety of topics and serving a variety of purposes. Because I find them such an effective tool, I frequently ask my instructional design and technology students to contribute to their own blogs. Besides being an effective tool for reflective journaling, blogging helps me and my students accomplish several objectives:
A specific way I use blogging with students is to have them keep ideation or design sketchbook blogs. The purpose of this type of blog is to establish a personal gallery of ideas and resources that serves as inspiration during instructional design projects. Also, these blogs can be used to track and share decisions and rationales during an instructional design project. For example, I establish course-specific blogs where I share my course design decisions and rationales, and my thoughts about the effectiveness of course components as the course is in progress; see my IT 5130 Design Ideation Journal for a current example. Modeling reflective practice, this allows students to read my thinking about what works and does not work, what I would do differently, and so on.
I saw recently a gentleman wearing a T-shirt with the following stencil: “My blog has an audience of 2.” To avoid this outcome, I encourage students to balance the intrapersonal (personal reflective journal) and interpersonal (connecting with others in discussion) aspects of blogging. It is not enough to simply contribute to our own blogs. Effective blogging requires reading colleagues’ blogs, and building connections between the ideas expressed in our blogs with those expressed in our colleagues’ blogs. This requires time and energy, but it helps us stay current on what members of the professional community are thinking and doing, keeping our own work fresh and vibrant. Through blogging, my students enhance their disposition to participate in the professional community, actively contribute to the community’s knowledge base, and engage in lifelong learning.
Joanna C. Dunlap, CPT, PhD, is an associate professor of instructional design and technology at the University of Colorado Denver (UCD). Her research interests focus on the use of sociocultural approaches to enhance adult learners’ development and experience in postsecondary settings. She has served on the board of the Front Range Chapter of ISPI for over 10 years, including a term as chapter president. She may be reached at Joni.Dunlap@ucdenver.edu.
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Mark Graham Brown works with organizations on improving performance. He consults to businesses and government entities in the United States and internationally, helping them to develop metrics that link to behaviors and strategies. Mark, mgb1@mindspring.com, is a recognized expert on performance measurement, the balanced scorecard, and the Baldrige model. He shares his proficiency through his workshops and books, www.markgrahambrown.com. We are delighted to talk with Mark after an absence from ISPI. Mark contributes a tool to the TrendSpotters Open Toolkit that can make a significant difference in the results realized by organizations, a set of questions entitled Information Missing from Most Scorecards.
Does your organization use the balanced scorecard? Many do, and, of those, most are measuring variables that do not provide a complete picture of how their business is doing. They are relying on data that cannot help them reach their goals. Mark tells us that as organizations become more sophisticated, so should their ways of measuring. Unfortunately, this is not always the case.
In Mark’s most recent book, Beyond the Balanced Scorecard, he traces the evolution of the balanced scorecard and provides a list of the “Top 10 Problems With Most Scorecards Today.” Mark developed the Information Missing from Most Scorecards tool to help organizations identify where their scorecards fall short so they can measure what is meaningful.
The Information Missing from Most Scorecards tool consists of 23 questions in four areas:
It can be used by a performance improvement specialist, manager, executive, or a meeting leader to generate discussion, insight, and a re-evaluation of what the organization is measuring and why.
The most straightforward use of the Information Missing from Most Scorecards tool is to ask if the questions it presents are important to the organization. Since the answer will likely be yes, the next task is to try to link the questions to what the organization actually does. For example, suppose a company wants to know if it has the right people in the right jobs, and the metric currently used for that is the number of employees in particular job categories. The tool will help the organization see that it needs a different metric, perhaps the amount of time employees spend each day doing what they were hired to do, or a measure for the results they were hired to produce.
Using the Information Missing from Most Scorecards tool to audit or evaluate an existing scorecard is a valuable first step in helping an organization align what it wants to know with the metrics best used to find out.
Have you ever had a customer you wanted to fire—an individual, department, or company that was a trial to work with? Well, a large chemical company was simultaneously experiencing high customer satisfaction ratings and decreasing margins. Using the Information Missing from Most Scorecards tool, the company came up with their definition of an “attractive” customer—that is, the characteristics of a customer that would be desirable to work with. These included such elements as:
From this, the company built a profile of an attractive customer. It was an easy next step to develop an attractiveness metric and evaluate all existing customers against what came to be called the “Ugly Stick.” Ultimately, the company “fired” the bottom tier that included their three largest customers from which they were not realizing a profit. By also changing their sales incentive system to link to attractive prospects, the company could focus on both new and existing relationships with agreeable, revenue-producing customers. Similarly, FedEx developed a Customer Aggravation Index to help them identify attractive customers and prospects for their business.
To get acquainted with the power of the Information Missing from Most Scorecards tool, create a matrix of the measures currently in your balanced scorecard and then link the matrix to the question you want answered. So, if the question is, “How financially successful is this organization?” last month’s numbers will not tell the whole story.
Most companies measure information from the past—from events that have already happened—such as turnover, accident rates, and other lagging measures. What is more meaningful are leading measures that may not be of interest by themselves, but that correlate to information that is important. Mark explains this with the example of cholesterol level. By itself, this metric has little importance, but high cholesterol correlates to heart disease, and that is important. Some leading measures might be the number of building permits issued, applications for unemployment insurance, or back-to-school purchases.
The Information Missing from Most Scorecards tool supports these principles of performance technology:
R |
Focus on Results: By definition, the questions ask what the organization wants to achieve and points to suitable metrics. |
S |
Take a System view: The questions ask about inputs, processes, and outcomes. |
V |
Add Value: The questions are about identifying what to develop metrics for, and then the metrics themselves add value. |
P |
Establish Partnerships: The questions provide a way to coach clients to find the flaws in their balanced scorecard. |
Take a finance person from your organization to lunch and discuss the questions in the Information Missing from Most Scorecards tool.
Further, Mark suggests that you go to www.realage.com and find out, by answering a series of questions, how your lifestyle affects your chronological age. This is a great warm-up exercise to help you think analytically; your age is one number with many variables.
Visit the TOT to view a valuable array of tools and models that you can download for your use. In addition, you may browse all the past TrendSpotters interviews published since March 2002.
Carol may be contacted at carolhaig@earthlink.net or http://home.mindspring.com/~carolhaig; Roger may be contacted at roger@ispi.org.
We have received client requests in a variety of forms ranging from complex two-phase Request for Proposals (RFP) to informal ones delivered via a bathroom conversation. So we felt we needed a screen.
At the very beginning, our company, Vanguard Consulting, set up four criteria for accepting business:
If a client engagement fails on any of the higher criterion, then we do not do the work. We have turned down business because it would not be fun or because we would not provide the client with any real benefit.
Here is our rational for these four criteria:
A few years ago we received an RFP for an interesting project. But the language of the RFP indicated this prospective client wanted a very one-sided relationship. We prepared our proposal with a two-page work statement and added four pages on the necessary relationship we required. They responded that they loved our work statement but hated our relationship statement. Would we drop it? We refused, and a friendly competitor got the work.
Interestingly enough, a year later we heard neither the customer nor the supplier felt they had come close to a satisfactory outcome.
It is important to not let money be the sole driver of your business decisions. Clients can sense that kind of consultant. It is like having “I’m here to get as many chargeable days as possible” stamped on your forehead.
Donald T. Tosti, CPT, PhD, a consistent contributor to PerformanceXpress, is the founding partner of Vanguard Consulting. He has been a recognized expert in performance-based approaches to organizational effectiveness for three decades. Don has received ISPI’s top two honors: Member for Life and the Thomas F. Gilbert Award. He also served as ISPI president in 2004-2005. He has been involved in a wide range of organizational alignment and change programs for companies in the United States, Middle East, and Europe. Don has also written numerous books and articles on human performance and its application in today’s business world. Donald may be reached at Change111@aol.com.
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The International Society for Performance Improvement (ISPI) Board of Directors is pleased to announce that it has unanimously selected Ms. April Syring Davis as the Society’s new Executive Director.
“We are terribly excited about April becoming our new Executive Director,” said Matt Peters, President of ISPI’s Board of Directors. “She was the unanimous selection of not only the current Board, but also last year’s Board led by Dr. Jeanne Farrington, so we were eager to get her onboard and continue with our efforts to improve ISPI.”
April is eminently qualified for this position. She has worked for ISPI for more than 10 years. During the earlier parts of her career, she served as Director of Periodicals. In that role, she managed the production of hundreds of Society marketing and educational pieces, including the monthly Performance Improvement journal, News & Notes, and the annual membership directory and conference program. Her motivation, energy, and total engagement were clearly evident as she learned the business, worked with our members, and continually refined the products and programs she managed. A key accomplishment of this era was the conversion of the paper-based News & Notes to PerformanceXpress, our web-based publication.
April became the Associate Executive Director when she earned her Certified Association Executive (CAE) designation from the American Society of Association Executives (ASAE) in January 2006. Her relationship with ASAE has been significant because CAEs are recognized as exemplary association executives who maintain an ongoing commitment to professional growth to successfully manage associations in today’s challenging climate.
As the Society’s Associate Executive Director, April was instrumental in developing and launching several new programs, including the SkillCast webinars, ProSeries workshops, and Career Center. She also led several strategic partnership efforts, including those with John Wiley & Sons.
April became ISPI’s Interim Executive Director in November 2007, and she has excelled in that role while leading the strategic transformation as directed by the Board of Directors. Major projects and initiatives have included the development of the “One Society” construct, expanded international and academic community efforts, a significant reorganization of the staff and its processes, implementation of a new website, and the establishment of a charitable giving program.
“April has contributed much to the Society over the past 10 years, and I am so happy she will continue to manage our day-to-day operations,” says Past President Dr. Jeanne Farrington. “She is eager to work with the Board, staff, our Chapters, and international regions to bring about real and sustainable growth for the Society.”
“We are all excited about our ability to augment and create meaningful member benefits, develop essential educational events, and increase awareness about the power of performance technology,” April said. “Moving forward, like the members we serve, we intend to focus on results that make a difference.”
April has provided exceptional service in a wide variety of roles for ISPI, and the entire Board is pleased to have her officially onboard. Please join us in congratulating her on her new responsibilities!
As a new member of the Board of Directors, and living currently in Slovakia, I have been amazed at the high level of volunteer energy that pushes this Society forward. Although all associations maintain committee structures, these are many times formal and low-productive teams—often requiring staff to push agendas and outcomes. Not here in ISPI!
Conferences!
Online Connections!
Local Chapters!
Research and Certification Standards!
Achievements and Awards! (and role models for the rest of us!)
This is a tough business. New ideas, new concepts, new toolkits, come to you through this professional membership organization through colleagues sharing. OK, we all know that. So what is it you need and want from ISPI? How can you get it through the ongoing activities of other professionals? Who are some of the few people who really know what you are trying to do?
All of us who have attended the Annual Conference are aware of the work of the conference committee, who begin preparing the groundwork for these stellar events two years ahead of time. In fact, many of us may not know that ISPI has 12 operating committees, 2 taskforces, and almost 40 chapters. Committee work…not for you? Well, folks, this is where much of the real work of the Society gets done—by about 300 committed professionals supported by the small, core full-time staff with oversight and support from the elected Board.
Now consider a few of the very cool things going on currently:
So, how do you sign up? The intensity of volunteer energy grew so strong that in the last two years a team especially committed to enhancing the volunteer experience was formed. Currently under the able leadership of Bobbie Allaire and Cathy Brown, this group—the Volunteer Committee—has active links with all the Society efforts and can match your personal desires with current needs. Take this opportunity to deepen your professional contacts or take a first step into a future leadership role. Contact Bobbie at bobbie3ryb@aol.com or sign up with the ISPI Volunteer Network on HPT Connections now.
Since its inception in 2006, ISPI Lifetime Membership has steadily grown, and we would like to take a moment to acknowledge 101 members who have signed up and made a lifelong commitment to the Society. Lifetime Membership was created to strengthen the partnership between ISPI and its members, both old and new. By being a partner, you belong to a Society focused on results and dedicated to helping your business grow by promoting the interests of the performance improvement industry.
Lifetime member Ryan Watkins said, “I joined ISPI because of the values of performance over performing, results over actions, and ends over means. ISPI isn’t a professional society of any single solution, product, or set of goods; ISPI values all activities that can lead to improved performance. Its primary focus on performance and results allows it to reach across the borders of countries, organizations, disciplines, and theories.”
Add your name to this list, and show your commitment to performance improvement! Sign up today!
Peter Adeyeri Chong Aik Scott Anderson, CPT Brian Asselstine Thomas Bartscher Bruce Becker Thomas Berstene Robert Bodine, CPT, PhD James Bunsa Sabar Cahyono Judith Cardenas Clare Carey, CPT, EdD Charles Chesney John Choma, CPT Maurice Coleman, CPT, PhD Catherine Daly Peter Dams Dwight Davis, CPT Matthew Davis Eileen Dello-Martin Joan Dessinger, CPT, EdD Lou Ann Dietz Matthew Donovan Grace Duff James Ellsworth, CPT, PhD Timm Esque, CPT Jeanne Farrington, CPT, EdD Douglas Farrow Paul Ferguson Paul Fisher, CPT Lou Fuchs Stephanie Fuentes James Fuller, CPT De Yonna Garcia |
Thomas Gast Chuck Georgo, CPT F. Michael Gidlewski Lori Gillespie Carol Haig, CPT Heather Hanson Bonnie Hirdes Julie Hughes Peter Hybert, CPT Mark Isabella, CPT Victoria Jarosz, CPT James Johnson Carol Lynn Judge, CPT Rodrigo Jurado, Jr., CPT Karl Kapp Jessica Keiser Gina Ketcherside, CPT Jack Kules John Kunzo, CPT Dean Larson, CPT, PhD Mark Laurin Doug Leigh, PhD Suzanne Long Geri Lopker, CPT Duane McDaniel Weston McMillan, CPT Karen Medsker, PhD Becky Miles Julie Miller, CPT James Moseley, CPT, EdD Kevin Munson Terry Netto Debra Newton Frank Nguyen
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Artur Nunes, CPT Timothy O’Brien Lewis Parks, CPT Michael Peterson, CPT Lynn Piwonski Carol Porter Anne Power Elaine Rand Robin Rokisky Marian Roldan, SPHR, CCP Sharon Rudy Kevin Ryan James Schultz, CPT Timothy Scudder Chuck Seilnacht Paul Selden, CPT Kenneth Silber, CPT, PhD Isabella Smejda Jeanne Strayer, CPT Bryan Tan Mary Thomas, CPT, PhD Beverly Thompson Juan Ventosa, CPT Susan Wade Guy Wallace, CPT Mary Wankel, PhD Ryan Watkins, PhD Angela (Palchesko) Wells Lauren Wertheim Michael Wetzel, CPT Gregory Williams Kevin Wilson, CPT Diana Wright |
Become a Lifetime member and NEVER PAY DUES AGAIN; plus, retain all member benefits and lock in your membership dues at today’s rate; avoid future dues increases; receive guaranteed lifetime discounts on ISPI products and services; never miss a member benefit because of a lapse in payment; and contribute to building your performance improvement community of the future. Click here for complete details.
Welcome to ISPI’s Member Spotlight! This column focuses on our members—some you may know, some you may not. Each month, we will explore what brought them to ISPI, how they use the principles of human performance technology (HPT), and their insights into the value of membership. This month our interview is with Dr. Kimfong “Jason” Lei.
Brian: We’re talking to Jason Lei from JetBlue Airways. He has been a member since 2004. Welcome, Jason!
Jason: Thank you!
What got you interested in HPT and ISPI?
Well, I think I started getting into the field when I started my PhD program at Purdue University. My advisor (Scott Schaffer), who was involved in ISPI, published in Performance Improvement journal and Performance Improvement Quarterly, and he got me to attend my first conference in 2004 in Tampa.
If someone were to come up to you and ask, “What is HPT? Can you tell me what it’s all about?” what would you say?
I think it’s basically about how to get you to do the right things and do them correctly. It’s very simple. You will find a different way to tell what are the right things and how to do things right.
Are there any times in your life “outside the world of HPT” where you found an opportunity to use the principles of HPT?
After I became a member of ISPI, I started doing different kinds of research, especially in the university setting. I apply the same [HPT] principles to research. For example, we focus on results. So, if we do research and decide we are not going to use the data, then we decide against doing the research. Or we’re going to be sure to ask that research question we need to know the answer to. When we talk to people, when we work with people, it’s basically collaboration so we make sure everyone’s engaged in the process. Those are the key principles I use a lot in my research.
Have there been any situations in your everyday life where you realize “Hey! I just used HPT principles and I didn’t even know it!”?
I have a 21-month-old daughter and play with her and talk to her and it seems very interesting that I’m applying HPT to some extent when I do that! Like, I don’t just teach my daughter to do different things; I actually try to work and learn with her. I actually learn a lot about new toys with her! It’s collaboration at the same time to help her learn so she can perform, she can talk, she can walk. I think that’s the most intimate experience (of HPT) one can have.
What do you feel you have contributed, are contributing, or can contribute to the pool of knowledge, the pool of wisdom of HPT?
Well, I’m really interested in research and at the same time how to convert research findings and our theories into practical applications. Which I think is the core principle and brand of ISPI: from theory to practice. I think what I really want to contribute to ISPI is to continue working as a researcher and as a consultant and to publish and present. So right now, I’m focused on the science and research areas. I’ve been reviewing papers for a couple of years already and I’ll keep doing that, especially after I receive my PhD. I’m also working in corporations so I have more personal experience and understanding about what people really want to know and to do in corporations, but at the same time be based in research.
If you were advising someone who is trying to find an organization to join and says, “You know, I’d like to be sold on ISPI. Can you tell me why I should belong?”
If you want—especially for consultants and practitioners—to not just pick up an application and apply it but understand where it came from and be confident it would work, ISPI is a trust resource. You want to join ISPI because we have a lot of people who don’t just create some sort of just-in-time solution but a solution that’s actually based on research and findings. At the same time, we want to know those legends and you want to know those energetic people (the “newcomers”). So, join ISPI!
The “human” part! What would you like to say to anybody who may be reading this right now?
I think ISPI, unlike other organizations, allows you to give, to volunteer. I prefer to give. It’s not just about getting things done. It’s not just about intellect. You gain a higher satisfaction or sense of self. Service is a key thing in ISPI. As we actually serve our “customers,” our partners, more than we serve ourselves.
Jason, thank you for being a member!
“The days of the mammoth corporations are coming to an end. People are going to have to create their own lives, their own careers, and their own successes. Some people may go kicking and screaming.”
If you do not know it yet, the world of work is very different than when we were growing up. The days of retiring after 30 years with one company are over. The days of employer loyalty (and for that matter employee loyalty) no longer exist. In the past, as long as you did your job and met expectations, you were paid. According to William Bridges, author of Creating You and Co and Jobshift, “Jobs were slots, boxes and pigeonholes. Jobs demanded performance in a script that was already written.”
Today’s work world is full of uncertainty. Every day we hear about another corporation or organization going out of business, downsizing, rightsizing, and on and on. To prepare ourselves for these uncertain times, we must take charge of our own career.
Another factor affecting today’s changing world of work is that more and more individuals are looking to find meaning in their work in new ways. Especially since 9/11, people realize how short life can be and want to be doing what is important to them. They want to feel passion in their work, a commitment to their values and personal mission statements. Individuals want to make a difference. They want to know that they are good at work, that their work is important, and that their work fits with their values.
The hard reality is your stake in your work satisfaction is greater than your employers’. We cannot rely on our employer to provide us with satisfaction in our job. In the highly competitive global economy in which we work, you need to look out for your own best interests. You must take responsibility and manage your own career. It is no longer an option to wait for your employer to manage it for you. Whether you are in a job search now or thinking about making a career change in the near future, it is time to discover what makes work satisfying for you.
So, how do you do that? Here are a few tips to help you survive in today’s changing world of work:
1. Be self-managing. Think of yourself as working for yourself. You are the person in control of your own career and have to manage it. Put a marketing plan together for you and just do it!
2. Know what you have to offer. It is imperative in today’s competitive job market to know you. Know what you have to offer and then market yourself as the person with that information. This will help to separate you from your competition. Your marketability will depend on your ability to demonstrate, on paper and verbally, your skills (even if within the same organization). Today, whether you are working in a for-profit or not-for-profit, employers pay for results and what you can produce for them. What do you bring to the table in the way of assets, strengths, and values?
3. Keep on learning. I would encourage you to look beyond your current skill set and look at developing additional benefits of “marketing you.” By asking yourself the following questions, you should be able to come up with specific ways you might want to work on improving your product—you—in the next six months.
4. Understand business trends. Read industry papers, keep track of the fast changing economic and social landscape, and understand your competition. Stay current in your field(s).
5. Prepare yourself for areas of competence, not jobs. Focus on developing core competencies that your association or another association is likely to require in the future. Define yourself by what you do and how to get it done, not by your job title.
6. Find a mentor. Find someone who will provide honest and effective feedback to you. Someone who takes an interest in your development and will support you in your career progression.
7. Build financial independence. When your finances are in good shape, you can make career (and life) decisions based on what is really important to you. You will not feel like “I really have to take this job because I need the money.” To manage your career effectively, you must also be able to manage your personal finances.
8. Network, network, network! Even if you are not looking for a new job or career right now, develop your network. Now is the time to do it, not when you decide to look (or have to look). Join an association, networking groups, and so forth and get involved. Do not just be a checkbook member. Develop your network by meeting with people on a regular basis. Make it part of your schedule to meet with one new person every month. Get to know people who are doing what you are doing—or want to be doing. I encourage my clients to spend at least 85% of their job search time networking. If you can only devote two hours a month, fine. Then spend 85% of the two hours meeting with “like-minded people.”
9. Keep your resume up-to-date. Do not wait until you get a call asking for your resume right away. That is the worst time to develop it. You will be anxious and stressed and might not be able to remember some of your significant accomplishments. Add your new expertise, skills, and memberships as you have accomplished them and do it on a regular basis.
10. Create a vision. Picture yourself doing what you would like to be doing. Think, and verbalize it in “I am” statements. “I am an association marketing professional. I am selling my services to associations.” Envision what you want to be doing and put it out there! What do you have to lose?
The old ways of thinking about how and why we work are no longer useful. To survive in today’s world of work, each of us must know what we have to offer, realize our potential, and take charge of our own careers. As stated in the Talmud, “If not now, when?” Wishing you much happiness and success!
To learn more, join Marshall Brown and his colleague Sharon Armstrong during their SkillCast webinar on October 21 to Take Charge of Your Career and Helpful Career Assessments. Register today!
Marshall Brown, a certified career and executive coach, has always had a passion for helping people find ways to live more fulfilling lives. He found that a personalized, “no nonsense” approach to coaching was the most efficient and effective way to get people on a successful life course. As a coach, Marshall helps individuals to find their passions and encourages them to move ahead in reaching their goals. His first book, High Level Resumes, reflects his successful work with hundreds of job candidates. Marshall may be reached at marshall@mbrownassociates.com or www.mbrownassociates.com.
The ISPI Board of Directors is inviting anyone and everyone, ISPI members and non-members, to join in and produce, and then post their own mini-movies of themselves or others talking about human performance technology (HPT). There is a simple six-point script everyone is following for this year’s contest:
Joe Harless agreed to be one of the first. Just like with HPT itself! See his podcast via the link below.
It is all happening on “HPT Connections”—an ISPI website hosting a social network and HPT content. For instructions and tips for creating and posting your own video podcasts, use the pull-down menu labeled “More In This Group” and get on with it! Sign up as a group member (select the “Join Group” icon) to keep informed as additional podcasts are added. Or, you can click on the “Subscribe” option.
The “contest” part? There will be three prizes in each of the following categories:
The prizes are: a conference registration (1st place), free membership (2nd place), and a copy of the 3rd edition of the HPT Handbook (3rd place). First, second, and third place will be awarded for each category.
So create your video podcasts—and add them per the instructions at HPT Connections—and share with all of us! The deadline for submissions is December 31, 2008. The HPT practitioner podcasts are at HPT Connections at http://community.ispi.org/members/group.asp?id=29283.
Tales from the Field, a new monthly column, consists of reports of evidence-based performance improvement practice and advice, presented by graduate students, alumni, and faculty of Boise State University’s Instructional and Performance Technology department.
Boise State University is oriented toward making its campus a more environmentally friendly and sustainable, and the university’s president has signed a nationwide sustainability charter obligating the university to become more environmentally friendly by reducing the university’s environmental footprint. With general interest and now administrative backing, a situation emerges in which it is relevant to decide how to move forward. Among other things, the university wants to improve its recycling program.
Currently, the university has a small recycling infrastructure including a handful of recycling receptacles scattered through a number of university buildings. However, at present, recycling efforts fall short of what other universities around the country are accomplishing with regard to diverting recyclable material away from the waste stream. For the university to become comparable with other universities in its sustainability efforts, improvement of its existing recycling system has become a priority.
Our team was enrolled in Dr. Winiecki’s needs assessment course at Boise State University during the spring 2008 term. We learned that needs assessment is an invaluable tool for performance improvement specialists to use when serving client organizations. It is a method of systematic, rigorous inquiry about an organization and its goals that results in a definition of needs to accomplish those goals and the effects they can have on the organization and beyond. Thus, our class project afforded us an opportunity not only to practice a needs assessment but also offer timely service to the university.
The goals of our needs assessment were to discover where recycling efforts were good and where they were impeded, what was contributing to success and lack of success, and then suggest a systemic set of interventions based on those findings. Through conducting a systematic performance analysis, we were able to discover what gaps existed, thus laying the foundation for conducting a cause analysis and suggesting appropriate remedies to be deployed in the intervention phase (discussed below). The project followed practices as reflected in the ISPI-HPT model.
In the first phase of our needs assessment, use of qualitative methods was instrumental in helping us discover drivers and obstacles experienced by students with regard to recycling behavior. These methods were especially useful due to the lack of reliable extant data on the recycling program. Qualitative methods involved observation of areas around existing recycling stations, one-on-one interviews, artifact collection, and preliminary analysis of those data in terms of what we knew about successful recycling programs and HPT. This provided information required to start developing questions for focus group interviews and affinity sorting of data we collected during the second phase of the needs assessment.
Our questions were designed to elicit students’ experiences, ideas, and feelings about recycling and their current level of recycling behavior. Once these data were collected, we organized their responses based on common themes found across the responses. Subsequently, we were able to couple those themes with the data collected and analyzed in the initial phase of the needs assessment. These processes added several layers of empirical support to the contention of some university personnel that students’ desire to recycle was high and their likelihood to engage in it would be dependent upon the resources and knowledge available to them. Interview and focus group data also indicated that maintenance of the system is an essential part of the system.
Our findings indicated that: (a) students were motivated to recycle, but were not always knowledgeable about what was recyclable or where recycle bins were located, (b) even though students wanted to recycle, recycling bins were not strategically placed or the bins were not regularly emptied (this led to litter around the bin or disposing of recyclable material in trash cans), (c) the administration had interest, but no clear plan for managing the recycling system, and (d) the university was not even aware of how well or how poorly the current program was going, or how to compare current performance against desired performance. In other words, lack of metrics and reliable measures for tracking program performance made systemic progress difficult.
These findings allowed us to move into the third phase of our needs assessment and develop an understanding of the changes that would need to occur to see an increase in students’ recycling behavior. We also discovered that the university planned to hire an individual whose job would be, in part, to oversee the recycling program. With this, we also applied our findings to a competency-based assessment resulting in a set of criteria the university could use in selecting an individual for this job, and a rough set of guidelines for what that person’s job would entail in terms of maintaining the recycling program.
Throughout the project we used the HPT model as a touchstone for organizing our data, deriving findings and conclusions, and developing an intervention plan. We also used it to frame our communication with university stakeholders to underscore the systemic nature of the issues, our findings, and our intervention plan. Figure 1 displays a high-level view of our data.
From this, we offered a coordinated and systemic set of interventions to address the environment and its gaps in supporting desired performance: (a) coordinated effort to provide data that would improve students’ knowledge of recycling and what could be recycled, (b) provision of resources in the form of adequate numbers of recycling bins in strategic locations around campus, (c) regular pickup of recycled materials from these locations, and (d) an ongoing evaluation of “how we’re doing” that would both inform the campus administration and students of progress. As a network of factors, we proposed that this would allow the students and administrators to achieve its goal of creating a more sustainable campus and greener future.
Figure 1. A high-level view of the needs assessment data.
Kevin Taylor is a graduate assistant of the Instructional & Performance Technology (IPT) program at Boise State University. He is scheduled to complete his MS in May of 2009. His previous work has included research into perceptions of training and development professionals regarding Second Life as a training and development tool, and his current research efforts are focused on the improvement of Boise State University Housing’s recycling system. His primary professional interests are in organizational learning and sustainable business development, and more recently he has developed an interest in project management life-cycles and business process design and management. Kevin may be reached at kevintaylor@u.boisestate.edu.
Tona Mitcham is an upcoming graduate of the IPT program at Boise State University. In her current work, she is designing e-learning for a major cable television provider and she recently redesigned instructor-led curriculum for a continuing education program offered by a state-sponsored Real Estate Commission. She looks forward to establishing a career designing both written and electronic instruction for large-scale organizations, as well as helping organizations identify and improve their performance. Tona may be reached at anotona@earthlink.net.
Astrid Case is a graduate student in the IPT program at Boise State University. Her primary areas of interest are instructional design and human performance technology. She has professional experience in conducting gap and cause analysis and is currently working with an e-learning team that has been the recipient of ISPI awards. After graduation in December 2008, she looks forward to entering the field of organizational consulting, specializing in instructional design and management consulting. Astrid may be reached at asca99@hotmail.com.
This is the last piece of a six-part report that provides results from the 2008 International Society for Performance Improvement (ISPI) Practice and Job Task Analysis Survey. The survey was designed to validate the ISPI Certification Standards and the criteria for earning the Certified Performance Technologist (CPT) designation as well as to help ISPI provide better services to you. The total number of CPTs and non-CPT ISPI members worldwide who completed the survey was 563.
This final report is an analysis of the open-ended responses received for Standards 5 through 10. The open-ended questions were analyzed utilizing the “card-sorting” method. Responses for each of the Standards were placed on an index card and reviewed by a two- to four-person team. While sorting through the cards, trends were noticed and categories were developed. The cards were then placed into categories for each Standard. High impact (parsimonious summary of a category) and noticeable quotes were highlighted for further review.
Following you will find each of the Standards. Under each Standard we have placed the most frequently realized categories along with a frequency count. We then add a sampling of the quotes offered from respondents. Finally, we provide future plans and tentative recommendations for the CPT Standards.
| Categories | Card Count |
Reflection: believe it is the responsibility of the client; dependent on the nature of the data (qualitative vs. quantitative); analysis |
29 |
Barriers: done beforehand; time constraints; clients not interested |
25 |
Job Position: clients sub-contract or done by other units |
12 |
Support: everything done is driven by data |
12 |
“In my opinion, a survey should not be conducted if no action will result. Surveys are time consuming and should lead to action based on the data collected. This should be identified prior to conducting a survey.”
“We find, at times, after the analysis is complete that we do not wish to go further or building a business case does not make sense. So, we abandon the effort.”
“The operation units are impatient and unwilling to wait for detailed analysis in most cases. In order to remain responsive to our primary customer, we often expedite or forfeit analysis to respond to the clamor for change.”
| Categories | Card Count |
Reflection: front end, needs, cause, and gap analyses are a blended activity |
15 |
Support: prerequisite to intervention selection; selling point to clients; this is what differentiates performance improvement from other consulting activities |
12 |
Barriers: resources (time, people, and funding); difficult in a process-oriented environment |
11 |
Hypothesis Issues: research jargon clients do not identify with; does not align well with quality improvement initiatives and new opportunities |
9 |
Job Position: clients sub-contract or done by other units |
7 |
“We do root cause analysis of performance events, injuries, etc. We do not develop hypotheses for these because the evidence should drive the investigation with no interference from preconceived ideas.”
“I think this one suffers most—most people come to you with an idea in their mind and won’t take the time to analyze further. Maybe more about the process of turning someone around to analysis techniques and their importance would be good.”
“These steps are considered luxuries in reactive organizations, so I don’t have organizational commitment to do them.”
“Workplaces often have little time or interest in theory—they want results, not complicated statistics that can be easily skewed. There are always a number of confounding factors to consider if you think systemically in a dynamic organization/society.”
“Again, this process assumes the use of formal research applied to performance issues. We tend not to perform formal studies around performance issues. Business indicators/measures, which include human performance measures (e.g., job satisfaction), drive our solutions.”
| Categories | Card Count |
Barriers: criteria are determined by upper management; clients will not pay for design evaluation; if the client will not pay for a full design, it is done informally |
15 |
Reflection: the breadth of the project drives the number of steps as well as the time spent on each step; important to do with the client not for the client |
13 |
Organizational Structure and Culture: design approaches and philosophy vary greatly between organizational types and cultures |
10 |
Job Position: clients responsibility; if involved, limited role |
9 |
Jargon: do not differentiate between design, development, and implementation |
8 |
“These things are done; they are not accepted 100% of the time. Thus, the implementation and reinforcement may be proposed, but not necessarily adopted. Senior Leadership has the final call, and sometimes they aren’t willing to exert the energy to support and sustain.”
“Sometimes management makes a decision overruling our evaluation design recommendations.”
“I can’t waste the time for formal reports.”
“It’s the rare client who sees the value in formative evaluation. Can’t convince them it contributes to the bottom line. Nearly everything in this standard is done for my benefit, my staff’s, and for the quality of the outcome of the intervention itself; not because clients value any of this.”
“Sustainability/reinforcement is areas we’re not very good at…only just experimenting with some sustainability models and practices.”
| Categories | Card Count |
Barriers: the nature of the project determines the number of steps; time and culture make it difficult to conduct pilot test and formative evaluation |
15 |
Job Position: when it comes to the development they have to hand it off to another unit or sub-contractor |
11 |
Organizational Structure and Culture: development approaches and philosophy vary greatly between organizational types and cultures |
7 |
Reflection: the elements of this standard are biased toward education and training interventions and are not as applicable for non-training interventions |
6 |
“At times, the design specs may change during the development phase due to organizational or other changes. We design to specs, which are subject to change, via formative evaluation.”
“Once you get to this point, the consulting part gets more challenging as clients often already have their roll out communications in play. The speed of business is a reality and unfortunately here is where we sometimes have to pay the sacrifice.”
“Doing any sort of formative and summative evaluation has never been important to any management teams I have worked for in 30 years. They pay it lip services, but scream bloody hell when they see how much it costs.”
“Again, if you are working with a client team on a major systems project, much of this is a client’s decision to make. You can help…but you cannot shove it down the client’s throat...especially if you are looking for follow-on work from that client.”
“The truth is that we often do not have the luxury of doing a pilot test or usability tests due to time constraints, budget constraints, or the client’s tolerance for such efforts.”
“In most projects, clients are not willing to pay the expense of intervention testing, formal evaluation, or building integrated solution sets—despite their understanding that these are important.”
| Categories | Card Count |
Reflection: change management has to be built into the entire process, it is not a separate function; if the performance improvement initiative is perceived to be valid, there is less resistance to change; there is a false dichotomy between design, development, and implementation, they are integrated activities |
14 |
Org Structure and Culture: implementation approaches and philosophy vary greatly between organizational types and cultures; easier to promote in an adaptive organizational culture |
12 |
Job Position: when it comes to the implementation they have to hand it off to another unit or sub-contractor |
11 |
Minimal Involvement: less demand on external consultants, more on internal consultants |
11 |
Barriers: do not follow through with implementation; time, resource, and funding constraints |
7 |
“These are things that we seldom do, but are very important; our clients don’t want to pay us as consultants to do this part of the project. Either they do it themselves or it just doesn’t get done.”
“We use participatory design and appreciative inquiry approaches in our solution development and implementation, which reinforces adoption, motivation, and intrinsic reward. Therefore no other effort is needed to develop a contingency plan to address resistance. There is no resistance. So reward is designed into the process of getting there.”
“When I say seldom done, it is because these are done by the client. If they aren’t, they are less likely to be implemented. We are resources at this juncture, to a process that MUST be owned, understood, and implemented by the client.”
“Good change management is when the project is designed to minimize negative reactions in the first place. Sometimes (too often) we are asked to do ’damage control,’ and in those cases we do need a ’traditional’ change management plan and to check on the effectiveness. When good change management is built in, you can tell from the performance whether the CM was effective without soliciting feedback.”
“Again...the performance technologist is not King but, rather, should be a trusted advisor who can give ’wise advice’ when asked.”
| Categories | Card Count |
Barriers: clients will not pay for evaluation services, they use their own judgments; clients do not do anything with the results of evaluation |
14 |
Job Position: industry specific; delegated to another operational unit or third party |
11 |
Organizational Structure and Culture: process culture more difficult to sell than in an outcome culture |
13 |
Reflection: difficult to separate as its own process, it needs to be tied into the front end analysis; only interested in simple or rudimentary evaluation approaches, does not normally reflect the true value of the intervention |
8 |
Support: systematic evaluation is integral to the performance improvement process; ties back to the goal of adding value |
9 |
“My clients still struggle with evaluation…we still use simple measures that don’t always get at the true impact.”
“In an organization as tactically oriented as mine, these are niceties, not needs, and we don’t often have time for them.”
“The need for complete and accurate information and reporting is actually a law within the nuclear industry so it is not actually vocalized as much as it is a given.”
“This is the weakest element of our process. Much of what we are doing is responding to a ’gut feeling’ rather than quantifiable shortcomings to existing programs. As such, it is difficult to provide measurable results—but the outcry for change will cease (at least temporarily).”
“I find that very few business partners care much about the details we put in the evaluation reports beyond ROI.”
“It is generally my clients who collect data and measure effectiveness.”
“Although clients put lip service to evaluation and measurement, they will usually not put investment into building and implementing these processes beyond basic indicators that are not isolated to determine the impact of the intervention. Very frustrating and, of course, limits the level of feedback greatly on successes.”
Our future plans are to conduct further analysis of the data by conducting:
In October, this column will resume the practice of featuring CPTs doing impressive work. If you have a story to share, please contact Judy Hale, Director of Certification, at Judy@ispi.org.
The International Society for Performance Improvement is currently accepting applications for the 2009 Distinguished Dissertation Awards. These are an initiative funded by the Research Committee aimed at honoring excellence in student research. Three tiers of reward accompany the awards ($1,500 for first place, $1,000 for second, and $500 for third). Only doctoral dissertation research defended between May 31, 2005, and November 30, 2008, are eligible.
Dissertations must be defended and approved by the student’s committee prior to applying for the award and may be applied for by students of any accredited university throughout the world. Studies not conducted as part of dissertation research, as well as recipients of ISPI’s Distinguished Dissertation Award from previous years, are not eligible. Applicants from prior years who did not receive the award, however, may reapply as long as they meet all other requirements appearing in this announcement.
Half of recipients’ monetary reward will be paid upon announcement of award winners (by January 31, 2009), with the remaining funds to be paid upon submission of a manuscript for consideration in Performance Improvement Quarterly(which must be received no later than August 30, 2009). Award recipients are also encouraged to consider submitting a proposal to present at the 2010 annual conference.
Last year, three individuals were selected by the Research Committee as recipients of ISPI’s Distinguished Dissertation Award Competition:
The application deadline is November 30, 2008. To download the competition flyer and for details, visit www.ispi.org/awards/awards.htm. Please submit completed applications to Doug Leigh, PhD, chair of the ISPI Research Committee, via email to dleigh@pepperdine.edu with the subject “ISPI Dissertation Award.”
ISPI’s Awards of Excellence program is designed to showcase the people, products, innovations, and organizations that represent excellence in the field of instructional and human performance technology. The deadline to submit your project is October 27, 2008. This year we are offering awards in four distinct categories:
Submission packets for each category may be found at www.ispi.org/awards/awards.htm. If you have any questions about the Awards of Excellence program or the submission process, contact ISPI at awards@ispi.org or call at 301.587.8570.
The
International Society for Performance Improvement’s Career Center will
revolutionize how you search for jobs and source candidates! Our new job board,
powered by career services leader JobTarget, makes it easier than ever for ISPI
members to enhance their careers and stay connected within the performance
improvement community. Below you
will find the most recent job postings added to ISPI’s
Gap Inc.
Manager, Learning and Development—Old Navy
Job Location: San Francisco, California, 94105
Job Type: Full Time
National City
Black Belt II
Job Location: Brook Park, Ohio, 44142
Job Type: Full Time
Truman Medical Centers
Sr. Leadership & Organizational Development Consultant
Job Location: Kansas City, Missouri, 64108
Job Type: Full Time
WellPoint
Instructional Designer II or Senior
Job Location(s): California, Colorado, Connecticut, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maine, Missouri, Nevada, New Hampshire, New York, Ohio, Texas, Virginia, Wisconsin
Job Type: Full Time
Trainer Consultant
Job Location: California, Colorado, Connecticut, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maine, Missouri, Nevada, New Hampshire, New York, Ohio, Texas, Virginia, Wisconsin
Job Type: Full Time
Join us for the first of four SkillCast webinars presented by Marshall Brown and Sharon Armstrong of Marshall Brown & Associates. Marshall and Sharon show you how to Take Charge of Your Career and Helpful Career Assessments on October 21, 2008.
The rest of the series include Creating Powerful Resumes, November 18, Building Success Through Strong Networking, February 24, 2009, and Behavioral Interviewing, March 24, 2009.
These SkillCast webinars from Marshall Brown & Associates culminate at the Career Center workshops presented at THE Performance Improvement Conference 2009 in Orlando Florida, April 19-22. You do not want to miss out!
For more information, or to register, visit www.ispi.org/webcasts.
With the re-launch of ISPI’s SkillCast webinars with a new vendor, Boston Conferencing, ISPI is proud to announce you can view our past SkillCast webinars at your convenience beginning with July’s presentation. If you missed the opportunity to attend Jim Hill, Ruth Clark, Margo Murray, or any of our past live SkillCast webinars, you can hear the recorded session and obtain the handouts. For more information and to order these webinars, visit www.ispi.org/webcasts/past.htm. As we move forward in the coming months, all SkillCast webinars will be recorded and made available approximately 48 hours after the conclusion of the live event.
For more information, or to register, visit www.ispi.org/webcasts.
Performance Marketplace is a convenient way to exchange information of interest to the performance improvement community. Take a few moments each month to scan the listings for important new events, publications, services, and employment opportunities. To post information for our readers, contact ISPI Director of Marketing, Keith Pew at keithp@ispi.org or 301.587.8570.
Books Career Resources Conferences,
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Join us for THE Performance Improvement Conference, our Annual Conference, April 17-22, 2009, in Orlando, FL. Register today! Magazines,
Newsletters, and Journals Performance Improvement Quarterly is a peer-reviewed journal created to stimulate professional discussion in the field and to advance the discipline of HPT through literature reviews, experimental studies with a scholarly base, and case studies. Discounted to ISPI members.
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Then ISPI membership is your key to professional development through
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In addition to the article, please include a short bio (2–3 lines) and a contact email address. All submissions should be sent to johnc@ispi.org. Each article will be reviewed by one of ISPI’s on-staff HPT experts, and the author will be contacted if it is accepted for publication. If you have any further questions, please contact johnc@ispi.org.
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PerformanceXpress is an ISPI member benefit designed to build community, stimulate discussion, and keep you informed of the Society’s activities and events. This newsletter is published monthly and will be emailed to you at the beginning of each month.
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