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Human Performance Technology & Human Capital
By Harold D. Stolovitch & Erica J. Keeps
hstolovitch@hsa-lps.com & ekeeps@hsa-lps.com
This brief article discusses both the emergence and re-emergence of the concept of "human capital" and considers Human Performance Technology (HPT) and the HPT professional's relation to it.
Theodore Schultz in 1979 and Gary Becker in 1992 both won Nobel prizes in economics for their work in human capital. There was a brief period of excitement for this new concept in the early 1980's that quickly faded. However, in the last seven or eight years, the human capital theme has once again emerged as a serious and strategic business issue. A number of authors such as Davenport (1999), Edvinsson and Malone (1997), Fitz-enz (2000), Kravetz (2004), Pfeffer (1998) and Stewart (1997) have fanned the flames of human capital accounting and potential and have demonstrated the high returns to be derived from human capital management.
By human capital we mean the sum total of all knowledge, experience and performance capability an organization possesses that can be applied to create wealth. The key words are performance capability. This is HPT's purview. The HPT professional is above all a leverager of human capital. What follows are brief statements of HPT's key mission, process, roles and context for application and their relationship to human capital.
- The key mission of HPT: the leveraging of human capital in the most efficient manner to achieve targeted, valued results.
- The key process of HPT: the engineering of valued and effective individual and organizational performance based on systemic, systematic and scientific principles and demonstrated through credible measures.
- The key roles of the HPT professional: analyst, consultant, designer, evaluator, facilitator, project manager, management mentor and, as required, organizational therapist.
- The key contexts of HPT application: the workplace or work setting. However, increasingly, HPT is being applied in social settings (e.g. reproductive health in developing nations; community substance abuse programs; public education; improved quality of life for the chronically ill aged).
Conclusion
What emerges is a portrait of a powerful linkage between effective human capital use and HPT. Our overriding concern as HPT professionals is to maintain and strengthen this link. By adhering to this, we contribute to the success of both the organizations and the individuals we serve.
References
Davenport, T.B. (1999). Human Capital: what it is and why people invest
in it. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Edvinsson, L. and Malone, M.S. (1997). Intellectual capital: realizing your company's true value by finding its hidden brainpower. New York, NY: HarperCollins Publishers.
Fitz-enz, J. (2000). The ROI of human capital: measuring the economic value of employee performance. New York, NY: American Management Association.
Kravetz, D.J. (2004). Measuring human capital: converting workplace behavior into dollars. Mesa, AZ: Kravetz Asociates Publishing.
Pfeffer, J. (1998). The human equation: building profits by putting people first. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School press.
Stewart, T.A. (1997). Intellectual capital: the new wealth of nations. New York, NY: Doubleday/Currency.
This article is an excerpt from the preface, written by Harold Stolovitch and Erica Keeps, to the Handbook of Human Performance Technology, 3rd Edition, edited by James Pershing. Visit www.amazon.com for more information or to order a copy of the book.
Talent Management Columnist
Talent Management is a monthly magazine directed to top-level management, senior human resources, and workforce and organizational development executives whose task is to optimize the abilities of their human assets to drive and improve the execution of enterprise strategy. Harold Stolovitch is the regular "Human Performance" columnist for Talent Management magazine. You can read his latest article, "The Story of Training Transfer" by visiting page 12 of the September 2007 digtial edition at http://www.talentmgt.com/digital0907. For more information on Talent Management, visit their Website at www.talentmgt.com. If there are any topics that you would like Harold to address in his column, please email him at hstolovitch@hsa-lps.com.
Guest Author Series
Our Guest Author Series
features articles by various professional colleagues. The latest in our
series is by Dr. Roger Chevalier. Roger is the author of A
Manager's Guide to Improving Workplace Performance published by
the American Management Association. To access his other performance improvement
articles, visit his website at www.aboutiwp.com.
Roger can be reached by email at roger@aboutiwp.com
or by telephone at (707) 584-7160.
The Future of Performance Improvement
By Dr. Roger Chevalier, CPT
Give
a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed
him for a lifetime.
- An Old Chinese Proverb
Performance technology is the means to the ends of improving performance. It is the systematic and systemic identification and removal of barriers to effective individual and organizational performance. While there will always be a role for performance consultants with the organizations they serve, the greatest potential for what we have learned is with line-managers and supervisors.
Managers and supervisors are responsible for improving the performance of their divisions, departments, and workgroups. They routinely assess the present level of performance and compare it to a desired or planned level of performance. They then identify the potential causes for performance shortfalls and come up with solutions they help implement. Next, they evaluate the results to see if the difference between "where they are" and "where they want to be" has been closed. Sound familiar? This is the systematic approach defined by the last six Standards of Performance Technology developed by the International Society for Performance Improvement.
The first four Standards have value to managers and supervisors alike. These key players in an organization must focus on outcomes, adapt a systems view, add value to their organizations, and establish partnerships, if they are going to help improve performance. Line managers and supervisors routinely do all of these things as they work to improve the performance of their departments and divisions, but not necessarily systemically and systematically.
Imagine a workforce where all managers and supervisors have a consistent approach to identifying performance gaps, determining causes, selecting, designing, and developing a range of solutions, implementing those solutions, and then evaluating the results. Imagine a workforce where every manager and all supervisors have the knowledge and skills to apply performance technology every day on the job.
Perhaps the most important tool that managers and supervisors should have readily available is a means of determining performance gaps, setting reasonable goals, and identifying the causes for the present level of performance. The Performance Analysis Worksheet provides the structure necessary for a line manager or supervisor to systematically and systemically analyze performance issues. Visit http://www-hsa-lps.com/E_News/ENews_Oct07/Performance_Analysis_Worksheets.pdf to access The Performance Analysis Worksheet.
The manager will enter the present level of performance, then describe the desired level of performance and set a reasonable goal in measurable terms. The managers then must identify, weigh and display the factors that influence individual and group performance on the job as arrows for each driving force working to close the gap and each restraining force that stands in the way. These include work environment factors such as information, resources, incentives, as well as individual factors such as the motives, capacity, and knowledge and skills of the workers. A completed Performance Analysis Worksheet used to describe a situation faced by a sales manager with a new team is on the second page of The Performance Analysis Worksheet.
Part of any performance technology implementation strategy should include embedding the Standards of Human Performance Technology (HPT) throughout the organization. It is not enough that a select few know and use HPT. Line managers and supervisors are the ones ultimately responsible for improving performance, and it is time that we focused on delivering our methods to them. It is time that we teach them how to "fish" better.
While performance consultants should continue to work on the larger performance improvement issues that influence organizational sustainability issues such as profitability and market share, they should also take responsibility for developing managers and supervisors to improve performance as measured by productivity, quality, time, and cost. If the actions of all members of the management team are aligned to improve performance, the organization will be more competitive in the marketplace.
Do
you have an article that you would like us to consider including in our
Guest Author Series? It can be new or previously published. If so, please
contact
Erica Keeps at ekeeps@hsa-lps.com.
Ask Harold
Do you have any burning human performance technology questions? Visit the Ask Harold section of HSA's Website and ask your questions for Harold Stolovitch to answer. Here is a recent submission that might intrigue you:
Has HPT had a well-documented link to ethical business or corporate social responsibility? If so, who has made this link and where is it documented?
To read the response, visit https://www.hsa-lps.com/Expert_Q_A.htm#ethical. To ask your own question, visit https://www.hsa-lps.com/Expert_Q_A.htm and fill out the form at the bottom.
Publications & Learning Aids
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© Copyright 2007 Harold D. Stolovitch & Erica J. Keeps