Jack,
I think you have pointed solidly in the right direction for an examination
of performance improvement. Good deal and thanks.
Ian and Vana have started down the paths of training version performance
and training versus development. These are worthy thread topics but are
different from performance improvement.
You can train all day long. You can stand there and coach all day longer.
You can work your tail end off to develop the employee and increase their
capacities to generalize concepts from one task to another. You will not
have begun to improve their performance, though.
The area of performance improvement involves taking an existing level of
performance and making it better. Better is defined as more effective or
more efficient but can also include less taxing or detrimental to the
performer. This is accomplished through the areas that Jack mentioned:
> Performance problem analysis
> Performance measurement
> Rewards
> Feedback system analysis
> Ergonomics
> Job aid development
> etc.
along with any number of other innovative or emerging techniques,
practices, and methods.
Employee development and performance-oriented training activities (to
include coaching) do not usually get into these areas specifically.
Coaching comes closest to covering these specific areas but is more often
steered in the direction of employee development.
Just my 2.5" worth.
--Clyde Howell orgpsych@augusta.net
Learning-org -- An Internet Dialog on Learning Organizations For info: <rkarash@karash.com> -or- <http://world.std.com/~lo/>