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History of Human Performance Technology

According to Chevalier (2008), Human Performance Technology is a systematic

examination of ways to improve workplace performance. In the 1800s, companies started to

investigate and learn about making workplace performance more efficient. Fredrick Taylor is

known to be the father of workplace improvement and Human Performance Improvement. He

was the first to design and implement programs to improve workplace performance. In 1911,

he published The Principles of Scientific Management.

One of Human Performance Technology factors is learning psychology which is the essence of

technology. Human Performance Technology (HPT) originated from work of several behavioral

psychologists who began to experiment and introduce new methods of enhancing learning in

the 1950s. In 1954, B.F. Skinner published The Science of Learning and The Art of Teaching and

examined the modern HPT field. Thomas Gilbert was Skinners student who followed and

developed Skinners teachings. Thomas Gilbert became the modern father of HPT. He

designed and created models to improve human performance. Such models were the Behavior

Engineering Model and the ABC Model. In 1962, the National Society for Programmed

Instruction (NSPI) was founded to collect, develop, and diffuse information concerned with

programmed instruction (Rummler, 2007). The NSPI which is now called International Society

for Performance Improvement (ISPI) developed the standards of performance technology and

its Code of Ethics.

Another factor of Human Performance Technology is Instructional Systems Design. In this

system, the outcomes of instruction must be identifiable, observable, and measurable. Today,

people demand the growth in knowledge such that innovative approaches to teaching and
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learning needed to be considered. One of the advances was the audiovisual methods. A new

systematic model called ADDIE (analysis, design, develop, implementation, and evaluation) was

developed. Human Performance Analysis is all about accomplishments. It addresses the

performance gap to identify the causes of deterioration in the organizations or companies. A

successful performance leads to having accomplishments.

Definitions of Human Performance Technology

Author and Year Definition
Gilbert (1978) Human Competence is a function of worthy performance (W), which

is a function of the ratio of valuable accomplishments (A) to costly

behavior (B)

W=A/B

NSPI (1990) A set of methods and processes for solving problems or realizing

opportunities related to the performance of people. It may be

applied to individuals, small groups, or large organizations

Benefit & Tate (1990) ..the systematic process of:

-Identifying opportunities for performance improvement (PI)

-Setting performance standards

-Identifying PI strategies

-Performing cost/benefit analysis

-Selecting PI Strategies

-Ensuring integration with existing systems

-evaluating the effectiveness of PI strategies

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-Monitoring PI Strategies

Gilbert (1996) The purpose of Human performance technology is to increase

human capital which can be defined as the product of time and

opportunity

Human Capital = Time (T) X Opportunity (O)

Harless (1986) Human Performance Technology is the process of selection,

analysis, design, development, implementation, and evaluation of

programs to most cost effectively influence human behavior and

accomplishment

Dick & Wager (1995 ) It is a fundamental commitment to the identification of

organizational performance problems and the development of the

most appropriate solutions

Harless (1995) It is an engineering approach to attaining desired accomplishment

from human performers by determining gaps in performance and

designing cost-effective and efficient interventions

Ainsworth (1979) A cornerstone of performance technology is outcome significant-

discovering valid, useful performance objectives and stating them in

terms that are easily understood

Stolovitch (1982) A field of endeavor that seeks to bring about changes to a system in

such a way that the system is improved in terms of the achievements

it values
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Langdon (1991) Systematic application of identifying that a need exists to establish,

maintain, extinguish, or improve performance in an individual or

organization, defining the need, identifying implementing, and net-

working appropriate interventions, and validating that the results are

true improvements

Stolovitch and Keeps The application of what is known about human and organizational

(1992, 1999) behavior to enhance accomplishments, economically and effectively,

in ways that are valued within the work setting. The HPT is a field of

endeavor to a system, un such a way that the system is improved in

terms of the achievement it values

Rothwell (1996) Human Performance Enhancement (HPE) is the field focused on

systematically and Holistically improving present and future work

results achieved by people organizational settings

Trends and Actions in Human Performance Technology

Currently, Human Performance Technology is seen as a group of processes and tools

through which remedial solutions can be applied (Piersol and Paris, 2007). While this is certainly

a valid use of the methodologies developed through almost a half-century of practice,

proposals for new applications are rising.

Human Performance Technology is beginning to be viewed as a means through which

effective systems can be designed. That is, the methods and tools used presently to analyze

performance deficiencies and determine solutions can be slightly changed to be applied to the
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creation of entirely new systems and organizations. With the considerations unique to the

perspective of HPT, it is believed that HPT-designed systems would be built around achieving

the highest value of performance and create lean, well-functioning organizations (Piersol and

Paris, 2007).

Primary interest for this application has come from the United States Military as a

means of achieving greater systems and personnel efficiency. The proposed change in from a

group mentality of united performance to the performance of individuals functioning within a

group, while seemingly a small shift, is monumental considering the organizational implications

this has on the worlds largest fighting force (Piersol and Paris, 2007).

Of course, this new application of HPT can be seen as an untethering of it from its

parent field of Instructional Design and Technology. That is, where Human Performance

Technology was borne out of a need to identify where and how to improve performance, with a

focus on whether or not instructional interventions were needed to create exemplary

performance, it is quickly becoming a field in its own right focused on creating the forces and

environments needed for worthwhile performance to be possible from the outset (Piersol and

Paris, 2007).

Nevertheless, HPT has already benefited from the systemic, systematic and process-

driven nature of Instructional Design; and Instructional Design has certainly benefited from the

renewed focus on economic factors to consider when determining instructional methods, as

well as the analytical tools created by HPT and those adapted by HPT from the private sector. If

HPT is to become a field separate from Instructional Design and Technology-if it has not

already-the two will still benefit from their common function of improving human ability.
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Further trends in HPT are its application to healthcare as a means of providing improved

patient care and lowered health costs. This is a very pragmatic and worthwhile application of

HPT as it has the potential to improve society as a whole. Hospitals and health networks are

already applying small pieces of Human Performance Technology to their organizations and are

seeing a large amount of success. Simply scheduling nurses and doctors at times that allow

them to perform best, while difficult, inevitably creates better healthcare through improved

performance on the part of the medical practitioner.

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References
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performance. In Jill E. Stefaniak (Ed.), Cases on human performance improvement

technologies, 1-17. doi:10.4018/978-1-4666-8330-3.ch001

Chevalier, R. D. (2008). A brief history of performance improvement. Performance

Improvement, 47(6), 5-11. doi: 10.1002/pfi

Clark, D. R. (2004). Concepts of Leadership. Retrieved from

http://www.nwlink.com/~donclark/leader/leadcon.html

Garnevale, A., Gainer, L., & Villet, J. (1990). Training in America: The organization and strategic

role of training. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Gilbert, T. F. (2007). Human Competence: Engineering worthy performance (Tribute ed.). San

Francisco: Pfeiffer.

Hale, J. A. The History of human performance technology (HPT): Its evolution, contributions, &

impact [Power Point Slides]. Retrieved from http://www.ispi.org

Molenda, M. (2008). Historical foundations. In J.M. Spector, M. D. Merrill, J. van Merrienboer,

& M.P. Driscoll (Eds.), Handbook of research on educational communications and

technology (3rd ed.) (3-20). New York: Routledge.

Piersol, W. J., & Paris, C. (2007, June). Human performance technology: A discipline to improve

C2 concept development and analysis. A paper presented at the 12th International

Command and Control Research and Technology Symposium, Newport, Rhode Island.

Rummler, G.A. (2007). The past is prologue: An eyewitness account of HPT. Performance

Improvement, 46(10), 5-9. Doi: 10.1002/pfi.166