Supervisors and managers are sometimes surprised when training programs
don't yield the expected results. Yet anyone in the training game for
any length of time understands that training is only part of the performance
picture.
John Wedman, Director, School of Information Science and Learning Technologies,
and Steve Graham, Director, President's Academic Leadership Institute,
both of the University of Missouri-Columbia, have developed a Performance
Pyramid© that shows the big picture of factors that affect performance.
Training is part of the picture—but only part.
Foundation
The foundation of the Performance Pyramid© is the vision of what
is to be accomplished. It provides the direction needed to align support
systems and the needed financial support. The vision must be specific,
communicated consistently and frequently, and enlist the support of
others. Repeat—it is the foundation.
On top of this vision foundation are six building blocks. These building
blocks can be arranged in any order, but the first three presented here
are typically provided by the organization: expectations and feedback;
tools, environment and processes; and rewards, recognition and incentives.
The employee is responsible for responding to these factors in acceptable
ways. The other three building blocks—self-motivation and self-concept;
performance capacity; and knowledge and skills—typically are provided
by the employee, with the organization being responsible for hiring
and assigning employees to the appropriate tasks and situations. Positive
situations in all six building blocks are needed.
Six building blocks
Expectations
and feedback. Good performance is unlikely to occur if the performers
do not understand what is expected of them or do not receive timely
and accurate feedback based on their performance. Expectations come
from the vision and tend to be specific. Feedback comes from the expectations
and is based on performance.
Tools, environment and processes. Whether electronic,
mechanical, paper or other "tools of the trade," good tools are essential.
The more complex the task, the more likely it is for tools to be critical
to success. In addition, the environment must be one that facilitates
good performance. The environment may be easily identified and created.
Or environments can be less tangible and include items like an atmosphere
of competition between co-workers. Processes need to be understood and
result in valuable outputs.
Rewards, recognition, and incentives. We've heard it
before, but that doesn't make it any less true. Performance leading
to significant accomplishment should be rewarded and recognized; performance
not leading to significant accomplishment should not be rewarded and
should be identified and modified. Incentives may be needed initially
to elicit the desired performance. Compensation plans and recognition
strategies must be designed and perceived as equitable, directly linked
to performance and based on clearly stated expectations. Even though
we have heard this before, it needs repeating at this point to highlight
it as an essential building block. It is part of the performance picture.
Self-motivation and self-concept. Both of these concepts
result in the same issue—selecting individuals with self-motivation
and appropriate self-concept, then matching them to appropriate work
and situations. It is important to recognize that the desire to perform
can be affected by the background and work habits an individual brings
to a situation, the level of performance challenge, the quality of the
tools and environment, and the system of rewards, recognition and incentives.
Performance capacity. We all have capacities. Some capacities
are obvious. Others are less obvious, but equally critical for success.
We have mental, physical and social capacities. All affect our abilities
to perform. The important thing to remember is that capacity factors
are relatively stable conditions. Even though tools can be created to
enhance performance and overcome certain capacity limitations, most
capacities are not likely to be altered by external events.
Knowledge and skills. This is what we typically call
"training." It is of critical importance, yet by itself, it cannot solve
performance problems. To be most effective, it typically needs to be
accessible on the job at the point and time the employee discovers the
knowledge or skill deficiency.
Significant accomplishment
Significant accomplishments occur when three major elements are present
and aligned with each other: a vision, the Performance Pyramid©
and financial resources adequate to fuel the Performance Pyramid©.
Each of the six building blocks consumes financial resources. It is
important, of course, not only to have the financial resources required
to fuel performance. The resources must also be distributed in line
with the financial demands of the building blocks. Some elements of
the Performance Pyramid© will cost more than others, some can be
more important than others, and careful attention to the budget is critical.
Most likely, implementation of the Performance Pyramid© in an organization
would occur over time beginning with initial, small-scale interventions
and prototypes.
The Performance Pyramid© is presented to foster conversations
between trainers, supervisors and managers about the variety of elements
that affect worker performance. It can be the basis of needs analysis
and help plant personnel envision the entire system of impacts that
affect performance and the success of training.
This article is adapted from "Introducing the
Concept of Performance Support Using the Performance Pyramid©"
by John Wedman and Steven W. Graham in the fall 1998 issue of The Journal
of Continuing Higher Education. Dr. John Wedman is Director and Associate
Professor in the School of Information Science and Learning Technologies.
Dr. Steven Graham is Director of the President's Academic Leadership
Institute and Associate Professor in Educational Leadership and Policy
Analysis. Both are at the University of Missouri-Columbia. The full
text of the article is available from Cassy Venters at ventersc@missouri.edu.
Send this article to a friend
Authored by: Cassy Venters, Business and Industry
Specialist, University of Missouri Extension
Source: Creating Quality Newsletter, Volume
10, Number 2, February 2001
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