Human Performance Technology
I will admit that I have never heard the term Human Performance Technology (HPT), and I was a little nervous as I opened the textbook to see if this was going to be a completely new concept to me. According to Pershing HPT is “the study and ethical practice of improving productivity in organizations by designing and developing effective interventions that are result-oriented, comprehensive, and systematic” (Pershing, 2006, p. 6). But as you further review the textbook he also cites 10 other definitions from various authors. After reading the other definitions I find that Pershing’s definition is the easiest to understand. It makes perfect sense to me that any organization that is interested in being profitable would constantly be looking towards different ways to improve productivity.
The last three years I have worked in the enrollment department at a University and although the term HPT isn’t commonly used, over the past three years I have seen the development of different compensation plans to drive productivity and that I believe would fit into the definition of HPT.
When I first started, the compensation plan was centered on a six month on-going assessment of an Enrollment Advisors overall performance. It covered` everything from student application’s collected, retention, working relationships, communication and finally customer service. Each category is assigned a weighted value. The applications collected and student retention make up 66% of your overall score. The score directly correlates to the raise you will receive. As an employee you want to be in the Always Exceeds Expectations in order to receive the maximum raise, in order to fall in this category you need an overall score of 81% or Higher. This compensation plan was in place with very few changes for 2 years. Although this compensation plan was producing a high production rate it also resulted in losing a lot of valuable employees because they were unable to meet the minimum requirements. As a
The last three years I have worked in the enrollment department at a University and although the term HPT isn’t commonly used, over the past three years I have seen the development of different compensation plans to drive productivity and that I believe would fit into the definition of HPT.
When I first started, the compensation plan was centered on a six month on-going assessment of an Enrollment Advisors overall performance. It covered` everything from student application’s collected, retention, working relationships, communication and finally customer service. Each category is assigned a weighted value. The applications collected and student retention make up 66% of your overall score. The score directly correlates to the raise you will receive. As an employee you want to be in the Always Exceeds Expectations in order to receive the maximum raise, in order to fall in this category you need an overall score of 81% or Higher. This compensation plan was in place with very few changes for 2 years. Although this compensation plan was producing a high production rate it also resulted in losing a lot of valuable employees because they were unable to meet the minimum requirements. As a
References: Pershing, J. A. (2006). Handbook of Human Performance Technology. San Francisco: Pfeiffer.