Performance Improvement Needs Analysis

Performance Improvement Needs Analysis

Purpose

/ The purpose of this type of needs analysis is to identify causes (barriers) for performance deficiencies and to help generate interventions that can reduce or eliminate the barriers. Although the focus by curriculum is primarily to identify training-based interventions, the entire program is investigated.

Parts

/ The Performance Improvement Needs Analysis produces five parts to the final report:
·  Audience Analysis Summary
·  Ideal Performance Situation
·  Actual Performance Situation (current measurements)
·  Barriers Causing the Gap Between Ideal and Actual Performances
·  Suggested Interventions

Tools

/ The analysis usually involves observation of in-the-field performance; interview of management, trainers, and performers; review of documentation and tools available to training and performer’s workstation; and may include hands-on practice by analyzer of the tasks and duties.
To help the analyzer, a checklist of questions has been generated that can be used during interviews and collection of viable documents (such as the job description).

Needs Analysis Checklist

Checklist

/ Use the following table and questions to help determine performance improvement needs.
Question / ü / Supports
If available, obtain a job description for job duties. / Audience Analysis,
Ideal Performance
If available, obtain any tools used in the field to evaluate worker performance by their direct management. / Ideal Performance,
Actual Performance
How many people are within the target audience? / Audience Analysis
What expected deadlines are driving the training (performance) need? [e.g., is there a need for new materials to be ready before the typical peak months for hiring or before a new computer system is released.] / Suggested Interventions
(Logistics)
What expectations do you have on what will be produced for you? Or on my work? / Suggested Interventions
(Logistics)
Training does not make business policy or procedures, we just help document them. But to build a quality product, we need support from the business to review the materials and provide timely responses on technical information. Who should be included for reviews? Who are you committing to support this effort as a Single Point Of Contact (SPOC) on any technical issues? / (Logistics)
What problems or issues are you having with the current performance? Where are the holes? / Actual Performance
If you can wave a magic wand and have the perfect situation, what would it look like? / Ideal Performance
What is stopping us from achieving that perfect state? / Barriers
Ask in-the-field performers: “What would you suggest to improve your work situation?” “What tools, equipment, or training would you like to have available to you or to new hires in your job?” / Ideal Performance, Actual Performance, Barriers

Audience Analysis Summary

Goal

/ The goal of the audience analysis is to identify feature and traits of the audience that may impact choice of training delivery methods. For example, by knowing the audience is high school graduates but little to no college indicates to keep the reading level around 6th to 8th grade. Another example is if the audience is located at many remote sites and not able to meet at one location, one time for a class, then self-study options should be considered.

Focuses

/ The audience analysis may identify the following items:
·  Number of audience members
·  Entry-level (current level) skills
·  Education or training background
·  Past experience applicable to current performance
·  Qualities that impact delivery method choices

Performance Technology Needs/Gap Analysis

Ideal Performance

/ The ideal performance should be the ideal, but achievable performance. Suggestions for determining it can include using metrics for actual production performance. Use benchmarking of other businesses in same field and measuring star performers to set your achievable, ideal performance.

Actual Performance

/ Once the method for measuring the ideal is established, measure the current performance.

The Gap & the Barriers Causing It

/ The gap is the difference between the ideal and the actual performance. It is usually caused by a gestalt of barriers and not just one cause. These barriers can be classified as falling within 4 types. See the table below for each type of barrier and some examples of that barrier.
Barriers / Examples
Lack of skill or knowledge / ·  Performer does not know the procedure.
·  Performer has forgotten how to do the task.
·  Performer cannot physically do the task.
Lack of environment / ·  No procedures documented.
·  Equipment is broken, out-of-date, or cannot meet expectations.
·  Visual, auditory, or tactile inhibitors present (too much noise at workstation).
Lack of incentives / ·  Poor coaching or feedback on performance.
·  No merit-based pay.
·  Best performers just get more work or worse challenges.
·  Worst performers get lighter loads or challenges.
Lack of motivation (attitude) / ·  Performer does not care.
·  Performer does not see value in task or management expectations.

Continued on next page

Performance Technology Needs/Gap Analysis, Continued

Suggested Interventions

/ Directly training the performers is only a recommendation for the lack of skill or knowledge barrier. Below is a list of some recommendations to the standard set of barriers.
Barriers / Suggested Interventions
Lack of skill or knowledge / ·  Formal Training
·  Coaching or Mentoring
·  On-the-Job Training
Lack of environment / ·  New or fixed equipment
·  Document procedures and make accessible
·  Removal of distractions or “noise” source
Lack of incentives / ·  Coaching by management
·  Training for managers/supervisors
·  Improve the incentive programs
Lack of motivation (attitude) / ·  Communication of expectations and why important
·  Empowerment on decision and policies
·  Modeling of desired attitude

Source

/ Handbook of Human Performance Technology by Harold D. Stolovitch and Erica J. Keeps.

What’s Next

Next Steps

/ The analysis needs to be followed by a discussion with the stakeholders. The goal of the discussion is to 1) decide on effective interventions that will address the performance gap barriers, and 2) get sponsorship for implementing those interventions.
For example, if one of the barriers is the telephone system in use cannot allow transfers, then one obvious intervention is to change to a telephone system that allows transfers. However, this intervention may be cost-prohibitive. If so, the stakeholders may agree the gap is acceptable and not to sponsor the financial expense of implementing the change.

ADDIE

/ Once you have a decision on which interventions to support, you follow up the analysis with:
·  Design (selecting type of intervention and goals [objectives] for it)
·  Development (creating or obtaining all things needed to be ready to implement)
·  Implementation (start the planned intervention)
·  Evaluation (evaluate the effectiveness of the intervention)
Yes, this is the same ADDIE as used in Training—because training is one of the possible interventions.