Theories Of Performance Interventions

As discussed in the Fundamentals of Performance Improvement textbook, there are eight distinct categories of performance interventions. These categories consist of (1) Learning, (2) Performance Support, (3) Job Analysis/Work Design, (4) Personal Development, (5) Human Resource Development, (6) Organizational Communication, (7) Organizational Design and Development, and (8) Financial Systems. Each intervention is designed to tackle gaps pinpointed in an organization through proposed solutions (Van Tiem, Moseley, & Dessinger, 2012).

The first of the eight categories is learning, which is whereby knowledge and skills can be improved through learning interventions such as organizational learning, action learning, online/e-learning, and knowledge

management (KM). The next category is performance support interventions, which consist of performance support tools (PST) or job aids, electronic performance support systems (EPSS), documentation and standards, and expert systems interventions (Van Tiem, Moseley, & Dessinger, 2012). These interventions are designed to accelerate the intervention application process. The third category is job analysis/work design, which is where interventions seek to improve productivity and effectiveness, worker satisfaction as well as health and well-being (Van Tiem, Moseley, & Dessinger, 2012). The next category personal development, encompasses the use of such interventions as feedback, mentoring, coaching, career development, emotional intelligence (EI), social intelligence (SI), cultural intelligence, and communities of professional practice (Van Tiem, Moseley, & Dessinger, 2012).
The fifth category is human resource development (HRD), which is designed by organizations to enrich workers knowledge, skills, capabilities, and attitudes (Van Tiem, Moseley, & Dessinger, 2012).

Interventions under this category include talent management, staffing, employee development, performance appraisals, retention, and so forth. The next category is organizational communication, whereby communication interventions may include communication networks, information systems, suggestion systems, grievance systems, dispute resolutions, and social media (Van Tiem, Moseley, & Dessinger, 2012). The seventh category is organizational design and development. These interventions seek to align all aspects of an organization with business strategy (Van Tiem, Moseley, & Dessinger, 2012). Organizational design and development interventions include team strategies, virtual teams, strategic planning, environmental scanning, benchmarking, ethics, and so forth. The final category is financial systems. These interventions can enhance the organization and the individuals, and encompass forecasting, cash flow analysis, open book management, or carefully planning for mergers, acquisitions or joint ventures (Van Tiem, Moseley, & Dessinger,

2012).
In examining the eight categories and the various interventions that fall within each category, the two interventions that were intriguing during the Pecha-Kucha presentations were online/e-learning and continuous improvement. With online/e-learning, learning is delivered through intranet or internet technology (Van Tiem, Moseley, & Dessinger, 2012). Also known as web-based learning or distance learning, the enables that support e-learning including enhancement of business responsiveness, reducing cost, and allowing for timely and dependable content to be delivered to employees (Van Tiem, Moseley, & Dessinger, 2012). The barriers on the other hand include cost associated with e-learning, addressing changes in employees’ attitudes, and addressing any infrastructure needs to make e-learning available within an organization (Van Tiem, Moseley, & Dessinger, 2012). By implementing this intervention, performance improvement practitioners will be able to offer suggestions that improve the acquisition of knowledge within an organization.
The second intervention continuous improvement is a mechanism by which ongoing improvements are made to assure, maintain, and improve processes, product, and services, which are based on predetermined standards (Van Tiem, Moseley, & Dessinger, 2012).

The enablers for continuous improvement are internal and external stakeholder commitment to the continuous improvement process (Van Tiem, Moseley, & Dessinger, 2012). Barriers to continuous improvement include lack of a champion from upper management to communication improvement goals to employees, lack of accountability, and failure to acknowledge workers epitomizing continuous improvement in the workplace (Van Tiem, Moseley, & Dessinger, 2012). Continuous improvement is an important component to performance improvement within an

organization.