Performance Support: More Than Just

Training

by Saturday
Cheah Hui Xin 31 May 2014 0 Comments 33

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Learning and Development managers often make the mistake of just

focusing on either training or performance support when there is a
difference between the two. This article underlines the key differences and
zooms in on the features that performance support tools should have in
order for them to be effective.

Imagine going for training on how to use a piece of new machinery that your company has
decided to invest in. 2 months later, the first shipment comes in. You try your hand at it...
and you don't remember how to operate it. Well, according to research, chances are, you
would already have forgotten 70% of the content within 48 hours of your training. So what
do you do?

You end up googling, asking your colleagues, people at the support desk, etc. Even
though these forms of informal learning eventually lead to a solution, but they are not
consistent and amount to a huge waste in resources coupled with low time-to-productivity.

Training and Performance Support - Is there any

Difference?
There are many L&D departments that focus on instructional design and measurement of
learning. They provide workers with training services that focus a lot on learning skills.
However, training alone is not enough for you to do your work well. You need Performance
Support to complement training, and this is the part where the focus is on the application
of a skill, where this kind of support allows workers to improve their skill efficiency. To
better illustrate this, below is a summary of the differences between training and
performance support.

Training Performance Support

Learning a new skills or expand Applying a skill, solving problems or changing
Purpose
upon a previous skill performance practices
When one has to learn a new
Whet it is skill or brush up on a skill, When one is at his job and needs to apply a skill,
needed usually as a result of a new job and refers to materials to help him
scope
A fixed amount of time is taken At the point of need, only a short amount of time is
Availability off work - usually an hour long available for him/her to refer to materials as
for worker each session, to be trainedTime he/she needs to focus on getting his/her work
needed: 1 hour or more doneTime available: Less than 10 minutes
Goal Gian skill and knowledge Finish work tasks

We Already Make Use Of Performance Support Everyday

To better illustrate performance support in an everyday life example, usually when we need
to learn something on the fly- how to open a bottle of wine or how to dice carrots, we tend
to search for information either on our mobile phones or electronic devices. Such
information is usually presented to us in small chunks of written information (eg.
in wikihow - short, succinct, Step-By-Step guides with some photos) or a
short video (usually a direct and to-the-point demonstration of how to do something in less
than 2 minutes).
Apply This in Your Company and See the Difference

We use these resources to help us everyday because they are convenient, require little
time as they are easily digestible and effective. What we need, we get- available right at
our fingertips. Now, that is definitely a leaf that companies can take from what we are
already doing in our everyday lives unknowingly. Imagine if you were able to get access to
videos of how to operate, troubleshoot and change parts of that new piece of machinery in
your company. That would make things so much more efficient!

I recently read an article about how the oil and gas industry is making use of mobile
learning in Qatar as a means of performance support. Workers who are often on the field
need to get access to some technical terms in English that are specific to the industry.
They make use of an app which provides them with Just-In-Time information whenever
they need it. All 30 of the employees at Qatar Petroleum gave good feedback about how it
has allowed them to improve in their communication skills. These are the kind of benefits
that performance support can give to workers.

3 Important Features of Performance Support Tools

With that, here are 3 important features that performance support tools need to have in
order for them to be effective: Convenient, User-Friendly and Relevant.

1. Convenient
How easy is it to luge around these resources? Do your workers have to carry a stack
of papers around to refer to them when they are off-site? If they do, chances are, you
will not get very favourable responses from your workers. "Electronic Performance
Support Systems" (EPSSs), usually available on mobile devices, have been known to
be real convenient with amazing take-up rates for the sole reason that workers already
have their own personal mobile device to begin with.

2. User-Friendly
If your workers are going to have to navigate through tons of information before finding
the one that best suits his needs, chances are, they are not going to use them very
often. With that, easy search functions and organization of these resources are crucial
to Just-In-Time Learning.

3. Relevant
Workers do not want to refer to information that has already been outdated for 2 years,
or read 2 whole pages of resources only to find what they need in the 2nd last
paragraph. The need for resources to be updated and to-the-point is extremely crucial
 in performance support. EPSSs are particularly useful for easy version control where
resources could be quickly updated and disseminated to workers without the need to
send another email attachment.

With that, I hope you are able to see how performance support differs very much from
training and how this also affects the way companies should go about picking the right
tools for support. And since performance support relates directly to how well a worker is
able to perform his job there and then, it is really crucial that corporations see it as an
integral part of their Learning and Development strategy. What other features do you think
is important for performance support tools to have in order to be effective? Share your
thoughts with us in the comments below!