Todd Jerome Jenkins, MS, CSP, SMS, CHST, STSC

Safety Aficionado & Ph.D. Student

A Review of Performance Improvement: Applying a Human Performance Model to Organizational Process In a Military Training Environment

Introduction

The study applied the human performance model defined by the US Navy’s Human Performance Center specifically to reduce work hours associated with student registration. The study is significant as it applies the HP assessment model to an actual world application and delivers a wide range of interventions to improve performance. The model consists of five segments:

  1. performance analysis,
  2. cause analysis,
  3. intervention selection,
  4. intervention implementation, and
  5. evaluation

Results

The study collected a variety of data points aimed at:

  1. estimating time involved in the process
  2. observing reoccurring and redundant tasks
  3. benchmarking observations against another similar organization.

Performance analyses consisted of identifying the focus of the work. In the study, the focus of the performance (work being done) was processing specific forms. Root cause analysis included measuring work hours spent on the tasks and examining policies and written processes. The results were compared to similar organizations for benching. The documented results were used to determine performance gaps, leading to the model’s next step, intervention selection and implementation. A key element of interventions is estimating the cost of implementation. The HP model states that each cause has a mitigation strategy that controls the cause. The study offered several to close identified gaps. The specific reduction strategy is exciting but of note is the five-step process that sustains continuous improvement. The last step is to evaluate the plan to ensure that performers, responsibilities, and data are collected to support the final evaluation proposal. The study determined that the current policies, procedures, and supervisors were inadequate to support operational responsibilities.

Author

Wayne Aaberg, CPT Carla J. Thompson Haywood V. West Matthew J. Swiergosz

Study Link

https://onlinelibrary-wiley-com.captechu.idm.oclc.org/doi/abs/10.1002/pfi.20074

DOI: 10.1002/pfi.20074

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