HPI Practitioner

Due to the proposed competencies of a Human Performance Improvement (HPI) practitioner have the ability to be applied to many business needs and functions, it can be difficult for those in the role and others to understand their purpose and the most appropriate place(s) for their expertise.

Though the role of HPI practitioner may be considered complex, the malleable skill set of HPI practitioners make for an invaluable business asset to ensure money, time, and other resources are spent on items most likely to maximize the desired return.

Some example responsibilities of an HPI practitioner include:

• Identifying the need and designing business tasks, processes, and job roles.
• Effectively relaying training and performance needs to meet business objectives best.
• Analyzing and planning interventions to resolve business challenges.
• Forecasting the impact of business practices with and without applied changes or suggested implementations.

In short, HPI practitioners can ensure the functions and people that make up an organization play an effective and efficient role (seeking opportunity for improvement each step of the way). They are especially useful for helping avoid the trap of having training be the solution chosen to address business challenges. Though training may help or to an extent, some factors contributing to the lack of knowledge, skill, or performance existing are more to do with matters such as motivation, external technical and human error, or improper acknowledgment of other influential items. 

For example, reasons outside knowledge or skill may influence a person who knows the health risks of smoking to start or continue smoking despite their knowledge. The concern then becomes why. Maybe the answer lies in a misguided belief or the “reward” (the satisfaction from tobacco) outweighs the health risks at stake. Despite the answer and what it suggests, it’s investigations that seek to answer why that yield great promise. This is the goal of a Human Performance Improvement (HPI) practitioner, to ensure training is the right solution being cautious of what the right training entails.

Having knowledge alone does not ensure the desired action will be taken nor does having the ability or skill to complete the desired action ensure it will occur. Knowing when to take what actions (especially in settings providing multiple options) is the difference between witnessing a performance that leads to accomplishing goals and performance that fail to meet or hinder goals. 

Though the experienced HPI practitioner often wears many hats, their ultimate goal is likely to ensure performance leads to meeting accomplishments. The HPI practitioner often invites a variety of solutions for meeting this goal and refrains from limiting the source for plausible solutions. Using the standards that act as a foundation for Human Performance, HPI practitioners are better equipped to address business needs with reliable suggestions or interventions. 

 

References

Rothwell, W. J. (2018). Human Performance Improvement: Building Practitioner Performance. London: Routledge.