Train, Empower, Achieve: New Thoughts in Performance Support

The workforce has become moremobile, creating a significant shift in the way business is done. A 2012 Ciscostudy found that three of five workers say they don’t need to be in the officeto be productive. We are seeing the impact of this shift not only on how peoplework, but also in how they learn and consume content to do their jobs.

For example, let’s say John is asales rep for a major pharmaceutical company. He has a large territory and isconstantly on the move. He works in the cardiology division, selling pharmaceuticalsthat doctors use to treat various conditions of the heart, such as hypertension,high cholesterol, and coronary artery disease. His company is releasing a newcholesterol-lowering drug in two weeks. How will the company prepare John tosell this new drug? (Note that while this type of training scenario is common,we have fabricated the specifics for purposes of this example.)

In the past, John would have taken formaltraining (instructor-led, online, and Webinar) and the product team or his bossmay have provided some coaching. John would have also used informal learning bysearching the Internet and talking with peers. But is there more theorganization could do to maximize John’s potential and create a more efficient pathto proficiency?

With a mobile workforce and use of differenttraining delivery methods, organizations can provide training and performancesupport much differently today. Formal learning coupled with performancesupport enables John to access specific content at the point of need,supporting faster and more accurate knowledge application and resulting in greaterspeed to competency.

Performance supportdefined

Performance support provides employeeswith a way to learn and improve skills while doing real tasks on the job. Performancesupport has been around for a long time, but it has been gaining a lot ofattention lately because advances in computer and mobile technologies havesignificantly enhanced our ability to support performance on the job.

In our everyday lives, we havebecome accustomed to learning while performing a task. Have you ever used a GPSdevice to get somewhere, or upon getting lost, looked up a map on your Smartphone?If so, you’ve used performance support. With all the devices on our desks and inour pockets, we have an unprecedented ability to get help in the moment of needduring performance.

This is also true for workplacelearning. It isn’t until people are actually performing a task that theyrealize the specifics about what they don’t know –either because they didn’t learn it, they misunderstood it, or they forgot it.By providing support at the moment of performance, we enable learners to excelin ways they can’t with formal training alone.

Performance supportand formal training

Our profession is steeped in wisdomabout how to teach people. However, our field has always struggled with the gapbetween what people learn in training and their ability to transfer thatlearning to the job. With that gap, it becomes very difficult to quantifyresults or identify the return on investment. With performance support, weassist learners as they are applying their newfound skills at work. Nowhereelse will they have as many opportunities to apply and repeat their skills asthey perfect their learning.

Some people mistakenly think thatperformance support is about replacing formal training. This is not the case. Therelationship is symbiotic, with performance support enhancing the effectivenessof training – and trainingenhancing the effectiveness of performance support.

Performance support ensurestransfer from formal training and increases speed to proficiency. If people arelearning something new, training plus performance support will help the learnerto apply new knowledge effectively. Performance support can guide learnersthrough difficult points and support them as they apply new behaviors.

Trainers have often ignored informallearning – thelearning done outside of the classroom. Think about all the times you’ve beenat your desk and done a quick Google search to learn something you need rightnow. Experts claim that over 80 to 90 percent of workplace learning isinformal. By using performance support, we make informal learning moredeliberate, providing learners with the support they need when they need it. AsGottfredson and Mosher write: “We are now intentionally stepping into theinformal side of learning.” (See the Reference at the end of the article.)

 Features of effectiveperformance support

When implementing performance support,the first question to ask is, “When will my learners use it?” Yes, we know itwill be at the moment of application, but this moment has four different stages:

1. Preparation
2. Urgency
3. Performance
4. Reflection

To continue our example, John knowsall about the anatomy and physiology of the heart and how his company’sproducts can assist with various cardiovascular issues. The company’s new drugis a significant improvement over their previous cholesterol-lowering drugsbecause it works on a different pathway than current medications. John needs tounderstand this pathway to be able to sell the drug.

Last week, John attended a Webinarwhere he learned about this new product. He also completed an online coursethat provided more details about the drug and how it works in the body. Thiscourse also taught him how this drug fits into the portfolio of drugs hecurrently sells and how it compares to the drugs from other pharmaceuticalcompanies he sells against.

Preparation

During preparation, the learner is learningin the days before the moment of performance. This is likely a combination oftraining and learner-driven informal learning. The Webinar and online coursesare formal training; John receives the content well before the moment ofperformance and in a formal setting.

Formal training should also introducethe performance support materials that will be available. This tells thelearner not to waste time memorizing minutia and helps him to be comfortable withnot knowing it all. Ultimately, the learner should come away from the formaltraining with an overview of the critical information, tools to use duringperformance, and a basic level of comfort about how to handle the new situation.

Given the high stakes of needing tobe able to explain this new drug to the doctors he calls on, John is alsolikely to use informal learning to fill any gaps in the formal training. For example,he talks with colleagues about how they will handle difficult questions. He alsospends time on reputable Websites reading material and viewing videos about howthis kind of drug impacts the heart. He also reads about competitors’ drugsthat work in similar ways.

As training professionals, we canimpact this informal learning by creating short training pieces that John canaccess in those days prior to performance. Because it is likely that John has aspecific need if he is reaching out for the training, the training should beshort and tightly targeted to that need. By offering materials that provide theinformal learning, we know John isn’t wasting his time surfing the Internet forwhat he needs to know. Instead, he is getting content targeted to his specificneeds, including targeted messaging that the organization wants him to use withprospects and how to handle objections related to this drug.

Urgency

Have you ever crammed for an exam?This is the same as preparing just prior to the moment of performance. Now isthe time to focus on just the most important details – the things the learners are most likely toforget or things they cannot look up during the moment of performance.

At this point, John uses a quickreference sheet explaining the most salient points of the drug and itsmechanism of action. He also reviews a list of the most common drugs he willsell against and how his drug differs from them. Most importantly, he reviews alist of the five most common questions or objections he can expect a prospect tohave and the responses to each one.

In John’s case, he has acompany-provided iPad he takes on all of his sales calls. All of the materialshe needs for last-minute review are on the iPad, and John is able to use themin his car or in the waiting room while he waits for a doctor to see him. Therefore,the materials must be brief and easy to access.

It’s common to think learners canlook everything up during the moment of performance, and to an extent that istrue. However, there are many times when the performer must be able to handleat least the most basic tasks or lose credibility and confidence, particularlyif he works directly with clients. For example, John’s drug inhibitscholesterol synthesis; if he must look this up in front of a prospect, he willlose so much credibility that the sale will be lost. For those things that he cannotreview during the moment of performance, the urgency stage is crucial.

Performance

Performance is what we usuallythink of as “performance support” –the support we provide while the learner is actually doing the task. For thisstage, content must be very easy to access and chunked as tightly as possible.Remember, the learner wants reference materials targeted exactly to hisspecific need … right now.

In John’s case, he uses his iPadwith the prospect to show an animation of how the drug works in the cardiovascularsystem. He also brings up a list of side effects. He reviewed the most commonones during the urgency stage, but this list is much more detailed and providesdeeper scientific information on them. This is the material John does not needto memorize – and a prospect wouldn’t expect him to memorize.

Reflection

Reflection is the periodimmediately after the moment of performance when the learner ponders thestrengths and weaknesses of his performance. Recognizing areas of weakness willdrive the learner back to learning more, either immediately after theperformance or prior to the next moment of performance. If the performanceincludes interaction with a client, this stage also includes him validating thethings he said and following up with the client if he needs to expand orcorrect something.

For example, let’s say John has acall with a family doctor who has some specific questions about how his druginteracts with other medications. John doesn’t do a very good job of answeringher questions, and the doctor ends the meeting early. After the call ends, Johntakes the time to look up how this drug interacts with other medications so heis better prepared for the next doctor with similar questions. Most likely Johnwill access one of the informal learning or performance support pieces that hehad access to previously. He either didn’t use the resource before because hedidn’t think he needed it, or he did use the resource but forgot the keypoints. Either way, he accesses the materials with a newfound sense of urgency.

Conclusion

As employees become more mobile andtechnology continues to advance, organizations have unprecedented abilities to supportemployees’ performance at work. Adding a performance support component toformal training allows training departments to bolster performance in ways thatare superior to training alone. Whether buying or creating performance supportmaterials for your organization, think very carefully about when people willuse it and what they are likely to need at that precise moment. Doing so willmake a huge difference in the effectiveness of that support.

Reference

Gottfredson, C. & Mosher, B.(2011). Innovative Performance Support:Strategies and practices for learning in the workflow. New York:McGraw-Hill.