Painless Transition Using Performance Support Systems

Performance Support Systems: Addressing the software pain points

I am going to say something now that will shock you –

The way you possibly train your employees is wrong and isn’t working.

Let me explain before my blog is burnt down for change management heresy. A huge aspect of change management is the training of employees to use the new software and the traditional methods of teaching just aren’t good enough.

The point I am trying to make is that the methods of classroom-based learning are being shown to be a relatively ineffective method of employee trainingemployee training, as I showed in our change management e-book.

While I won’t go as far as to say that the classical training model is completely outdated, because it does play an important role in the employee’s learning experience, what I do believe is that the future of training and change is through performance support.

The definition of performance support as given by the Macie Center is:

Performance Support (PS) is any learning modality, resource or asset that is accessible and applicable at the moment of need.

Performance Support Systems embrace a different approach to employee learning. This approach identifies the key measure of training success as being speed-to-competence. This indicator gives us a sense of the cost associated with recruiting and integrating new employees into the organisation.

The table below gives us a breakdown of the comparisons between training and Performance Support. Additionally, I would like to explain one of the key differences between the two. On the one hand, training often requires removing the employee from the active work environment. On the other hand, Performance Support Systems are implemented in active work situations where the employee learns the ins and outs of the new system while completing work tasks.  

Therefore, we can see that three of the greatest advantages of performance support systems, as opposed to training is that it streamlines software migration and change implementation without taking the employee away from their desk.

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