Why should HPT practitioners care about the organization’s strategic direction?

Why should HPT (Human Performance Technology) practitioners care about the organization’s strategic direction?

It is very important that human performance technology practitioners analyze each criteria for success within an organization.  When predicting the success of any performance technology, practitioners like to evaluate all of the parties that are involved within the organization.  This can be done by pinpointing the following strategic alignment phases.

Ø  Phase One: Performance Analysis- The evaluation of the strategic plan of the organization and objectives.

Ø  Phase Two: Cause Analysis-Analyze the performance objectives at both individual and group level which will directly categorize misalignment being the cause of the performance gap.

Ø  Phase Three: Intervention, Selection, Design, and Development-Strategic objectives are aligned with measurable criteria and prioritized throughout departments within the organization.

Ø  Phase Three: Intervention, Implementation and Change-Evaluation of the strategic plan of the organization to identify that implementation strategies are aligned with present and future initiatives.

Ø  Phase Four: Evaluation-The analysis will be evaluated to determine the impact results on the achievement of the organization’s strategic objectives. (Pershing, 2006 pgs. 205 & pg. 206).

Organizations should take advantage of evaluating the strategic objectives of an organization.  It is essentially important to characterize pertinent strategic principles. I like when businesses, managers, and HPT Practitioners adapt strategic principles from Sun Tzu.  Sun Tzu has a brilliant military strategy that can be evolved into the business model strategy.  There were six strategic principles that transitioned from Sun Tzu’s Art of War to Sun Tzu and the Art of Business.  These six strategic principles are the following:

1)      Win All Without Fighting: Capturing Your Market Without Destroying It.

2)      Avoid Strength, Attack Weakness: Striking Where They Least Expect It.

3)      Deception and Foreknowledge: Maximizing the Power of Market Information.

4)      Speed and Preparation: Moving Swiftly to Overcome Your Competitors.

5)      Shape Your Opponent: Employing Strategy to Master The Competition.

6)      Character-based Leadership: Providing Effective Leadership in Turbulent Times.

(McNeilly, 1996 pg.7).

However, as you can see the aforementioned are strategic principles that can help any organization stay competitive.  Therefore, as a result remaining strategically aligned with their company mission.  In addition, HPT practitioners can benefit from each analysis and evaluation of impacted measurable goals that can directly affect every party involved in the organization.

References

McNeilly, M. (1996). Sun Tzu and the Art of Business: Six Strategic Principles for Managers. New York, New York: Oxford University Press, Inc.

Pershing, J.A. (2006). Handbook of Human Performance Technology: Principles, Practices, and Potential (3^rd, ED). San Francisco, California: John Wiley & Sons Publishers, Inc.