When people in organizations aren't performing as needed, training is rarely the complete answer — and sometimes it isn't the answer at all. EDD8534 develops the performance improvement practitioner's capacity to diagnose performance problems accurately and design interventions that address root causes, whether those causes require training solutions, non-training solutions, or combinations of both.
The human performance improvement framework
Moving beyond training as the default solution
- Gilbert's behavior engineering model: EDD8534 is grounded in Thomas Gilbert's foundational framework from Human Competence: Engineering Worthy Performance (1978, 2007), which demonstrated that most performance problems are caused by environmental factors (unclear expectations, inadequate tools, poor incentive systems, insufficient information) rather than individual deficiencies (lack of knowledge or skill). Gilbert's model systematically examines six categories of performance support — information, resources, incentives (environmental factors) and knowledge, capacity, motivation (individual factors) — and establishes the principle that environmental interventions are typically more cost-effective and impactful than training
- Performance analysis: The course develops systematic performance analysis competencies — the process of identifying the gap between desired and actual performance, determining the root causes of that gap (which may be environmental, individual, or both), and selecting interventions that address the actual causes rather than the assumed causes. This analysis discipline is the core competency that distinguishes performance improvement from traditional training and development
- Intervention selection: EDD8534 covers the full range of performance improvement interventions, including job aids and electronic performance support systems, process redesign, organizational restructuring, selection and staffing changes, feedback systems, compensation and incentive redesign, knowledge management systems, and coaching/mentoring programs — as well as formal training when knowledge or skill deficiency is genuinely the root cause
Training solutions: design, delivery, and evaluation
When performance analysis reveals that training is the appropriate intervention — when the performance gap is genuinely caused by a lack of knowledge or skill — EDD8534 covers the systematic design, delivery, and evaluation of training programs. The course applies instructional systems design (ISD) methodology, including front-end analysis, learning objectives specification, content development, instructional strategy selection, media and delivery method selection, and formative and summative evaluation. The course also examines contemporary delivery approaches including e-learning, blended learning, mobile learning, simulation-based training, and virtual classroom environments, developing the capacity to select delivery methods based on learning objectives, learner characteristics, and organizational constraints rather than technology trends.
Non-training interventions
EDD8534 devotes substantial attention to non-training interventions — the performance improvement solutions that address environmental rather than individual causes of performance gaps. The course examines how job aids (quick-reference tools that provide information at the point of need, eliminating the requirement to memorize) can often replace formal training more cost-effectively; how process redesign can eliminate performance problems by simplifying or restructuring the work itself; how feedback systems can improve performance by providing timely, specific information about results that performers currently lack; and how incentive and consequence systems can address motivation-based performance problems that training cannot solve.
Digital and electronic performance solutions
The course covers digital and electronic approaches to performance improvement, including electronic performance support systems (EPSS) that embed help, guidance, and decision support directly into work processes and software tools; learning management systems and their role in delivering, tracking, and managing training programs; knowledge management platforms that capture and distribute organizational expertise; and data analytics tools that enable ongoing performance monitoring and rapid intervention adjustment. EDD8534 develops the capacity to evaluate these technologies based on their fit with specific performance improvement needs rather than their novelty.
EDD8534 assignments include performance analyses, intervention design proposals, training program plans, and evaluation reports
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Performance analyses, intervention design proposals, training program plans, non-training solution designs, evaluation reports.
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Frequently asked questions
EDD8534's emphasis on the limitations of training as a performance improvement strategy is grounded in Thomas Gilbert's foundational research and analysis, published in Human Competence: Engineering Worthy Performance (1978, revised 2007), which established one of the most counterintuitive findings in the performance improvement field: most performance problems in organizations are caused by environmental factors (the conditions surrounding the performer) rather than by individual deficiencies (what the performer knows or can do). Gilbert's behavior engineering model (BEM) organizes the causes of performance into six categories arranged in two layers: the environmental layer (information — do performers know what is expected and how they are doing?; resources — do they have the tools, time, and materials needed?; incentives — are the consequences of performing well and performing poorly aligned with organizational goals?) and the individual layer (knowledge — do performers know how to do the task?; capacity — are they physically, cognitively, and emotionally capable?; motivation — do they want to perform well?). Gilbert's research and the subsequent work of performance improvement practitioners consistently found that environmental factors account for roughly 75-80% of performance problems, while individual factors (which training addresses) account for only 20-25%. This means that the majority of the time organizations invest in training to solve a performance problem, they are applying the wrong intervention: training addresses knowledge and skill deficits, but if the real problem is that performers don't have clear expectations (an information problem), don't have adequate tools (a resources problem), or are not rewarded for performing well (an incentive problem), then even the best training program will fail to improve performance because it is not addressing the actual cause. The practical consequences of this misdiagnosis are substantial: organizations waste training budgets on programs that cannot solve the problems they target, performers become frustrated when training does not help them perform better (because the barriers to performance are environmental, not skill-based), and the organization's actual performance problems persist because the root causes remain unaddressed. EDD8534 trains practitioners in the systematic analysis discipline needed to avoid this trap: always diagnose before prescribing, always examine environmental factors before assuming individual deficiency, and always select interventions that match the actual causes of the performance gap.