Demystifying performance: a roadmap

T+D, May, 2003 by Dennis L. Gay, Thomas J. LaBonte

This first of a two-part series on human performance improvement and performance consulting, Gay and LaBonte explain their straightforward step-by-step approach on how to make the transition from trainer to performance consultant.

The first step is to partner with internal clients by conducting an initial meeting. During this meeting, trainers should discuss the problem and identify any gaps in performance. The best way to do that is to shift the dialogue from training-specific questions to a more comprehensive discussion about overall performance.

Once the performance gaps are identified, the trainer should then convince the client to collect root-cause data in order to accurately determine the real cause of the problem. That way, the trainer can identify how much of the problem requires training and how much involves nontraining workplace actions to solve it.