JANUARY
2015 |
Volume
14, Number 1 |
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CONTACT
HSA |
To contact us, click HERE.
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PUBLICATIONS |
For more information on our best-selling, award-winning books,
click HERE.
Need help with HPT terminology? Click HERE
for The HSA Lexicon.
Click HERE
to read our published articles.
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ASK
HAROLD |
Click HERE
to read the latest Ask Harold question and Harold's response
or ask a question of your own!
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UPCOMING
EVENTS |
March 2-3, 2015
ATD
Telling Ain't Training Event, Austin, TX
April 13-14, 2015
ATD
Telling Ain't Training Event, Louisville, KY
April 26-29, 2015
ISPI
Performance Improvement Conference, San Antonio, TX
May 17-20, 2015
ATD
International Conference and Expo, Orlando, FL
To learn more about engaging Harold Stolovitch to speak at
your organization, click HERE
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CPT
DESIGNATION |
Harold Stolovitch and Erica Keeps are Certified Performance
Technologists (CPT). The CPT designation is awarded by the
International Society for Performance Improvement (ISPI) to
experienced practitioners in the field of organizational performance
improvement, whose work meets both the performance-based Standards
of Performance Technology and application requirements. For
more information, visit www.ispi.org.
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Celebrate
the Life of an Exemplary Performer
By Erica J. Keeps
On
September 29, 2014, we lost my father. He was an amazing man who
lived life to the fullest. At 95 years of age, Leo Keeps was still
working in Detroit's Eastern Market as a meat salesman and driving
himself there and back daily. He was married to my mother for nearly
70 years. Dad had a terrific sense of humor and enjoyed nothing
more than sharing jokes with his friends and family.
Dad joined Wolverine Packing Company at age 61, after having sold
his own successful company, and worked there for nearly 35 years.
He trained numerous buyers and sellers and was very well respected
in the industry. He was a role model to many and watched his trainees
develop in their careers and even retire. Leo was by far the oldest
employee, but still a top producer. By any measure he was an exemplary
performer.
In today's world we tend to view the young prodigy entrepreneurs
who by the age of 25 have made their mark and amassed a fortune
as exemplary performers. However, those who knew Leo Keeps from
work - bosses, co-workers, customers and competitors - were simply
amazed by his vitality and his accomplishments. As daughter and
son-in-law, we bragged about the man who to the end was passionate
about his work and simply refused to retire.
With love, admiration and respect,
Erica and Harold
The
Exemplary Performer
By Harold D. Stolovitch
This article was originally published in the
March 2006 edition of Workforce Performance Solutions.
"How do I get top performance from my people?"
This is a reasonable question, but watch out for the barrage
of enthusiastic responses. I could hose down this page with
miracle solutions, but the probabilities of any one of these
miracle cures having a persistent, powerful impact on building
and sustaining top performance over time is doubtful. If life
were that simple, we would all be basking in the glow of overwhelming
success.
Over the years, I have found that if you want top performance,
your best bet is to start by studying your top people or,
as the research literature labels them, "exemplary"
performers. Everyone has an opinion about what makes for top
performance. As a HR professional, you should only pay attention
to hard evidence derived from actual exemplary performers.
Exemplary performers produce valued accomplishments far greater
than those of their average colleagues. How much greater?
To find out, click HERE
and continue reading this article.
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Another Adventure in China
By Harold D. Stolovitch
In November 2014, I had a new opportunity to visit China,
this time to the
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View
of the Famous, Historic West Lake Park in Hangzhou
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picturesque, but also very busy and bustling city of Hangzhou,
only a one-hour bullet train ride from Shanghai. It was great
to become reacquainted with friends and colleagues I had met
and worked with on my last visit in April-May 2014 as well
as to meet a host of ambitious, enthusiastic new people.
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Harold
Presenting at the HPI Forum
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As with my previous visit, on the agenda were two main items:
to promote Human Performance Improvement (HPI) processes and
practices and to train business groups and consultants on
how to evolve away from default, one-dimensional interventions
such as training or coaching to a more systemic view of human
performance at work. Both a large-scale event, with hundreds
of participants, and two workshops were scheduled. What a
pleasure to engage with eager, active professionals, both
young and old, some with little or no knowledge of what I
had to offer and others more seasoned and experienced. My
mission was to demonstrate the value of "engineering"
improved performance. I presented multiple examples at the
macro (citing countries with large-scale initiatives) and
micro (describing small business, local and not-for profit
projects) levels with others in between.
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The
Hangzhou Forum on HPI with about 400 Hundred Attendees
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At both the large-scale forum and in the workshops, my Chinese
colleagues with whom I had worked last spring, presented,
with real data, several examples of projects they had undertaken
between May and November. They had formed teams of six members,
each team selecting a real-world project, and had faithfully
applied the HSA Engineering Effective Performance model and
tools. They met weekly during the late spring and summer in
a virtual environment guided by Dr. Xiaofang Deng, my Chinese
colleague with whom I work closely. The results they produced
are remarkable! In each instance, the teams were able to demonstrate
highly positive return on investments (ROI), including one
public utility case with a ROI of over 2,000%.
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Dr.
Xiaofang Deng Presenting a Summary of Two HPI Projects
along with ROI Data
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Overall, the large-scale and workshop sessions were wonderful
successes. Our plan is to publish, within two years, a case
book describing HPI projects of various sizes, complete with
analysis findings, performance interventions and impact data
including ROI for each case.
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A
Team Member from the HPI Spring & Summer Projects
Presenting Data and Outcomes on Her Project
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All in all, the visit to China was very worthwhile. New fans
appear to have been attracted to HPI. New initiatives are
certainly in the offing. Once again, I left China feeling
that my visit had been a rewarding experience.
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