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June 11-12, 2014
ASTD Telling Ain't Training Event, Charlotte, NC

July 28-29, 2014
ASTD Training Ain't Performance Event, San Francisco, CA

September 9-10, 2014
ASTD Telling Ain't Training Event, Seattle, WA

September 16-17, 2014
ASTD Training Ain't Performance Event, Atlanta, GA

October 13-14, 2014
ASTD Training Ain't Performance Event, Chicago, IL

October 23-24, 2014
ASTD Telling Ain't Training Event, Denver, CO

November 4-5, 2014
ASTD Telling Ain't Training Event, Washington, DC

For details about these events, click HERE

To learn more about engaging Harold Stolovitch to speak at your organization, click HERE

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.

A Leisurely Approach to Performance
By Harold D. Stolovitch

The extraordinary athletic triumphs witnessed during the 2014 Winter Olympics triggered in me reflections about human performance. Medalists' accomplishments often appeared effortless, leading to reminiscences of conversations with the late Thomas Gilbert, generally considered the father of Human Performance Technology, and the "Leisurely Theorems" he espoused in his classic Human Competence: Engineering Worthy Performance (1978; 1996). Provocative and profound, they offer wisdom and guidance to performance professionals. They also resonate well with the incredible Olympic performances.

First Leisurely Theorem

Paraphrasing Gilbert, worthy performance is a function of the ratio of valuable accomplishments to costly behavior. Value is derived from accomplishment not behavior (which is always a cost). Working hard and long, being knowledgeable and highly motivated without, minimally, equal accomplishment, is unworthy performance. The focus, as Peter Drucker suggested in Essential Drucker: Management, the Individual and Society (2001), must be on doing the right thing. Doing things right is a waste if you do not achieve desired results.

In the workplace, we expend far more energy on behaviors - how people should do things - than on valued accomplishments - the goals to be achieved. Compliance training (pure behavior), for example, consumes considerable resources and time. Questionable is whether or not this achieves the desired ends of regulatory agencies (e.g. clean air; pure drugs; reduced injuries).

Click HERE to continue reading.

An Oldie but a Goodie
By Harold D. Stolovitch

Every once in a while, I receive a request to explain the pros and cons of expending money and resources on training. "What if I didn't conduct any training in my organization for a year? What effect would this have?" Reasonable questions, especially if all an organization does to improve performance is run training and little else. In other words, in this context, "training" becomes the default solution to apply when people aren't doing the job well.

I wrote this brief, oldie article to deal with the issue of when money is wasted on training and how this can be avoided. Please note: I refer to wasted money and not to money suitably invested in appropriate training. I still receive requests to speak and write on this topic. The content of the article, "Stop wasting Money on Training," remains as relevant today as when it was written.

Stop Wasting Money on Training

The cost of inadequate workplace performance is staggering. Whether the issue is rework, poor customer service quality or reduced productivity, the result is the same - higher costs and lower profits. When this occurs, training usually plays a major role in trying to "solve the problem." It seems to make sense. In studies on the difference between exemplary and average performer productivity, for example, the numbers are dramatic, reaching as high as 200 percent. To close the gap, training appears to be a logical intervention. However, training is also a costly activity that does not always guarantee anticipated improvements.

This article focuses on that almost automatic decision to train when there is inadequate performance from people. It suggests how you can stop wasting large sums of money by focusing on performance outcomes rather than on training activities.

To read the rest of "Stop Wasting Money on Training," click HERE.

Training Ain't Performance Proves To Be a Hit!

Based on the success of the ASTD Training Ain't Performance (TAP) event in Washington, DC in 2013, ASTD is offering not one but three TAP events in San Francisco, Chicago and Atlanta in 2014. The one-day TAP event has also been expanded to one and a half days. TAP is based on our books Training Ain't Performance and Beyond Training Ain't Performance Fieldbook. For those who have attended an ASTD Telling Ain't Training event, we would love to welcome you back for an ASTD TAP in 2014.

To learn more, click HERE.

Looking for Resources to Train Your Trainers?

HSA offers a variety of training delivery workshops designed specifically to provide skill and knowledge development of internal trainers. Visit our website at www.hsa-lps.com to learn more about these one, two and three day workshops.

Harold Stolovitch personally delivers our on-site workshops in organizations all over the world. HSA has no "shelf" programs. After discussing the characteristics and requirements of the employee-participants with clients, Harold customizes the agenda, participant manual and delivery to meet the organization's needs.

To schedule a workshop or learn more about HSA's workshops in training delivery, instructional design or performance consulting, contact Erica Keeps at ekeeps@hsa-lps.com or by telephone at 310.286.2722.

At HSA Learning & Performance Solutions LLC, we've seen a lot over the years.  We know the business of learning.  We know the role human performance plays in business success.  We know how to uncover and address needs, then create appropriate solutions.  We pride ourselves on helping organizations achieve high levels of performance - and success.  HSA is a leader in workplace learning and performance improvement.  Our proven learning and performance solutions have helped maximize employee performance at hundreds of organizations throughout the world.  Our principals, Harold D. Stolovitch and Erica J. Keeps, share a common passion - developing people. Together they have devoted a combined total of over 80 years to make workplace learning and performance both enjoyable and effective. Their dedication to improving workplace learning and performance is reflected in the workshops they run internationally on training delivery, instructional design and performance consulting. Together, they are co-editors of the first two editions of the Handbook of Human Performance Technology and co-authors of the best-selling, award-winning series of books Telling Ain't Training - Updated, Expanded and Enhanced, Training Ain't Performance, Beyond Telling Ain't Training Fieldbook and Beyond Training Ain't Performance Fieldbook published by ASTD Press. They are also co-authors of the Wiley/Pfeiffer Learning & Performance Toolkit Series.  To learn more, click HERE.