Analysis for Improving Performance: Tools for Diagnosing Organizations & Documenting Workplace Expertise

by Richard A. Swanson

Corporations spend millions of dollars on employee training and development programs, executive education, total quality management, and reengineering business processes. Much of this money is wasted because the preliminary analysis and diagnosis has not been done to link performance improvement programs to the organization's real business needs, goals, and processes. Analysis for Improving Performance details the front-end work that must be done at the outset of any performance improvement effort. In clear language and easy-to-follow steps, Richard A. Swanson shows how to do the rigorous preparatory analysis that defines and shapes successful development efforts. Swanson's systematic approach divides the analysis into two parts. The first phase is the Diagnosis of Performance, a problem defining method that provides an accurate identification of the actual and desired performance requirements at the organization, process, and/or individual levels. The diagnosis also pinpoints the specific interventions needed to reach the performance goals. The second phase of effective analysis is the Documentation of Expertise, a procedure for analyzing the scope of a job, the tasks that make up that job, and precisely what a person needs to know and be able to do to perform each job task. The result of this careful "real world" analysis is a plan for performance improvement made viable because it is tailored to meet your organization's unique business needs and objectives. Augmented by exercises, illustrative examples, and dozens of ready-to-use worksheets and forms, Analysis for Improving Performance helps you lay the foundation for successful performance programs and real improvement.

Genres: Nonfiction

304 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1994