Enhancing Human Performance: Understanding Improvement Strategies

Introduction:

Understanding and managing people's behavior, actions, and motivation is crucial when leading organizations and managing teams. The Enhancing Human Performance: Understanding Improvement Strategies Program delves into fundamental assumptions about human behavior and psychology, offering insights into why people behave in certain ways and how these principles can guide efforts to enhance human performance.

For some employees, behavioral instincts may be vulnerable to factors such as personal issues, sickness, or workplace challenges. Various sources of stress—such as performance pressure, family problems, and job insecurity—can adversely affect an employee's well-being and efficiency. These issues are considered in the development of human performance safety training programs to help employers mitigate associated risks and costs.

While human performance programs often emphasize stress management strategies, it is increasingly important for employers to equip employees with coping skills and other techniques, as stress remains prevalent in the workforce. Stress and stress-related illnesses are on the rise, making workplace wellness and productivity a key focus. Recent studies by the International Stress Management Association indicate that over half (53%) of the workforce experienced stress in the past 12 months, and one in four took time off work due to stress during the same period.

Objectives:

In this Enhancing Human Performance: Understanding Improvement Strategies course, participants will gain the opportunity to:

• Clearly analyze human actions.
• Understand how attitude influences behavior and motivation.
• Manage employee performance through:
  • Performance appraisal interviewing
  • Case studies on discipline and grievances
• Identify and address employee concerns.
• Develop essential stress management skills.
• Design effective workplace interventions to modify behavior.
• Motivate and support team members.
• Implement best practices for dealing with employee issues.
• Expand their human resource management techniques.
• Optimize their team members' competencies.

Training Methodology:

• Interactive workshops
• Case study analysis
• Group discussions
• Role-playing exercises
• Situational exercises
• Expert-led lectures
• Collegial collaboration
• Experiential assignments
• Reflective practices
• E-learning modules
• Formative evaluation

Course Outline:

Unit 1: Performance and the Individual

• Psychological profiles: A Jungian typology for evaluating human behavior.
• Competency frameworks for performance-oriented training needs analysis.
• Human behavior survey.
• Behavioral schema iceberg model.
• Performance management systems groups.
• The Johari window theory of self-awareness.

Unit 2: Managing Employee Performance

• Professionalism, performance issues, and complaints.
• Addressing capability and misconduct issues.
• Principles of fairness in performance management.
• Goals of discipline.
• Understanding incompetence and box-ticking.
• Motivation and behavior models.

Unit 3: The Assertiveness Model of Behavior and Attitudes

• Differences in behavior and their classification:
  • Aggressiveness
  • Passive-aggressive behavior
  • Passivity
  • Assertiveness
• Interpersonal skills development.
• Responsible approaches to human interactions.

Unit 4: Exercises with Behavior and Attitudes

• Conducting performance appraisals.
• Performance appraisal interview practice.
• Practical examples and case studies.

Unit 5: Attitudes and Self-Perception

• Using an attitude mirror tool for diagnosis.
• Social styles: A behavioral approach.

Unit 6: Addressing People's Problems at Work

• Introduction to human psychology in the workplace.
• Understanding and addressing known employee issues.
• Impact of work on performance.
• Employee Assistance Programs (EAP) for workplace issues.
• Implementing an effective EAP.

Unit 7: Understanding Stress

• Defining stress and identifying signs of stress in mind and body.
• Identifying sources of workplace stress.
• The impact of stress on performance.
• Understanding short-term and long-term stress symptoms.
• Coping techniques for stress management.
• Recognizing signs of stress in both work and personal life.

Unit 8: Basic Counseling Skills

• The importance of communication.
• Teaching counseling basics: Interviewing and appointment skills.
• Active listening and attending skills.
• Interpreting non-verbal cues.
• SOLER techniques in counseling.
• Coaching through motivation.

Unit 9: Understanding Motivation

• The psychology of motivation.
• Motivation in management and leadership.
• Motivation within teams and groups.
• Managing reward systems effectively.
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Unit 10: Critical Incident Stress Debriefing (CISD) and Trauma Treatment

• Understanding trauma in the workplace.
• A framework for dealing with workplace trauma.
• Developing policies, plans, and procedures.
• Information and media management, prevention training, and education.
• The process of debriefing and counseling after traumatic events.
• Stress response and managing post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).