Human performance improvement (HPI) is a field that is generally
applied in business. Most of the time, practitioners are external
consultants, but there are some internal positions as well. Rarely
do you see an HPI practitioner work for a not-for-profit, however,
because the position is usually not within the budget of these
organizations.
Many HPI practitioners have volunteered for not-for-profits by
helping out with a one-time project. While this can be a tremendous
help to the not-for-profit, it only serves them in that instance.
However, if we as HPI practitioners volunteered to teach a
not-for-profit some of the tools we use in human performance
training, it would serve in a far greater capacity than simply
volunteering on one project.
Why HPI?
So why should we offer HPI instead of myriad other tools? Although
HPI as a whole can be complex, the beauty is that individual
components are simple enough for a lay person to understand. There
are also so many different tools and techniques that can be taught
with HPI - it is easy to select ones that fit an individual or
organization. Furthermore, HPI concepts can be applied quickly to
an organization at an individual level to increase efficiency and
effectiveness, so you can teach one person and still get good
results, as opposed to having to roll out a program to the entire
organization.
But this is our businesswhy give it away for
free?
Let's be honest. We are not providing a free HPI education - we are
simply introducing a few concepts that will help increase
efficiency and effectiveness in an organization. That's hardly
giving away our business. Furthermore, most not-for-profits would
never be able to afford a consultant, so they were never potential
clients for us anyway. And finally, it's important to remember that
not-for-profits have been hit by the economy, too - they have to
provide more services with fewer resources. These are vital
services that people need. In today's economic climate, the chances
are that someone you know needs these services, so we are not far
removed from the benefits not-for-profits provide.
So how can we help?
On an individual level, you can help not-for-profits in this
capacity by setting up short training sessions to teach various
tools or techniques from the HPI arsenal. You can respond to
requests for help by following a few simple steps:
- Set up an initial meeting to determine the needs of the
organization and the number and level of people involved
- Determine which tools or techniques would most benefit the
organization
- Schedule a session or two to teach interested parties from the
organization about the tools or techniques
- Try to keep the session to one to two hours per tool
- Remember to include the teaching component, as well as an
application exercise where you help them address issues specific to
their organization
- Let the organization know when you will be available to answer
questions after the session.
As an individual, one session with an organization might take you
one hour (and of course, prep time). That hour may not be much out
of your schedule, but it can make the world of difference to a
not-for-profit by helping it become more effective, efficient, and
self-reliant.
On an organizational level, you can take it a step further and
organize a community outreach program aimed at reaching many
not-for-profits at once and utilizing many HPI volunteers. For a
larger outreach program, preselect modules that will be general
enough to apply to all not-for-profits. It's important that the
concepts are simple enough to be taught in a short time, yet
profound enough that they are meaningful to the organizations. The
Michigan Chapter of the International Society for Performance
Improvement started an HPT Community Outreach program in 2009 - it
offers a good model for how to set it up. Here are some tips that
helped to make its program successful:
- For maximum effectiveness, not-for-profits should send a
decision maker and a designated implementer, or champion, to the
session.
- Not-for-profit representatives should be paired with HPI
volunteers to form one group for each not-for-profit - you must
have good intake/registration procedures for proper matching to
occur.
- The magic happens in individual groups - volunteers work with
not-for-profits to apply the concepts to a specific organization
and to share their HPI expertise.
As HPI practitioners, we have the ability to help many different
kinds of organizations in many ways. By sharing a piece of our
business and ourselves with not-for-profits, we provide tools and
resources that will serve them well beyond the time we put in by
helping them to become more efficient and effective employees and
organizations. We are not in danger of giving away our business; in
fact, volunteering our time can have the opposite effect by
promoting the use of HPI in the larger community.