For the past half century, HPT has been steadily making inroads in corporate settings, working to solve instructional and non-instructional problems in the workplace.  

 

Beginning in the 1950’s, with Randell K. Day’s book Performance Improvement Pathfinders: Models for Organizational Learning Systems, the ideas of HPT began to become more organized and concrete.  In the book, Day traced the principles of HPT to the behaviorism movement and in particular, the work of B.F. Skinner.  As a proponent of programmed instruction, it is easy to see how the field of HPT, with its focus on systematic development of instructional interventions, could claim a connection to the work of Skinner and his colleagues. (Pershing 2006)

 

As the field grew and evolved over the decades, many theorists defined it in many different ways; however, one of the most practical definitions comes from Pershing in 2006:

 

“Human performance technology is the study and ethical practice of improving productivity in organizations by designing and developing effective interventions that are results-oriented, comprehensive, and systematic.”

 

In short, HPT focuses on improving productivity, specifically in organizational settings, and this can be done by implementing instructional and non-instructional solutions to various workplace problems.

 

In modern times, HPT is, unfortunately, not very well-known outside of academic circles or even outside of the United States.  Many organizations consider HPT the same as Human Resources or Human Resources Development and lump the fields together, and, to be fair, there is a great deal of overlap between the two, depending on how they are defined.

 

However, regardless of the name or definition, HPT fulfills a valuable, and some might say instrumental role in improving productivity and effectiveness within the workplace.  Major companies around the world have begun to recognize the importance that HPT can play in improving their bottom line and because of this, the field continues to slowly grow and gain momentum (Rummler 2007).