Organizations are adopting the latest technologies and software applications to stay in tune with the digital transformation that most businesses are undergoing today. The performance support system is one such tool that proves to be very helpful for your skilled workforce. Adopting new technology is the need of the hour for all organizations whether big or small. These new applications and software improve the overall productivity and efficiency of employees. However, the employees need to understand this software and use it comfortably to get the best out of these tools. If they are unable to use them properly, they can do more harm than good. Here is where the performance support system comes into the picture.
What is a Performance Support System?
The performance support system is used by organizations to provide self-help to the employees to improve user performance. Leaders can make use of the performance support tool to create interesting and interactive content such as interactive walk-throughs, in-app guidance, smart popups, knowledge base, and many more helpful tools. All these tools are prepared with the sole aim to guide the employee by providing contextual resources to solve specific problems.
Once you decide to go with the performance support tool, you need to use it effectively within the organization. Here are a few tips to create a performance support framework for your employees:
- User-friendly – A performance support system is meant to make work easier and reduce the requirement of any prior training. So, the first and foremost thing to keep in mind is to make the tool user-friendly. If the performance support tool itself is complicated, the employees will not be comfortable using it and may shy away from it.
- Easily Accessible – The information provided in the performance support system should be easily accessible so that the employees quickly get over the initial hesitation that is evident. Once they are comfortable using it, they will quickly adapt to all the changes.
- Streamlined information – The information provided through the performance support system should be well organized under different heads so that employees can retrieve all relevant information quickly without wasting precious time. The information should be carefully distributed under various repositories such as document storage systems, knowledge bases, and intranet portals among others.
- Provide information in multiple formats – Various formats can be used to provide information and these should be used according to the need and context in which it is being used. Information can be stored in the form of audio-visual or textual data. Information can also be provided in the form of documentation or instruction. Here step-by-step instructions are given for procedure-oriented tasks. Besides these, information can also be provided in the form of advice and tips. The performance support system asks the users about the information they need and then presents them with the most appropriate way of finding the answer. A good performance system can provide information in all of the above formats simultaneously as well as individually.
- Monitored access and User-control – A good performance support system can monitor the usage of information by the right person. In simple terms, it means that the information is accessible to the user according to their job profile. A salesperson should get all relevant information about sales and figures but not about the finances. This is also helpful in keeping things simple and easily accessible.
- Easy to Update – A good performance support system should update all relevant information as and when required. This may be required when company policies change or a new product is launched. The performance support system comes with a digital no-code system that makes it easy to update and edit. The employees can adopt new features or changes without any external help.
- Contextual personalized Learning – Different employees may have different needs. Someone may just want the relevant information required at that moment while there may be others who want to know all the details behind the information. It is always better to chart personalized paths for different employees. The roles and responsibilities of employees in an organization are quite different and so are their learning needs. An ideal performance support system should be able to cater to all learning styles.
Conclusion
The performance support system is useful for the HR department for on-boarding of new employees, periodic training of present employees, and creating continuous learning content for all. Organizations are fast using it to streamline their digital transformation.
