VALUING TIME TO REFLECT

WELCOME TO OUR second issue for the Performance Improvement Journal (PIJ) in 2024! This issue marks my first issue as guest editor. I am thankful for our editor-in-chief, Carlos Antonio Viera, for his support, guidance, and leadership through this process. In addition, I want to thank our associate editors and contributing authors who provide us with their perspectives on Performance Improvement (PI).

We are now officially in the Fall season; the days are getting shorter; nights are getting longer and winter will soon be upon us. Traditionally, this time of year has been viewed as a time for harvest and to prepare for the upcoming cold winter months. While many of us do not live our lives in accordance with the harvest or changes of the season, we may still feel the particular energies of the shift in the season. All these changes turn our attention inside, away from the pursuits and activities of the past year, and toward internal reflection.

For me, it is during this time that I like to engage in my own personal internal harvest; in other words, a personal PI review for 2024. What were my vision and goals for 2024? What are the “gaps” that may have led to less-than-optimal results in what I hoped to achieve? In my personal environmental analysis, analyzing and evaluating my personal performance of the past year, I like to review what has led to positive change in my life and what has added value. By identifying the potential “gaps” of the past year, I am able to select the interventions and intentions for 2025 to continue to continuously promote positive change in my own life.

As we reflect on the past year, the leadership and members of ISPI have been involved in identifying, analyzing, and creating sustainable positive change around the world. However, we are all aware that we are living in an ever-evolving technological world that requires us as practitioners and scholars to transform the way we utilize PI. I hope that this issue’s articles and work of the authors provide insight and transformative ideas that will continue to drive opportunities to create positive outcomes for our ISPI community.

As you read this issue, I hope that you will consider sharing your thoughts and perspectives in PIJ and our annual flagship event “The Performance Improvement Conference” taking place in Jacksonville, FL this April.

In this issue’s “Know Your Colleague” is Dr. Lynn MacBain, President of the ISPI Gulf Coast Chapter and ISPI Chapter Committee Chair and a member of the ISPI Performance Improvement Initiatives for Community Outreach Committee. Dr. MacBain serves as the Lead Instructional Designer for a Training Development company, where she designs and develops cutting-edge learning solutions for military and government clients. As a thought leader in the field, she is committed to empowering individuals and organizations to unlock their full potential.

This issue includes applying PI to resolve a common challenge we all encounter in our daily lives—school traffic flow. Drs. Shumante, Halloran, Reid, Flynn, and Kirkley from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, examine the traffic flow during pick up and drop off times at a public middle school in the rural southeastern United States using a Human Performance Improvement (HPI) framework to address the problem of traffic backups when dropping off and picking up students. Environmental analysis revealed that carpool procedures were not well known and staff were underutilized. Recommendations included job aids and signage to inform parents of traffic procedures, efficient scheduling and use of school space, and utilization of the staff to assist with the carpool lane. This article demonstrates that the HPI model has many applications!

Our ISPI President Elect, Yvon Dalat, explores the challenges humanity faces in relation to technology. He discusses how the European Union, U.S. White House, and the International Organization for Standardization/International Electrotechnical Commission are establishing new guidelines that help define our roles and responsibilities in governing the implementation of responsible artificial intelligence (AI) solutions. Using this set of guidelines, his position paper lays the foundation for a practical framework at the specific intersection of AI and PI. The proposed framework provides actionable principles and process steps to blend AI as an integral part of PI interventions while ensuring that PI professionals anticipate the potential negative impact of AI.

This issue includes two student papers under the guidance of Dr. Syed Adeel. Andrew Mark Costanzo explores areas of the current U.S. political system that are fit for the implementation of machine learning capabilities. Some of these areas include election forecasting, polling, and vote-by-mail services. The introduction of machine learning tools to the components of the U.S. political system can result in increases in efficiency and accessibility throughout the sector. They utilized a framework to determine the objectives to which machine learning could be applied within this sector. The article serves to guide the technology or strategies necessary to achieve those objectives, illustrate the effect on performance and on stakeholders. Their analysis introduces potential insights for decision makers as well as providing an accessible and informative review of some of the potential applications of machine learning in the existing U.S. political system. David Ruth, PE, explores ISO 9000, a group of standards that focus on quality management systems (QMS). He explores how ISO 9001 standards emphasize systematizing and formalizing corporate processes. He suggests that implementing ISO 9001 enhances efficiency, customer satisfaction, and market credibility due to it being a strategic advantage for organizations aiming to deliver quality products and services globally.

Drs. Rae Mancilla, Barbara A. Frey, and Anne Doring from the University of Pittsburgh introduce their study benchmarking the mentoring needs of instructional design (ID) professionals working within a broad range of institution types across higher education. This study benchmarks the mentorship needs of IDs working within online learning units in higher education highlighting the unique mentoring needs of design professionals at various career stages, paving the way for future programming that maximizes their professional development and career advancement opportunities.

James P. Eicher, M.A. and William J. Mea, Ph.D., offer a strategy to ensure that executive decision makers are given the tools to combine the best of human skills with AI, both preserving human dignity and enhancing organizational achievement. They propose a decision-making framework, the Arbitrage-Enhancement Decision Grid (AEDG), that enables organization leaders to determine the optimum human and intelligent machine collaboration to improve workforce performance. The framework recognizes the inevitable adoption of technology innovation, in conjunction with an organization’s need to balance human performance and competitive objectives. The authors then advance an actionable roadmap for developing human workforce and intelligent machine competencies and skills, the Human Resource-Artificial Intelligence Collaboration framework that complements the decision-making outcomes of the AEDG.

CALL FOR PAPERS

Do you have an idea for a paper? Have you seen a great presentation that should become an article? PIJ is actively seeking articles that cross the boundaries of domains and introduce Human Performance Technology (HPT) related innovations or a new approach to utilizing/teaching HPT. Your article can provide readers an opportunity to see PI in action!

Please send questions to pij@ispi.org. We look forward to seeing your contributions, comments, and questions.