When I went back to college to get my BS and MS degrees, I was looking for something I would fit into. I choose psychology with a concentration on behavioral analysis. Then I was looking into MS programs, and social work seemed to be calling my name then I remembered a course in I/O Psych that I loved, so I talked to the professor of that class and fate fell into my lap, I was hooked on Training and Development and Performance Improvement.
The reason I love T/D and HPT are that we as professionals are helping improve performance, business prospects, the bottom line and most importantly and the marriage between behavioral psychology and HPT / T/D because when it comes right down to it, the changes and trainings we develop and deliver are basically behavioral changes. Even when there are environmental changes being made or the plant is being more ergonomically feasible and effective, there are behavioral changes taking place such as a behavior to do things differently and adjusting ones thought processes or even priorities are behavioral in nature.
I strongly urge people in the HPT and TD profession to examine behavioral psychology theories to help develop programs that are more effective and address the problems with personnel behaviors. I think that putting some behavioral psych techniques into our classroom trainings and change management programs will in the short and long terms improve performance and make the ROI of our programs improve.
This is just food for thought let me know what your thoughts and anything topics you’d like to have covered here.
Happy training and enjoy your summer…
Leigh
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For more resources about training, see the Training library.
– Looking for an expert in training and development or human performance technology?
– Contact me: Leigh Dudley (Sassenach Training Services) – Website – Linkedin – 248-349-2881 or 248-277-2966
– Read my blog: Training and Development
Jack Shaw is a communicator who does training and has been in the trenches as well as in management and development areas. His priority is how to communicate credibily in the workplace.