How do new employees become capable of acting as quickly as possible? Performance Support assists them exactly where questions arise during work. Instead of conveying knowledge exclusively in advance, employees receive suitable support directly within the work process.
This approach is particularly helpful during onboarding: new employees have to absorb a lot of information and, at the same time, work increasingly independently. Checklists, short instructions, explanatory videos, or screencasts can therefore make knowledge available exactly when it is needed.
What is Performance Support?
Performance Support refers to learning and information offers that support employees directly during the execution of a task. Instead of attending a training course for every question, they access a suitable aid at the specific moment of need.
A well-known concept in this context is the "5 Moments of Need" by Conrad Gottfredson and Bob Mosher. They distinguish five situations in which people need support while learning or working: when they learn something for the first time, deepen their knowledge, apply or remember something, solve a problem, or have to deal with changes.
5 Moments Of Need // Source: eLearning-Journal
For Performance Support, the moments of need during practical application are particularly interesting: information should then be quickly findable and prepared so concretely that employees can continue their task with as little interruption as possible.
Performance Support thus complements formal further education with learning directly within the work process and can also support informal learning in the company.
How can Performance Support be implemented in onboarding?
In onboarding, Performance Support should primarily cover typical questions and tasks of new employees. Crucially, aids must be easy to find, understandable, and available as close to the respective work process as possible.
1. Checklists and short guides
Checklists are suitable for recurring workflows and tasks where new employees need to perform individual steps safely. Short guides can additionally provide background information or concrete recommendations for action.
2. Explanatory videos
Short explanatory videos are particularly suitable for processes where visual explanations are helpful. Employees can access them again if needed and follow individual steps at their own pace.
3. Screencasts for digital processes
Screencasts show directly how a software or a digital process works. Especially during onboarding into new tools, employees can follow individual work steps parallel to the instructions.
4. Structure content along the work process
Performance support content should not only be structured by topic, but also, if possible, along concrete tasks. Instead of searching for information for a long time, employees can thus quickly find the assistance they need for their current work step.
What role does an LMS play in Performance Support?
An LMS (Learning Management System) can provide performance support content centrally and connect it with other onboarding measures. There, new employees can find training courses, checklists, videos, instructions, and knowledge checks all in one place, for example.
The key here is findability: assistance for specific work situations should be accessible in just a few steps and clearly designated. Performance Support only works well if the search for an answer does not itself become an obstacle.
Advantages of Performance Support in onboarding
Properly implemented, Performance Support can complement structured onboarding and facilitate the transition from learning to independent work.
1. Practical transfer
New employees apply knowledge immediately in concrete work situations. This connects learning and practical activity with each other and supports the transfer into everyday work.
2. Fewer recurring questions
Checklists, guides, and short explanations can directly answer frequently occurring questions. Experienced colleagues remain important points of contact but do not have to explain every recurring process again.
3. More independence
New employees can initially look for a suitable aid themselves and process tasks increasingly independently. Performance Support does not replace personal guidance in this process, but rather complements it.
Conclusion
Performance Support makes onboarding more practice-oriented by providing new employees with the appropriate support exactly when they need it for a specific task.
Checklists, guides, explanatory videos, and screencasts help to connect knowledge directly with the work process. A learning platform can make this content centrally available and easy to find.
Thus, Performance Support replaces neither structured onboarding nor personal contact persons. It complements both with an important level: support right at the moment of need.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Performance Support?
Performance Support refers to concrete learning and information offers that support employees directly during a task. Aids are provided exactly when they are needed in the work process.
How can Performance Support be used in onboarding?
In onboarding, checklists, short guides, explanatory videos, and screencasts are suitable, for example. They help new employees to complete typical tasks increasingly independently.
What are the "5 Moments of Need"?
The "5 Moments of Need" describe five situations in which people require learning support: when they learn something new, deepen knowledge, apply or remember something, solve a problem, or have to deal with changes.
What role does a learning platform play in Performance Support?
A learning platform (or an LMS) can centrally provide training and performance support content such as checklists, videos, or guides. It is important that employees can find the required assistance quickly and easily.
