Assessing Individual Productivity in the Workplace: An Improved Criterion for Training Evaluation,

Abstract

Abstract : The objective of this research effort was the analysis of the relationships among task performance time, aptitude, task training time, and proficiency. The research focused on aircraft maintenance personnel and training issues. The Air Force was interested in a complex network of functional relationships or tradeoffs, involving manpower, personnel, and training issues. For example, can the Air Force obtain the same level of performance with fewer people if it selects those with higher aptitude levels and provides more efficient training. The functional relationships of concern involve training time estimates and task performance time estimates as they are effected by aptitude and experience. The two relationships to be captured in this effort include the relationship between (1) a person's time required to attain full proficiency on a task (training time) and aptitude, on-the-job (OJT) training time, experience, and other factors; and (2) a person's time to perform a task (performance time), and aptitude, formal training time, experience, and other factors. The goal is to produce a model to predict training and performance time. This model will use as predictors a number of variables, one of which will be the person's aptitude. The model is said to be defined when all of the predictors have been identified, their method of measurement defined, and their coefficients in a general linear regression model determined.