Performance
Improvement
What it means and how
to achieve it
By Alan Perry
January 27,
2014
The concept of Performance Improvement (PI) requires little
explanation to most; the term itself pretty well sums it up. We in Emergency
Medical Services & Fire Services sometimes get hung up with its application
since it is much more than just a concept, it requires awareness, measurement,
analysis, communication, feedback, training, monitoring and goals to be
effective. Performance improvement is not an officer, office, department or
form, it is a process that the entire organization must be aware of and committed
to.
Performance improvement is an organization-wide system for
improving the quality of the products or services offered by that organization,
it can also include recognition and development of new products or services
that can fill demonstrated gaps which the organization is responsible for, or
should reasonably provide. A true PI program goes far beyond simply addressing
recognized shortcomings and failures; it will constantly monitor and seek the
best possible solutions to an organization’s overall performance, identifying
areas where improvement can occur before they become overtly apparent.
In the arena of Emergency Medical Services (EMS) and Fire
Services (Fire), a performance Improvement program will affect the number of
lives saved, the value of property loss prevented, the satisfaction of the
customer, and the contentment of the employees. Far too often PI is given such
a narrow focus that only one or none of these receive any benefit. Most
organizations follow the “wack-a-mole” method of Performance Improvement out of
respect for tradition or a narrow understanding of the value of PI when applied
more proactively and globally. Some organizations do not have the resources to
dedicate to it except in dealing with emergent or politically sensitive
circumstances. The value of a well-designed PI program to an organization should
make economic sense and justify the allocation of
sufficient resources.
Regardless of the scope of the Performance Improvement
program it must start with awareness that a circumstance, service or product
may be in need of improvement. Looking at global & national statistics
for high-performing EMS & Fire services can be a good place to start, or
benchmarking your performance against similar organizations near you. You will
need more than a hunch; you need data to support the need for a change and an
idea of its potential benefit. If your data is incomplete or totally missing
you will need to find a way to accurately and quickly capture it otherwise you
will merely be guessing which is very risky. Only with a clear understanding of
the exact nature and scope of the circumstances should you move to the next phase of
PI.
Good communication plays a vital role in any successful PI
program; the entire organization should be aware of their PI process and be
involved with it. Most opportunities for improvement will be known to those
involved with those processes, this is the best place to start looking for
solutions. Many times the answer has already been discovered but not
communicated. From a PI administrator’s point of view, consider that when an
opportunity is discovered it can frequently be resolved by simply communicating
that there is an opportunity for improvement and what the desired goal is; your
personnel will respond by doing better on their own. At a minimum they will
provide feedback about how to improve the outcomes and you can start developing
a plan to address it. The other side of the communication process is feedback,
once an opportunity is identified and being measured you must provide
quantified feedback so your staff will know how they are doing; they all want
to perform and need that information.
If your performance opportunity exceeds the ability of your
staff to improve it on their own a plan must be put in place to modify the
existing practice/policy/procedure/operation/training in a logical way so that
it addresses the root cause of the performance problem and not the symptom. Spell
out the nature of the performance challenge and what the desired goal is,
develop a plan to correct it, measure it, provide feedback, modify it and
repeat. Keep in mind that PI is an ongoing process the continually pushes the
organization along the continuum of customer expectations, best practices and
superior organization performance.
Be Safe,
Alan
