Electronic Performance Support Systems

Electronic Performance Support Systems

Electronic Performance Support Systems, EPSS is defined as: An integrated electronic environment that is available to and easily accessible by each employee and is structured to provide immediate, individualized on-line access to the full range of information, software, guidance, advice and assistance, data, images, tools, and assessment and monitoring systems to permit job performance with minimal support and intervention by others.

Also in 1991, Barry Raybould gave a shorter definition: A computer-based system that improves worker productivity by providing on-the-job access to integrated information, advice, and learning experiences.

An electronic performance support system can also be described as any computer software program or component that improves employee performance by

reducing the complexity or number of steps required to perform a task,

providing the performance information an employee needs to perform a task, or

providing a decision support system that enables an employee to identify the action that is appropriate for a particular set of conditions.

Electronic Performance Support Systems can help an organization to reduce the cost of training staff while increasing productivity and performance. It can empower an employee to perform tasks with a minimum amount of external intervention or training. By using this type of system an employee, especially a new employee, will not only be able to complete their work more quickly and accurately, but as a secondary benefit they will also learn more about their job and their employer's business.

However, an EPSS must be distinguished from a traditional online help system. In her book, Glory Gery points out that on-line help usually supports a single software application and is not necessarily focused on the entire range of job tasks (which may involve multiple applications), but just that specific software. With online help, cross-referencing is often not available and the information provided is limited and rarely combined with procedures or complex tasks. Perhaps most critically, on-line help can not be customized to the user or the job task; in fact, the same software screen may require different inputs depending on the user and job task.

EPSS must also be differentiated from e-learning simulations that replay a series of steps on-demand within a software application. Simulations are more closely associated with on-demand training, not just-in-time support, because of the longer time considerations, complexity, and media restrictions for playing a simulation. Ted Gannan (2007) describes this differentiation and states that an EPSS can be considered a part of the e-learning category, as it is on-demand learning, and notes that the EPSS modality fits more within the informal learning definition.

From a business perspective, a former Nortel Networks executive, William Bezanson (2002) provides a definition linked to application usability and organizational results:

A performance support system provides just-in-time, just enough training, information, tools, and help for users of a product or work environment, to enable optimum performance by those users when and where needed, thereby also enhancing the performance of the overall business.

In addition to recommending consideration of an EPSS when knowledge is required to achieve individual performance in a business environment, Bezanson points ...