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Mark McKenna
12/12/2012
Deliberate Practice to Develop Meaningful Skills on the Job
Introduction
How does an employee who stocks shelves in a grocery store prepare to be a store
manager of his own grocery store? Of a surety, he will need to possess the necessary
skills to manage a store in order to qualify for this position. If he does not already
possess these skills, here is a scenario by which he might accomplish this.
First, he will identify which skills he still needs to develop in order to successfully
manage a store. Then, if he can figure out a method for developing those skills through
the job tasks that he is already performing, he will make himself increasingly more
qualified by doing what he is already doing each day. The key would be for him to
understand that he will significantly develop skills in this way only if he deliberately
practices those skills. For example, simply moving the product from boxes to the
shelves may not prepare him very well to manage his own store, but what if he practices
memorizing what product goes in each aisle? And what if he starts measuring which
product runs out the fastest? He can also pay attention to truck deliveries and learn
about how orders are placed. He can do timings to determine how long it takes to get
product from delivery to the shelf or he can figure out profit margins on certain
products. By making slight modifications to his job tasks he can develop the skills
needed to budget, inventory, coordinate departments, and merchandise the way a store
manager does.
Regardless of whether a grocery stocker wants to become a store manager or not, there
are many skills that he can develop on the job that will make him a more capable
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grocery stocker. Certainly by studying what product goes in what aisle he can become
more effective in stocking shelves and assisting customers. Measuring and increasing
his speed and efficiency in completing tasks will increase his productivity and save the
company money. If he takes the opportunity to deliberately practice a skill that he cares
about, he will become more motivated to do his job. His level of job satisfaction will
probably increase. He will achieve valuable results that, if measured and captured, he
can share with his manager to get a potential pay increase or a promotion or to qualify
for a different position in another company.
There is a key idea here in that employees can engage in self-development activities
that are meaningful to the individual and that also produce valuable results for the
organization. This can be done through deliberate practice.
The Problem
Associates at Deseret Industries participate in a training program intended to help them
become self-reliant employees and gain new employment in their chosen field. Each
associate creates a plan and participates in goal-setting each week leading up to the
time that they receive a new job. They also participate in various job-related trainings,
including: job search techniques, customer service, vocational training, supervisory
skills, and English language development. In the midst of this training experience they
are also working in a retail or production environment. This work environment can be
an incredibly valuable setting in which associates can develop the skills they will need in
their future employment, yet the vast majority of associates are not conscientiously
developing skills through their job tasks. These on-the-job learning experiences are
usually lost in the shuffle of day-to-day operations.
There are 2 main parts to the problem:
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1. Associates are unable to identify the transferrable skills they have gained atDeseret Industries (that better qualify them for their future employment).
2. Associates do not deliberately practice developing skills that will transfer to theirfuture employment.
Needs Assessment:
Quantitative Evidence:
Departments average below 80% productivity on a consistent basis as calculatedweekly by management.
The work at Deseret Industries gets done, but it gets done with too many peoplein too many hours (labor cost is above budgeted amount).
Qualitative Evidence (from managers, other job coach trainers, and personal
observation):
Managers estimate that a very low percentage of associates (below 10%) areable to describe their skills in a persuasive way.
Every associate takes a career workshop in which they learn about how todescribe their skills to a prospective employer, but even directly after the
workshop the great majority of associates cannot explain how their skills lead to
results.
Most associates cannot identify specific examples of how they havedemonstrated valuable skills on the job.
They lack the ability to connect the jobs they perform at Deseret Industries withthe jobs they want.
All of this results in a workforce that is not sufficiently engaged, motivated, or
productive.
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Purpose and Objectives
The purpose of my creative project is to introduce a process by which employees can
develop pertinent skills and achieve meaningful results directly from the work tasks they
perform every single day in a way that will better qualify them for the jobs they are
preparing to get. Drawing from Ericssons concept of deliberate practice, this method
of on-the-job training will empower employees to deliberately practice a specific skill
over the course of one month. Through this practice they will not only significantly
increase their proficiency of the skill in a concentrated way but they will also
purposefully achieve organizational results. They will eliminate their bad practice and
experience meaningful personal development. This combination of skill development
and results will increase the employees employability in a powerful way.
This process will apply the framework described in Daniel Pinks book, Drive: Autonomy,
Mastery, and Purpose. Employees will autonomously select the skill they want to
develop and the method they will use to develop it. They will exercise mastery as they
intensely practice this skill during a four-week period and report on their results to the
rest of the team weekly. Each employee is engaged in the purpose of becoming self-
reliant in order to be successful in his or her future employment.
The anticipated results from this project are:
1. A power statements developed by each participant that describes meaningfulskills and powerful results achieved through deliberate practice.
2. A report summarizing the projects usefulness and scope (this document).3. A presentation that showcases findings and applications.
In addition to these results, I also anticipate the following:
1. Sales in our departments will increase (or at least maintain)2. Productivity will increase
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3. Employee fulfillment and engagement will increase
Review of Literature
There are a few key research points that guided the design of my project. Deliberate
practice is a concept that K. Anders Ericsson described as the method by which novice
practitioners develop into expert practitioners (Ericsson, 1993). This practice involves
concentrated effort with immediate feedback. While my project does not concern itself
with the development of expert performance, it centers on the idea that the quality of
our practice has a far more significant impact on increases in performance than the
quantity of our practice or the natural talent that we bring to the table. Employees
participating in my project will develop a personal plan to practice a skill in a deliberate
and focused way in order to increase the quality of their practice and maximize their
performance gains.
Daniel Pink describes a model for increasing employee motivation and performance
(Pink, 2009). He includes three important components that drive motivation:
autonomy, mastery, and purpose. Autonomy implies giving employees the ability to
govern their own work in key areas that will enable them to make choices in the areas
that matter to them. Mastery consists in making it possible for employees to become
progressively competent and skilled at what they are doing. Purpose is the idea of
providing employees with the sense that what they are doing is bigger than their
individual contribution and is the fulfillment of a higher ideal. Pink suggests that if an
organization follows this model for motivation their employees will experience
increased engagement and performance. I included this model in the design of my
project.
Teresa Amabile (2011) studied factors influencing employee success and found that by
supporting progress in meaningful work, managers improve employees inner work lives
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and the organizations performance (p. 12). This is known as the progress principle. I
have incorporated an element of recognizing and reporting progress as a key part of my
project.
Drawing on the findings of this research, my project serves as a systematic application of
these findings to discover their effectiveness in the context of my workplace.
Procedures and Methodology
Preparation Work and Present to Team (PURPOSE)I created a worksheet to introduce the project to the employees and presented
the project to the employees (see Appendix 1).
Week 1 (AUTONOMY)
I assisted each employee in completing a worksheet that:
identifies the skill they want to practice identifies the specific job tasks that will give them the opportunity to practice
the skill
identifies a method for measuring progress identifies the anticipated organizational results that will stem from their
deliberate practice
Once all employees completed the worksheet I directed a meeting in which each
employee shared his/her plan with the team (see Appendix 2).
Weeks 2-5 (MASTERY)
Employees developed skill through job tasks (see Appendix 3). I provided
frequent follow-up and support throughout each week.
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Employees reported weekly to team (reflection & articulation) and showed
progress (progress principle). I facilitated the reporting process.
Week 6 (Summary)
Each employee summarized his or her development experience.
Each employee created a power statement (Skill Example Result).
I served as a coach through this process.
Create a presentation
I will create a presentation to showcase my ideas and findings, which I will
present during a USU ITLS graduate student forum on April 4, 2013.
Reporting/Implementation Process
I maintained contact with my advisor, Yanghee Kim, every two weeks to formatively
evaluate the project and make adjustments as needed. The timeline for the projectfollowed the anticipated schedule.
Findings
Given the voluntary participation of my team in this project, not all employees
committed to participate. Out of thirteen potential participants, nine completed a
preliminary development plan with the intention of participating fully in the project but
due to a variety of factors only five employees completed the entire four-week
experience.
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Four participants summarized their weekly progress, outlining milestones and progress
through each of the four weeks.
Name Weekly Progress Report
Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4
Virginia Staging was
disorganized.
Organized
items in a
neater fashion.
Quality of some
items that went
out were
causing the
staging to beoverflowed.
Staging was still
disorganized but
had gotten better.
Low quality of
items were still
going out to the
sales floor but had
gotten better.
Need work on
Code 2scommunicating
what they
needed.
Staging was
organized.
Quality of items
going out to sales
floor looked better.
Communication
with Code 2s was
better.
Staging looked
awesome.
Quality of items
helped with the
sales.
Communication
with team and
organization
was good.
Camron dirt on wall
under sanitizer
bottom of
toilets
urinals
stall door
break roommachines
prog 1 +
behind toilet
feminine hygiene
dispensers
above stalls
Prog 1 & 2 +
walls
under soap
Prog 1, 2, & 3 +
under toilets
sides of
urinals/by
urinals/under
urinals
above doorbottom of stalls
Joshua Decided what
areas to track
and began
gathering
speeds and
numbers.
Wide range
between cart
times. Average is
at 40 min. per cart
but actual cart
times varied
between 15 min.
and 75 min. Also
tried to track
items processed
per min. but it
proves to be
troublesome with
so many people
coming in and out.
Waves in speeds.
Morning avg was
60 min Evenings
were 28 min.
Reasons were
probably panic and
work faster to catch
up in afternoon.
Looking for
consistency.
Planned steps to
make it possible for
2 people to
complete 10 carts
in 8 hrs.
Accomplished
goal.
Cleanliness
turned out to be
a large factor in
increasing speed
consistantly. 2
people did 13
carts twice this
week and
moved through
more chrome
carts. Next goal:
1 person 10
carts 8 hours.
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Decided to stop
tracking items
processed and to
focus on carts.
Timer with high
goal of 30 min. and
a minimum of 45
min
Maitain clean
work environment.Process large
items ASAP
goal of 2.5 before
each break
Jacob found that a lot
of carts were in
need of regular
maintenance
figure which
ones needed tobe on regular
maintenance
schedule +
which ones
needed to be
fixed as needed
created scheduled
times of the year
that the carts
could + should be
greased for wheel
replaced.Cost of
maintaining vs
cost of replacing
implemented a
time how long it
should take to
replace or grease
the carts. Tweak
schedule
cont. to work on
the carts
After four weeks of deliberate practice and meeting to report on progress, each
employee developed a power statement as a way of capturing their accomplishment
and expressing it in a way that would be persuasive to current and future employers.
Power Statements
Chad
I am proficient at monitoring my time management. For an example, when I worked at
Deseret Industries I created a standard of time it takes to complete tasks. As a result I,
along with my team, was able to create more specific direction and instruction for thecustodial/maintenance team.
Camron
I am alert. For example, I inspected my work at Deseret Industries over a period of time.
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After each cleaning I found places that were frequently overlooked and took care of
them. As a result, complaints were reduced and the restrooms were cleaner.
Josh
I am efficient. For example, at Deseret Industries I was assigned to work in an area that
previously took 4 people 12 hours to complete. A co-worker and I created goals and
steps to make it more efficient and the result was that the 2 of us were able to complete
the same task in 8 hours, effectively increasing productivity and efficiency.
Jacob
I am a problem solver. As an example, I saw that the carts were getting hard to move
around and that they were tearing up the floor. I then made a schedule and
implemented it to fix and grease the carts. As a result I saved the company over athousand dollars a year on wheels and flooring and it made life easier on the workers.
Virginia
As a result of this project, these five employees significantly increased not only their
own productivity, but also the productivity of other team members. Josh reduced the
manpower needed to complete his processing goal by 100%. He and a coworker
reduced the time needed to complete the goal by 50%. These are significant gains in
employee productivity, even though his coworker opted out of participation and did not
consciously change any aspect of his work.
Chads time management goal affected our entire maintenance and custodial team (4
associates) by establishing time standards for the completion of tasks that enabled them
to finish major tasks in a consistent time and free up their schedule to complete
additional tasks that they were previously unable to complete. One of the reasons he
set this goal is because he was having difficulty managing time. He would frequently
miss break times because he lost track of time and he struggled monitoring the pace of
tasks. Through this project he has become possibly the most time-conscientious
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employee in the store. He now calls break time for the entire team and is very
consistent in ensuring that the team leaves and returns from lunch and break periods on
time.
Camron solved a major problem related to the way we cleaned our restrooms. Prior to
this project we were receiving frequent complaints regarding the cleanliness of the
restrooms. Through developing alertness Camron increase the quality of our hourly
restroom checks significantly and the complaints disappeared.
As Jacob began exploring cart maintenance he brought up issues to our store manager
that had never previously surfaced. Our store manager inquired about some of these
issues with our contracted supplier and discovered how to properly maintain our
donation carts. The supplier commented that these issues were not being addressed at
any store, so the changes we implemented in maintaining our carts will likely be
implemented at other stores as well.
The sales in our departments maintained increases of more than twenty percent over
the sales in the previous year. This was evidence that the deliberate practice of skillscontributed to, and did not distract from, organizational profitability.
On a final note, the participants of this project expressed an increased engagement at
work. They reported excitement at the progress they made and an increased
appreciation for their job tasks that others find menial. From a managerial perspective,
they became more proactive, invested, and energetic.
Implications
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These findings demonstrate that empowering employees to develop their skills in
meaningful ways on the job can have a profound impact on the quality and efficiency of
their work. Some principles can be drawn from this project that employees and
managers may benefit from using.
As an employee:
You will likely produce high quality work if the work is meaningful to you. The level of intrinsic motivation you have for performing a task is a function of
the extent to which the task is meaningful to you.
A task will likely be more meaningful to you if you get to choose the task(because you want to do it), you have a desire to master the task (because youchose it), and because the task aligns with a higher purpose (which is why you
chose it).
Deliberately practicing a skill is an effective way of achieving rapid learning gainsin the performance of the skill.
Reflecting on your learning and finding a purposeful way of articulating yourlearning causes you to achieve deeper learning that is more likely to influence
your behavior in a positive way.
Recognizing and reporting progress can help you maintain the level of intrinsicmotivation you have in regards to the tasks you perform.
As a manager:
You may achieve higher quality and efficiency from your employees by focusingon the development of the employee rather than on results.
If you can identify opportunities to allow your employees to choose their areasof development the employees will likely be motivated and anxious to improve
performance.
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You will lead effective change in your employees by facilitating reflection andarticulation of the learning that the employees are experiencing through their
work.
Accountability becomes increasingly more powerful as employees proactivelyreport on the progress they are making in areas of development that are
meaningful to them.
Future Direction
This project reinforces Daniel Pinks argument that intrinsic motivation leads to high
levels of achievement. However, the context for this project runs counter to one of the
elements of Pinks argument: that intrinsic motivation will improve performance to a
greater degree than extrinsic motivators as the complexity of the task increases, and
that extrinsic motivators will improve performance to a greater degree than intrinsic
motivation as the simplicity of the task increases. The tasks performed by the
participants typically require very little knowledge work. The participants were able to
make their job tasks more cognitively sophisticated by developing skills inferentially
through their job tasks. A next step in this project would be to implement this
systematized development process for employees whose work is truly routine and
menial. This would provide insight into what types of people and what types of
circumstances cause menial work to also be meaningful.
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Appendix 1
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Appendix 2
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Appendix 3: Tracking Sheets
Camron September 28- October 31 Week:
Skill: increase alertness by inspecting my work after completion and improving next time
InspectionsDate/Time Area observed and Observations
1 2 3 4
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Electronics Processing Results
Date # start t ime end t ime time/cart # items on cart # start time end time Who?
Silver Chrome CartGrey Shelf Cart
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References
Amabile, T.M., Kramer, S.J. (2011, May). The power of small wins. Harvard Business
Review, 80(12), 20-21. Retrieved August 20, 2012, from Business Source Premier/EBSCO
database.
Ericsson, K.A., Krampe, R.T. (1993). The role of deliberate practice in the acquisition of
expert performance. Psychological Review, 100(3), 363-407. Retrieved September 1,
2012, from Academic Search Premier database.
Pink, D. H. (2009). Drive: The surprising truth about what motivates us. New York, NY:
Riverhead Books.