Human & Organizational Performance (HOP) is a philosophy or mindset often used in occupational safety and health. It’s sometimes also called the “new view” and is associated with and similar to other schools of “new safety,” including safety differently, safety II, and resilience engineering.
The book “The 5 Principles of Human Performance”, written by Todd Conklin, serves as a useful tool for leaders to question and reassess their current practices around HOP, as well as an excellent guide for new leaders who are at the beginning of their journey, and anyone interested in human factors.
Did you know?
- HOP has roots in the nuclear power industry and specifically with the Institute for Nuclear Power Operations
- HOP is often associated with safety expert Dr. Todd Conklin, who played a large role in its development
- HOP starts with the recognition that humans are prone to make errors
- HOP has also roots in organizational performance improvement philosophy known as HPI
- HPI is associated with the International Society for Performance Improvement (ISPI) and HPI practitioners like Geary Rummler.
5 Key Principles of HOP [By Dr. Todd Conklin]
#1 Human error is normal
Error is so normal, it’s not even interesting and it’s never causal
#2 Blame fixes nothing
Blaming people stops us from learning about and fixing the problem(s)
#3 Learning is vital
Learning is a very important component of creating system reliability
#4 Context drives behavior
Individual behavior is a function of the organization’s systems, processes, culture, and complexity
#5 How management responds to failure matters
Responding positively increases awareness and provides an opportunity for learning
