Using Task Clarification and Feedback Training to Improve Staff Performance in an East African Nongovernmental Organization

Abstract

The present study used a multiple-baseline design to illustrate the effectiveness of an intervention package consisting of a multipurpose job aid and feedback training in improving the performance of supervisors and animal trainers in a nongovernmental organization headquartered in East Africa. Prior to the intervention, the performance of three supervisors and three animal trainers was suboptimal. Performance improved when supervisors were taught to use the job aid and provide feedback, and reached a high and consistent level during a subsequent phase, in which supervisors used the job aid independently. Limited maintenance and generalization data suggest that the intervention package produced lasting and generalized effects, and social validity data suggest that supervisors viewed the intervention as acceptable. These findings appear to be the first experimentally controlled demonstration of the potential value of organizational behavior management in improving performance in nongovernmental organizations working in resource-poor areas.

KEYWORDS:

• job aid
• task clarification
• feedback
• organizational behavior management
• social validity
• nongovernmental organization

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

The authors would like to thank Selemani Juma Mrisho for his invaluable help coordinating this project.

FUNDING

This project was funded in part by the Society for the Advancement of Behavior Analysis (SABA) International Development Grant 2011.