Leisure
The word leisure is often associated with the idea of freedom from work or responsibilities. In the United States, it takes on the connotation of laziness. But for Thomas Gilbert, leisure is the necessary piece of the equation to produce a worthy performance. In the realm of HPT, Thomas Gilbert uses the term Leisure synonymously with Human Capital due to the stigma of laziness associated with the word ‘leisure’ in the United States. He quantifies leisure as the product of time and opportunity, which is stated as the formula L= T x O. According to Gilbert, “Without opportunity, there is no leisure, just as there is no leisure without time” (1978, p. 26).
Gilbert also states that leisure should be the outcome of human performance technology over the more traditional goal of just money or profit. With leisure, individuals are able to contribute worthy performance to an organization, which is more valuable in the long term. Organizations want employees to display competence, or the ability to do a job properly. In order to do this, an organization must be able to deliver the time and the opportunity for their employees develop and deliver competence in their work.
Reference & Resources
Gilbert, T. F. (1978). Human competence: Engineering worthy performance. New York:
McGraw-Hill.
Shoffner, M.B. (2018). Analysis of performance & instructional systems [PowerPoint Presentation]. Retrieved
from iCollege.