A Survey of Staff Training and Performance Management Practices: An Update

The field of behavior analysis has experienced marked growth in the number of credentialed professionals over the last decade. This growth may have implications for the quality of staff training, performance management, and supervision practices provided in human service settings. The purpose of this survey was to extend DiGennaro Reed and Henley (2015) by surveying credentialed and aspiring behavior analytic professionals on the staff training, performance management, and supervision practices available at their current place of employment. Three main differences were observed in relation to the findings of DiGennaro Reed and Henley. The current findings indicate notable changes in the demographic characteristics of survey respondents. In addition, we observed modest increases in the use of best practices for initial and ongoing training and performance management. Results also indicate several areas of concern regarding the provision of supervisory skills training. Results revealed improvements in the percentage of respondents who received initial or preservice training compared to DiGennaro Reed and Henley (2015). However, employers primarily rely on instructions and modeling to train their employees. Findings revealed greater reliance on asynchronous and synchronous online training modalities compared to DiGennaro Reed and Henley (2015). Results revealed a slight shift in the percentage of respondents who reported receiving ongoing training compared to DiGennaro Reed and Henley (2015). In the present study, BCaBAs and RBTs generally received ongoing training; however, fewer BCBAs reported receiving ongoing training. The reported use of performance management practices improved compared to DiGennaro Reed and Henley (2015). That is, a higher percentage of respondents reported being observed at work while carrying out their job responsibilities. Of the respondents who supervise staff, less than half of them reported receiving supervisory skills training. And only half of those respondents reported that their training prepared them to supervise others.