centive systems to improve human performance in the workplace in order to achieve organizations’ desired missions and visions. Traditional models of communication practice (including public relations, instructional design, and employee communications) are based on a number of assumptions that are no longer valid: Although they generally include audience and message analysis, traditional models of communication practice assume that one type of well-designed intervention will solve the problem — be it training, promotion, or information-retrieval. They do not help practitioners determine what types of problems are potentially not solvable by these interventions, nor do they incorporate the other types of support that are generally necessary for any long-term change to occur. For example, employee communication and training systems may promote safe work practices, but if the work design and performance appraisal systems do not reinforce these messages, they are likely to be ineffective. The traditional linear models of communication analysis and message design reflect early linear models of communication: assume the “sender” crafts a well-designed message, the “receiver” will “get it”. They do not reflect the complex interplay of interpretation and negotiation among all parties in a communicative situation, nor the impact of environmental and social influences. Conventional models assume that the client or requester has correctly identified the problem and the appropriate intervention — for example, that a performance gap is due to poor morale or that a two-day training course is needed. Traditional practice is reactive rather than proactive. Moreover, there is evidence that clients and sponsors often “do not ask us to deliver what they need; they ask us to deliver what they believe we can provide ... We do not do what we are not asked to do — improve human performance in ...
