The main indicators of quantitative needs are numbers of managerial posts, numbers of managers to be trained, developed and replaced, time allocated to training, the volume of training and development activities, and allocated to training, the volume of training and development activities, and the human, material and financial resources required.
Trained employees can see opportunities in the market or company which has been previously overlooked.
How to Identify Training and Development Needs
Steps in the identification of training and development needs are as follows:
1. Problem Identification
Firstly the problem or problem areas need to be identified for appropriate training intervention at a later stage.
A host of methods can be employed such as surveys, data mining, interviews, and etc. to identify present as well as anticipated problems in the organizational context.
Performance standards for each job should be determined so that the objectives and mission of the organization can be seamlessly achieved.
Then the actual performance of the employees is compared with these performance standards and gaps are identified.
Through their performance gap analysis, areas for improvement in terms of knowledge, skills, and competences are jotted down as objectives of the improvement plan.
Each such objectives must be clearly laid down with a time frame for achievement.
7 Different Levels of Training Needs Analysis (TNA).
2. Design of Need Analysis
The design of the needs analysis is to be determined in order to identify appropriate methods for training and development intervention.
Then, set objectives for performance are to be analyzed so as to establish method selection criteria.
While evaluating the selection of various methods of training and development, assessments of advantages and disadvantages for methods must be carried out meticulously.
3. Data Collection of Need
This step pertains to collecting data on training and development needs.
Data collection needs the expertise of the part of the investigators and therefore training executives/consultants are to be engaged for this task.
Data may be collected through various methods such as:
- Conducting personal interviews.
- Administering questionnaires and surveys.
- Reviewing documents.
- Observing employees at work.
Related: Learning Oriented Guidelines for Employee Training.
4. Data Analysis
After the collection of data, it needs to be carefully analyzed. Quantitive and qualitative analyses are undertaken to interpret the raw data.
After analysis, and interpretation of collected data, conclusions and recommend solutions are determined and documented in a structured report format.
5. Providing Feedback
Feedback should be provided to the management either through a written report or through oral presentation.
Then, the next step is to determine the training and development needs, which must be addressed.
Key Principles of Employee Training.
6. Developing an Action Plan
Here, an action plan is developed to meet the identified needs of the training and development of employees.
The action plan is then evaluated, analyzed, and reviewed for fine-tuning and put up to management as a business case for approval.
Once this formal identification of needs process is completed the information is used as the basis for training and development program design, development, and evaluation.
However, it is important to continue to assess the attitudes, knowledge, and skill level of participants prior to each session.
Different audiences may have different needs. This can be done through a basic questionnaire sent just prior to a specific training event and also during the welcome time of each session.
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