Do you ever feel like your organization has stagnated? Is it manifested in a gap between your organization’s desired performance and its actual performance? Have you examined the reasons for the gap? There could be one or there could be multiple reasons including but not limited to a morale issue, insufficient number of employees, ineffective performance management and/or a lack of skills and knowledge. There could also be external reasons such as market conditions, trade tariffs, new competition and more. If the answer is that your organization is experiencing a lack of skills and knowledge, then a Training Needs Analysis is a good place to start to help resolve the issue.
In order to help you start moving in the right direction lets look at three questions.
1. What exactly is a Training Needs Analysis?
2. What are questions should you ask?
3. How will it improve overall organizational efficiencies and foster and strengthen staff development?
A Training Needs Analysis involves the identification of skills gaps at the organizational and/or individual level. Essentially, it is the process whereby an organization recognizes what training needs are required in order to be more efficient and productive. A variety of different analysis can be used such as Organizational Analysis, Person or Performance Analysis or Cost-Benefit Analysis to name a few. The type of analysis will depend on what challenges the organization is facing.
In order to conduct a Training Needs Analysis, you need to first understand and define the skills and knowledge requirements of the organization as well as the skills and knowledge required for each individual position.
Some questions to explore include:
1. What are the organization’s objectives?
2. What skills and competencies are required to achieve the identified objectives?
3. Is training the answer?
4. If yes, what type of training is most suitable?
5. What additional supports need to be put in place?
Answers to these initial questions will start you in the right direction in developing a comprehensive training plan. Once the plan is strategically implemented with commitment from both management and employees to support it, the benefits will be insurmountable. It will help advance employee skills, increase job satisfaction and attract new talent. Additionally, the organization will stay ahead of the competition by keeping up to date with new trends and technologies.
Carrie Deon
Human Resources Generalist
