CH 3 (P 24) Developing HR: Determining Training Needs

Determining Training Needs:

• Need assessment is a systematic process for determining organizational gaps between ideal and actual performance. The process involves collecting data to determine where the organizational gaps exist and whether they are problems that can be solved through training. Examination of the gaps focuses on the causes of the gaps, the extent of the gaps and possible solutions to them.                                
• If the problem is due to lack of sill, knowledge, and attitude then it can be determined as training problems otherwise the problem might be management problem.

Levels of analysis:

1. Organizational analysis: 

• Training need analysis at organizational level focuses on strategic planning, business need, and goals. It starts with the assessment of internal environment of the organization such as, procedures, structures, policies, strengths, and weaknesses and external environment such as opportunities and threats.
• After doing the SWOT analysis, weaknesses can be dealt with the training interventions, while strengths can further be strengthened with continued training. Threats can be reduced by identifying the areas where training is required. And, opportunities can be exploited by balancing it against costs.
• Its purpose is to look whether training goals, department goals are aligned with organizational goals.

2. Individual analysis: 

• Training needs analysis at individual level focuses on each and every individual in the organization. At this level, the organization checks whether an employee is performing at desired level or the performance is below expectation. 
• The information for the analysis can be obtained from performance appraisal, which will analyze the situation why certain individual is not able to obtain the desired level of output.

3. Job and task analysis (operational analysis): 

• Training Need analysis at operational level focuses on the work that is being assigned to the employees. The objective of this analysis is to determine how the work should be done. 
• The overall job is broken down into smaller tasks that are recorded on a task list. Each task is analyzed to determine: what skills, knowledge, materials, proficiency on equipment, and competencies are needs to perform the task. The concept behind task analysis is that if each employee performs each task to standards, then that overall job will be performed to standard as well.
• The job analyst gathers the information on whether the job is clearly vividly analyze and understood by an employee or not.