How to Conduct a Training Needs Assessment

What is a Training Needs Assessment (TNA)?

Today’s workplace is fast-paced and demanding. Not everybody is willing to invest time in conducting a needs assessment; however, the practice is critical for enhancing workplace performance. Many businesses make assumptions of what their training needs are and how to conduct a training needs assessment.

This can have a significant impact on the success of training efforts because actions may address a symptom but not the real problem to be solved.

A workforce TNA is a way to collect information and to analyze the depth and scope of a problem. Assessments of a problem don’t have to belong or be intensive. If the issue is the rollout or change of a system or new job, the TNA can be reasonably quick. If there is evidence of a problem but no defined solution, or previous solutions have not presented satisfactory results, a longer look at other systemic factors may be required.

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Components of a Training Needs Assessment

The Importance of a Training Needs Assessment and Learning Strategy

Change is necessary for organizations to succeed and grow. This requires the right technology, processes, and individuals to ensure opportunities available through change can be maximized. If you do not have time or resources to conduct a training needs assessment, you can still complete your project and release training to your employees, but without a corporate Training Needs Assessment, will the training achieve the objectives you wanted it to?

Training Needs Assessments will help you to make decisions about who needs the most impactful training, what that training should be, and how you can measure your success without spending money, time, and productivity you can’t afford.

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Reasons to Conduct a Training Needs Analysis

A training needs assessment is done prior to the development of a training program, once a program has been running for a while, or after a change at an organizational or operational level is undertaken. There are three levels of training needs assessment, and it is important to understand why one should do an assessment and what should be done within that assessment to gain value from taking a step back and looking at the overall goals of the training engagement.

Do you know how much your training is costing you both to deliver and in lost opportunity cost?

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How To Do a Training Needs Assessment and When Is It Used?

Training needs assessment is conducted in an organization where there are changes seen as significant enough to indicate gaps in performance for individuals (changing roles for example), an area or department (changing process, equipment, or responsibilities), or an organization (merging, acquiring, or divesting). These changes call for more than just communication but do not require an entire change or the development of a whole program. Training needs assessments are also likely necessary when there is a noticeable decline in performance for a group of people or teams without any discernible differences in processes, technologies, or organizational factors.

A good assessment always starts with asking three questions: why you think there is a problem, why are you looking at this now, and what are you expecting to see in terms of performance that you are not seeing. These should be considered before engaging in any formal assessment and should be as objective as possible. It is the objectivity needed that often requires a consultant who will have an outside view of the issues and experience in similar organizations and fields for comparison.

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