Training Needs Assessment for Organizational Breakthrough Goals

Introduction

While every situation is unique, there are some proven steps that a company can take to help identify the best approach to providing the training needed to accomplish specific organizational goals. Even proven training needs assessments will require fine-tuning and careful administration to be successful. Furthermore, because resources and time are by definition scarce, it is important to avoid false starts and provide human resources with timely, accurate feedback so they can develop or otherwise deliver effective training programs.

To this end, this paper provides an analysis of training needs assessment considerations for two breakthrough objectives mandated by ABC's CEO: (a) the development of state-of-the-art product development, lowered costs, and improved statistical process control; and (b) initiatives that will result in ABC becoming a leader in emerging web-based technologies. A summary of the research and relevant recommendations is provided in the conclusion.

There are several approaches that ABC could use to accomplish the above-stated objectives through a training needs assessment, including (a) a human-resources-based approach and (b) a self-administered training needs assessment. In some ways these two approaches can overlap — for example, when employees complete a company-provided online survey from home — but there are meaningful differences between them as noted below.

Types of Training Needs Assessments

Generally speaking, the purposes for conducting a training needs assessment include identifying (a) optimal performance, (b) actual performance, (c) how key stakeholders feel, (d) what is causing the performance gap, and (e) solutions to close the gap between optimal and actual performance (Bates, Holton, & Naquin, 2000). In addition, Bowers, Braun, Jentsch, and Salas (1998) recommend exploring training interventions that result in more efficient patterns of information exchange. According to Bates and colleagues, "A training needs assessment may address any or all of these purposes" (2000, p. 253). Depending on the number of ABC staff involved, the information required to achieve the training needs assessment could be obtained through informal or formal interviews, hard-copy questionnaires, online surveys, or a combination of these approaches.

According to Gordon (2004), some companies have enjoyed good results by assigning employees the task of designing, administering, and analyzing their own training needs assessments based on a stated objective. Gordon notes that in some cases it is more appropriate for a human resources trainer to create the learning situation, while at other times the trainees themselves can create situations drawn from their past experiences. "When trainees are asked to create their own situations," Gordon adds, "the trainer needs to provide guidelines so that trainee-designed situations provide sufficient information for use in a subsequent role play, simulation, or case study" (p. 35). He also recommends setting a time limit for such exercises.

This approach aligns with broader principles of organizational learning, in which employees take active ownership of their own professional development rather than functioning as passive recipients of top-down instruction.

Because all companies experience some turnover and organizational priorities change over time, it is important to recognize that ongoing training needs assessments will be required and that quantifiable monitors must be established to determine the effectiveness of the approach used. Based on a trending analysis of quantifiable data developed from previous training initiatives, it will be easier to fine-tune future programs to better suit ABC's needs at any given point in time, ensuring that training resources are used to their best effect.

Taken together, the foregoing analysis suggests that ABC's employees would benefit most from a company-provided training needs assessment, at least initially. For this purpose, it is recommended that the key personnel in charge of the departments affected by the respective objectives be tasked with developing relevant metrics to determine existing and optimal performance in their areas of responsibility. This information would help ABC's human resources department formulate an effective training needs assessment for their personnel.

Conclusion and Recommendations

Bowers, C. A., Braun, C. C., Jentsch, F., & Salas, E. (1998). Analyzing communication sequences for team training needs assessment. Human Factors, 40(4), 672.

Gordon, S. P. (2004). Professional development for school improvement: Empowering learning communities. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.