Identifying Training Needs
Training can be effective only if it addresses a clear need.

Staff development or developing talent is important for an organisation as it strives to achieve business results. Getting the job done through employee commitment is admirable but may only be effective if the person has the right skills. Determining if training is the answer is vital.

It is thus mandatory to identify training needs before trying to implement any training solutions. If not done properly, the intervention is unlikely to yield the expected results.

Traditional training needs analysis methods typically ask managers to “fill in this form with the training needs of your department”. Managers’ response is haphazard, to say the least, with some focusing on technical needs, whilst others recommending ‘flavour of the month courses’ or training which is not going to be applied in the near future. None of this links to a strategic need or individual gap in required behaviour.

Compiling training needs from performance appraisal documents does not fare much better. Companies use a variety of appraisal systems; many of which are neither linked to business requirements nor reflect individual job responsibilities.

A competency based Training Needs Analysis (TNA) should start with a skills audit to identify who has the skills and where the gaps are. This will help identify the precise areas where training is needed. Besides identifying your training requirements, a TNA has the added benefit of ensuring that training and development initiatives are aligned with your organisational goals and culture, thus creating a training solution that is specific to your organisation.

The result of the assessment should indicate to what extent training can bridge a performance gap or alleviate a perceived problem. Training may not be the solution, in which case other alternatives must be sought.

What Core Measures Recommends

We recommend a competency--based TNA with support to develop plans to close competency gaps. This ensures a strategic focus whilst prioritizing critical knowledge and skill areas for an individual. It leads to greater learner involvement and motivation in the competencies that are most critical in driving organisational success.

Our approach meets the following objectives:

• Provide a step by step guide for management staff to carry-out a behavioural and functional TNA
• Create a baseline of behavioural and functional competencies
• Identify current versus expected performance levels
• Produce development plans for management staff
• Close competency gaps

To receive a training needs primer listing the six general areas of needs analysis and key questions relating to TNA, email us

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