Understanding Training Needs Analysis

For an organisation training of employees plays a pivotal role in its routine operation. A trained person can offer complete service as per the requirement of the system and organisations, and that is why the organisations have understood the role of training in its routine operation which is now much significant in the age of competition when the organisation needs to offer the best services to the clients. Training Needs Analysis (TNA) is a process in which any company identifies development and training needs of their employees to get the job effectively done. It involves analysis of training needs that an organization may require at various levels.

Due to the rapid change in technology, training and development methods for an employee are changing as well. This process helps in the grooming of employees to the next level. It proves to be helpful for a manager in identifying key development areas of her/his employees. The productivity is increased when proper development and training is done.

A lot of companies have experts within that can train their employees on numerous aspects of the business a company deals in. Usually, a calendar is scheduled in advance which consists of various sessions that an employee can choose for their business pre-requisite to improve personal development needs.

Training and development, which at some point was not given much importance, has now become an essential part for a company to meet its objectives and goals. A lot of aspects are taken into consideration by a manager when identifying the training needs of a team member. Firstly, a manager needs to identify the set of skills that are required to complete the process or a job,and secondly, assessing of existing skill levels of a team member and determination of the training gap. Training gap can be defined as the difference between the existing set of skills of a particular team member and the skills that are required to complete a job.

Steps involved in TNA

The Training needs analysis results must ensure the targeted and effective action of training. A manager will find out rightly what an employee needs to know in order to achieve his/her organizational goals, where an employee’s current content is missing, and how consistent training is to be delivered to keep an employee’s skill base afloat.

Here are four key steps in Training Needs Analysis methodology to help an organization develop a watertight training system:

1. Develop a profile for workforce
2. Verify compliance requirements
3. Source, analyse and map an existing training material
4. Make recommendations

Pros and cons of training need analysis

For a refresher, TNA is a systematic examination of a company’s training need which is based on a set of data collected from an online learning structure or other means. There are many advantages and disadvantages of TNA and down below is a brief description which will be helpful in finding out if Training needs analysis is for a business or not.

Pros of TNA

1. It helps in determining the person that needs to be trained.

• Among all the reasons, one main reason for a TNA is to conclude which populace needs the training most.
• With the help of self-assessments, focus groups, customer feedback, and performance evaluations, it becomes clear which employee needs to be trained.
• Figuring out the person who needs to go through the training will help in better designing of the training so that the learning needs are met.

2. It helps in determining the training a trainee needs.

• Identify performance gaps with new hires and expert employees taking the online competency assessments. Such assessments are developed internally and can also be given online via an online learning platform. The importance of TNA competency assessments is to help in determining whether training is essential based on a respondent’s outcomes or not. If training is to be taken necessarily, then the assessment will reveal the areas in which the training must be targeted to.
• Identify performance gaps with the help of surveys can also be designed in the company internally that can reveal the areas in which a respondent believes training would be helpful to him/her.

3. It helps a direct resource to the area of highest priority.

• Using this way will make training meet business goals optimally.
• Also, the other benefit of TNA is that it prevents needless training, thus saving business time and resources of a company.

4. Helps in improvising a worker’s productivity

• When Training Needs Analysis reveals the proper training to teach knowledge or skills efficiently, the training will be conducted to gain competence; staff will be more productive which will prove to be helpful in increasing competence in the knowledge or skill areas that are being targeted during the training.
• Additionally, a worker who feels more confident in his/her abilities post training is more likely to work efficiently.

5. Helps in improving the service quality

• Another purpose of TNA is to reveal the most effectual training for the staff that is more in need. When a Training Needs Analysis is comprehensive, the training will more likely meet the desired training goal which will, in turn, meet a larger business goal. A larger business goal is to provide a higher service quality or profit increase amongst many other business goals a company may aim to achieve.

Cons of TNA

1. Time-consuming

• The development of assessments and surveys are time-consuming
• Completing the surveys and assessments take a lot of time.

2. Costly

• Training can be very pricey that require the hiring of a third party.
• Training requiring multiple sessions are costly as well.
• A training needs analysis can be costly if a third party has to conduct the training.

3. The effectiveness of a TNA is hurt by the low response rate of a survey.

• This might happen if a survey is too long, difficult to submit or if it is confusing.