A training needs analysis (TNA) is key to driving success to maximize training return on investment, yet so many organizations don’t conduct it.

Why is this?

Let’s start by describing what a Training Needs Analysis (TNA) is.

A training needs assessment identifies individuals’ current level of competency, skill or knowledge in one or more areas and compares that competency level to the required competency standard established for their positions or other positions within the organization. The difference between the current and required competencies can help determine training needs. Rather than assume that all employees need training or even the same training, the organization can make informed decisions about the best ways to address competency gaps among individual employees, specific job categories or groups/teams.

The objective of conducting a TNAs is to create a baseline of understanding the current skills and capabilities of individuals, and teams against the skills, capabilities, and abilities required for the organization to meet its organizational objectives. Skills, qualifications, and competencies can shift as the organization grows or changes its strategic goals.

A TNA pinpoints the required level of skill/knowledge and the current level of skill/knowledge – the ground in between is the gap. As well as identify this gap, training needs analysis is also designed to identify the most appropriate training to bridge this gap. This process is generally undertaken by the training or learning and development department. In leaner organizations, this may be conducted by the Human Resources team, or Operational manager.

Ideally, the TNA is conducted at the following three levels to ensure the maximum return from training and skills throughout the organization.

1. Individual
2. Team /group/ department
3. Organisation

Why is conducting a training needs analysis critical?

Simply, Training is a means to ensure that employees have the knowledge and right skills to be able to do their work effectively and competently. Training may be needed when there is a gap between the desired performance and the current performance, and the reason for that gap is the lack of skill or knowledge.

Note the difference here, between a skill gap and a performance gap.  Additional training is not the solution in the instance of poor performance based on lack of application or poor attitude. This is not a training gap. The outcome in this situation is performance coaching, which may lead to performance management and formal warnings for the individual concerned. 

In a time where it is common for less time and investment in the professional development of employees- it is even more critical to ensure that training is targeted, and the organization can see a return on its investment.

Why conducting a TNA is required for success?

For those new to learning and development, conducting a TNA can seem like an overwhelming task. Whist a substantial effort, buy-in from stakeholders across the business and time is required, the resulting data enables

• Prioritization of training needs across the organization,
• Identification of potential spend,
• Creation of targeted training interventions
• Employee skill profiles
• Focused training pathways that can be used for career progression
• Creation of training schedules and associated communication and briefing packs

Other benefits include:

Proactive gap identification – enabling closing of the gap before it becomes a more substantial, costly, or even legal problem for the organization.

Creation of a clear training plan for the entire organization based on role and requirements. This data becomes an excellence source of targeted training to onboard new employees. This will save time and resources for the hiring manager, and training team, while ensuring a professional and just in time approach to your latest team member, increasing the likelihood of your new team member working to required standards.

Training has the desired outcome

Organizing training through public courses or providers can be akin to buying a birthday present from a lucky dip stall. It can be hard to measure the actual outcomes that attendees took from that session. A training session topic can look like a good idea on paper, but if your team doesn’t come away with a useful outcome, then it was a waste of time. Additionally, it can be near impossible to assist in embedding new knowledge back into the workplace, due to the generic nature of the training provided.

Creating a training plan based on the information you gathered from the TNA conducted, enables the organization to link training evaluation measures to the results of training attended and back to the organizational strategy.

The TNA Process

STEP 1 – Define Your Desired Outcomes

• Define what success looks like and how you will measure it.
• What are you trying to improve, attain, or solve?

The training goal should correspond to a business objective.

Think about how this relates to your company’s strategy and its development plans. Engage stakeholders from across the business, from people management, department heads, and executive teams. Positioning the TNA is critical – otherwise, you will end up with a shopping list of training wants from each manager, rather than identification of training needs.

It is critical to determine whom the final decision-makers are for finalization of training priorities for the following year, based on the final reports and associated recommendations.

This will assist in the confirmation of training needs and support from your executive team based on the identification of skill gaps impacting achieving the business strategy.

Assessments can be conducted at any time but are often done after hiring, during performance reviews, when performance improvement is needed, for career development plans, for succession planning, or when changes in an organization also involve making necessary changes to employees’ jobs. It is beneficial to perform these assessments periodically to determine the training needs of an organization, employees’ knowledge, and skills, and also training program effectiveness.

STEP 2 – Involve subject matter experts and employees of all levels.

It’s vital to identify desired critical competencies such as behaviors, knowledge, skills, abilities, and personal characteristics that are linked to the desired business outcomes.

To do this, you need to cooperation across the business from frontline employees to executive team members. This is particularly true for the determination of technical skills, associated qualifications or licensing requirements. The involvement of subject matter experts in the planning stage of your TNA will be required for successful data collection.

The data collection process can be done as part of an appraisal, but you may prefer to keep it separate if performance-related pay is related to this process. Regardless of how you do it, the data you collect should result in a clear understanding of how vital each competency is to achieving the desired business goal.

Collection of data can be achieved in multiple ways – however, here are some of the data-collection methods you could choose from:

 

Step 3: Assess Training Options

The gap analysis generates a list of training options and needs. Now the list can be assessed based on the goals and priorities of the organization, both currently and in the future.

A scale of 1 to 3 could be used with number 1 being critical, 2 being important and 3 being not important at all.

Here are factors to consider when determining if training is a viable option.

• A solution to a problem. For example, an employee has a performance problem that has clearly been identified as a training issue. The employee is provided with additional on-the-job training in which he or she successfully acquires the needed skills. As a result, the company would have a fully competent employee who is also meeting the required performance standards.
• The cost of training is a significant factor that needs to be weighed in terms of importance. Depending on the situation, the organization may be willing to invest a significant amount in one training but not in the others listed due to organizational priorities and finances. Here is the formula to calculate the total cost of training:

Number of Employees Trained x Cost of Training = Total Cost of Training

• Return on investment. Return on investment (ROI) is a calculation showing the value of expenditures related to training and development. It can also be used to show how long it will take for these activities to pay for themselves and to provide a return on investment to the organization.
• Legal compliance. If any of the training needs from the gap analysis are required legally (i.e., by federal, state or industry laws) or to maintain employees’ licenses or certifications, then these would be a high priority.
• Sometimes the amount of time involved to build the capacity within the organization will affect its operational needs as it can interfere with the employees’ ability to complete other job duties. In this case, it may be more beneficial to hire the talent from outside the organization or outsource the task to fill in the skills gaps. In other cases, like succession planning, the organization can afford a long-term commitment to building the capacity from within.
• Remaining competitive. Perhaps there exists minimal knowledge/competencies in a new product or service that is negatively affecting company revenue. The employer can provide the needed training to its employees so that the new product or service generates or exceeds the desired revenue. In this situation, the company benefits from the increase in revenue, therefore outweighing the cost of training.

You will need to be able to review your results and read the data clearly, in some organizations the process and reporting can be conducted via their learning management system,  (LMS), or it can be captured using excel or a data capture into survey monkey or similar. The ideal output is the creation of a targeted learning pathway, updated capability profile that can be utilized for recruitment of new employees, enable targeted onboarding, and assist in maximizing personal and company performance.

For those looking for a paper-based TNA, Facilitated Training has a FREE template to collate information for your employees.

STEP 4 – Find the gaps

A performance gap is simply the difference between the way your employees are currently performing and the way they need to perform in order to achieve business goals.

Now that you have collected all competency evaluation data, it should become clear whether there are gaps in key competencies. Are there key skills not possessed by a segment of your workforce and is there a correlation with their performance? Which of the desired competencies are missing from your target population?

Create a list of gaps and prioritize them in order of importance. This should take into account the percentage of your population that needs the training and who should attend training as a priority.

STEP 5 – Select training methods

Selections of the type of training or intervention required to close skill gaps will be impacted by time, budget, appropriateness of learning application.

Closing skill gaps don’t always need to occur via formal learning. Other types of learning actions include:

• On the job training (OJT
• Mentoring and coaching
• Classroom
• Web-based or e-learning
• Microlearning
• Self paced – individual directed professional development
• Lunch and learn sessions
• Briefings
• Cross skilling using subject matter experts
• Industry Conferences
• University Programs
• Vocational training programs
• Work based projects

Take into consideration, proprieties, effective learning methodology for skill gaps and adult based learning principles. Remember that employees will retain more information and learning from a hands-on experiential-based learning environment.

After all the training needs/options have been assessed, the HR professional will have a list of training priorities for individual employees, departments or the organization as a whole.

Step 6: Report Training Needs and Recommend Training Plans

The next step is to report the findings from the training needs assessment and make recommendations for short- and long-term training plans and budgets, starting with the most critical priorities from the training option list. If there is a timeline for any of the training, such as a deadline to satisfy training obligations for legal compliance purposes, then they should be budgeted and scheduled accordingly. The report should include a summary of why and how the assessment was completed, the methods used and people involved, and the training recommendations with a general timeline.

Considerations for the report and recommended training plans include:

• What training is already being offered, and should it continue to be offered?
• Does it make sense to bring in a trainer to train several employees on the same subject matter, rather than send everyone to an off-site training?
• Does the company have the subject matter expertise within HR, the training department or another department to conduct the training?
• Can and should the training be conducted online?
• What is the learning style of the participants?
• Are all participants at one location or multiple locations, or are they decentralized?

Facilitated Training

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The Team at Facilitated Training is committed to bringing you quality training materials and resources that help you to deliver expert training. We believe that our solutions are a perfect response to a market where increasingly headcount in learning teams is being reduced, whilst the demands on the trainer’s time and efforts are repeatedly stretched to the limits. Our consultants have over 30 years’ experience working globally, across multiple segments such as corporate, energy and resources, manufacturing, hospitality, retail, telecommunications, banking, and healthcare.  

All training course materials have been written by leading instructional designers that also have significant experience in delivering facilitated and skills-based training. Our team focuses on developing training materials with the right balance of theory and practical and engaging application, relating new knowledge back to relatable situations that occur in the workplace, whilst having fun in the learning environment.  

The customizable training materials have been designed ensuring a ‘global’ application and provide targeted ‘facilitator notes’ highlighted key areas where content can be adapted based on your workplace and audience.