What is Training Needs Assessment?

Training needs assessment is the process of analyzing and identifying the areas to impart training to the employees. Companies can conduct training needs analysis every time a new project is undertaken. It helps them to understand how adaptable their employees are to the skills the project demands.

Depending on the needs assessment, a training program is organized that can stretch from a few weeks to months depending on the complexity of the project.

Before imparting the training, managers circulate a training needs assessment questionnaire to their team members to understand their skill levels. You can use our training needs assessment questionnaire template to build your own training survey.

What are the levels of training needs assessment in an organization?

Training needs assessment can be conducted in an organization on three levels.

1. Organizational Level Needs Analysis
This type of training needs assessment is conducted at either a department or team level. The needs analysis questionnaire is circulated to the employees of a particular department to understand the major requirements. The training is then imparted to every employee of the department or team.

Say, a training needs analysis conducted for the sales department can reveal that the team members are facing challenges in following up the leads. In such a situation a thorough training on how to follow the leads effectively is conducted.

2. Operational Level Needs Analysis
This type of training needs analysis is conducted at the job or task level. Details like job descriptions and specifications are compared with the employee skills to understand the gaps. Here, the gaps can be not knowing how to handle a tool, device, or software, or anything that is specifically related to the task or job.

Say, at the shop floor level, a group of employees is not equipped with working on an HMC lathe. Once this is identified through a training needs survey, a well-planned workshop is organized for those employees on performing a job on HMC lathe.

3. Personal Level Needs Analysis
This type of training needs analysis is conducted on a personal level for every employee. Here, the current performance of the employee is compared with the expected performance. A proper needs analysis reveals the areas for improvement.

How to do a training needs assessment for your employees?

Understanding the difference between current and required competencies is crucial to achieving the required output. A thorough gap analysis helps companies to have a directed approach. Training needs assessment can prove effective in filling the skill-based gaps of your employees.

But, to conduct a quality training program, the needs analysis should be done in a structured way. There are four steps that can be followed to analyze the training needs,

Step 1: Know the Purpose

Conducting a training needs analysis for employees includes a lot of time and effort. So, HRs must be fully aware of the purpose of the assessment. Is it for a new project that the organization has taken up? Is it to improve productivity? Or, is it to improve the quality? Based on the purpose, the questions in the training needs analysis survey can be framed.

Step 2: Understand the Gap

Once the purpose for the needs assessment is clear, the HRs can create training needs assessment questionnaire and spread it across to the concerned department or group of employees. The responses to the survey will make the gap visible and will help to design the topics needed to be covered in the training program. If it is a personal level needs analysis, HRs can also conduct face-to-face interviews with individual employees to know the gaps better.

Step 3: Is The Training Feasibility

It is important to know if the training needed is feasible for the organization. There are many factors associated with a training program like the cost of training, return on investment, time, and legal complexities. Only if all the factors favor the conducting of the training program, only then the HRs can move to the next step. Any level of ignorance at this stage can cause serious problems later.

Step 4 : Prepare a Report

This is the last step of the process. After understanding the purpose, gaps, and feasibility, HRs can write a detailed report to emphasize the need for training and the results it will fetch in the long run. The report can also include a list of available training academies or freelance trainers who are experts in the required topics