How To Conduct Training Needs Assessment?

Training needs assessment can be as simple as meeting with an employee about their needs to be able to do better or as complex as developing an individualized training plan for every employee within your organization.

There are a number of resources available to help training managers and those responsible for planning to make the process more efficient and productive for the organization and individual employees.  

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) issued the Training Needs Assessment Handbook: A Guide for Conducting a Multi-Level Needs Assessment(1994; Currently Under revision). This comprehensive resource outlines a step-by-step process for training needs assessments at the organizational, occupational, and individual levels. Supervisors need to plan on two levels: organizational/occupational and individual. The steps outlined in the OPM handbook include:

• Step One - Obtain needs assessment data (through questionnaires, surveys, advisory groups, focus groups, interviews, etc.)
• Step Two - Analyze data (discrepancy or gap between the desired knowledges and skills and those currently possessed by the employees);
• Step Three - Define performance problems (changing technologies, etc.);
• Step Four - Research performance solutions (ask what other Bureaus and agencies are doing; determine costs of training and non-training solutions; involve all affected employees);
• Step Five - Determine best approaches to resolving problems and issues;
• Step Six - Conduct a cost/benefit analysis or business case for selected approach to project what financial benefit will result from the investment of training dollars.

Other factors possibly indicating training or development needs:

• Reassignments

• New employees/supervisors

• Performance problems

• Production problems

• Safety problems

• New technology

• New equipment or programs

• Mission changes

• State certification

• Inspection deficiencies

• Laws and regulations

• Modernization of equipment

The National Oceanic and Atmoshpheric Administration has a training needs assessment tutorial on their website at:

http://www.csc.noaa.gov/needs/home.html

Needs Assessment approach for a group of similar positions:

http://humanresources.about.com/od/trainingneedsassessment/ht/training_needs.htm

How To conduct a simple training needs assessment?  eHow.com

http://www.ehow.com/how_2087330_conduct-simple-training-needs-assessment.html

SHRM Training Needs Assessment Module:

http://www.shrm.org/Education/hreducation/Documents/Needs%20Assessment%20Outline_Syllabus_Final.pdf

Updates to US OPM Training Needs Assessment Handbook Currently Under Revision
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