Tag Archives: needs assessment

Many times I’ve been asked to either conduct a formal training needs assessment or provide consultation to other workforce professionals who are charged with conducting such an assessment.

Nearly every client engagement includes exploring some level of assessment based on needs. Some are very informal and some are more formal.

What is the correct approach? There certainly might be more than one answer, and in-depth assessment practices can fill an entire book, but here are a few basics.

Do I Just Ask About Needs?

A properly managed needs assessment is not a process of asking several questions about what an organization needs. This is as simplistic as a medical doctor asking if you have a cold, you say either yes or no, and they then prescribe what to do next.

It is not about just asking, “What are your needs?”

Below are a few of my favorites (not to do) that I’ve witnessed being used to conduct a so-called needs assessment. I must stress this is what not to ask:

• What skills are lacking with your current workforce?
• What training would help your team become better?
• Do you need technical skills or soft-skills?

Sure this will collect some answers from the person or team that is being asked, but this is not the best way to determine current or future needs.

I’m amazed at the great number of people who approach a needs assessment in this manner. In fact, some of them are highly paid consultants.

The Right Approach

I’m a firm believer that there should be some balance in the approach for any assessment process. By balance I am referring to cost and value.

A full blown assessment that is going to reach in-depth to consider job tasks and duties, assess skill requirements, and perhaps even explore competency models is going to require considerable resources.

Make no mistake about it, conducting an assessment of that caliber might be appropriate, but for many organizations especially small businesses this is probably too extensive.

Most organizations need to find a balance between low end and high end arriving at a cost effective solution that provides the greatest value.

Training Needs Assessment

The right path for developing training needs assessment questions must be approached without inappropriately leading or suggesting outcomes. It should be as unbiased as possible and should not make assumptions or predetermine possible outcomes.

Here are a few examples that are much better for discovering training needs.

• You have several star or exemplary employees on your team, what is different about them when compared with your average employee?
• Please describe one specific circumstance where employee performance resulted in an unfavorable or costly outcome for the organization.
• What are the most significant barriers preventing your (department, team, et al) organization from achieving or exceeding its goals?

It’s important to recognize that there are many aspects to conducting an appropriate needs assessment.

This includes who to assess such as executives, supervisors, or front-line staff, and what to base the assessment on which may be things like efficiencies or productivity, customer service, sales, and even culture or leadership.

A proper needs assessment must be representative of the best value and right-sized approach for each situation.

The most effective training needs assessment is not conducted by simply asking, “What are your needs?” Effective assessments help organizations discover both the obvious and the not so obvious.

What approaches have you used?

– DEG

Originally published October 14, 2016. Last edited on October 12, 2018. 

Dennis E. Gilbert is a business consultant, speaker (CSP^TM), and corporate trainer. He is a five-time author and the founder of Appreciative Strategies, LLC. His business focuses on positive human performance improvement solutions through Appreciative Strategies®. Reach him through his website at Dennis-Gilbert.com or by calling +1 646.546.5553.

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