Training and Development Environment: Needs Assessment in Organizations

This study provides an overview on the training and developments needs assessment of a particular organization. The significance of training and development needs assessment in an Australian organization is highlighted. The methods to be selected to conduct training needs assessment is discussed in this paper.

Running head: TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT ENVIRONMENT
TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT ENVIRONMENT
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author’s Note

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Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................2
Reason for undertaking training and development needs assessments in the organizations...........2
Method used for conducting the needs assessment.........................................................................4
Strategic needs assessment process used if there is necessity of training and development...........7
Possible outcomes if needs assessment is not properly conducted or planned................................9
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................9
References......................................................................................................................................10

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Introduction
The present study provides an overview on the training and developments needs
assessment of a particular organization. Training and development has been intended to enhance
mastery of different skills as well as technique of detailed as well as routine work adoption.
Assessment of the training needs is one of the integral parts of the training programs. Needs
assessment is the method that helps to convince the management of the enterprise that training
program to be integrated is appropriate. Analysis of training and development needs has close
connection with planning exercises in which best planning is generally preceded by recognizing
different needs or problems (Arneson, Rothwell & Naughton, 2013). The outcome of training
needs assessment is the vital inputs in the procedure of planning. The enterprises in today’s
world are considering on scope and location for using cost of training as well as other resources
effectively. This study highlights on the significance of training and development needs
assessment in an Australian organization. The methods to be selected to conduct training needs
assessment is discussed in this paper. Furthermore, the training needs assessment procedure used
for determining necessity of training and development is also analyzed in this report. The study
also explains about the possible result if training needs assessment is not properly planned or
conducted in an organization.
Reason for undertaking training and development needs assessments in the organizations
Training need assessment refers to the strategic step for finding out appropriate training
program for the employees and enterprise. Assessment of the training needs is vital since it gives
information about the knowledge and skill level of the enterprise’s human resources. Before
adoption of training and development program, the enterprise begins with assessment of the

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training needs. It has been opined by Ford ( 2014) that, training needs assessment is the critical
stage in training cycle. The management of the organization basically identifies existing
knowledge gap and strength as well as weaknesses in procedure, which enables training
programs being delivered.
The training needs analysis is usually undertaken for identifying certain areas of
behaviors that training requires to achieve with the learners. This analysis basically considers the
outcome the enterprise requires from learner and what skills as well as knowledge the learner
currently has. This generally concludes with recognition of what skills as well as knowledge the
learner should gain and this creates performance gap. Based on the needs as well as resources of
the enterprise, the training assessment might range from detailed skills analysis to review of the
performance results. It has been opined by Jehanzeb & Bashir (2013) that, more complete this
assessment of training, more likely the workers training will contribute results to enterprise. The
workers needs training for different reasons that lies into two categories-
a) Training for filling the performance gap as recognized during performance management
procedure
b) Training to fill growth gap , which is to fill another position in an enterprise.
The ultimate objective of training needs analysis is to determine present and desired
performance. The difference or gap between these two is learning, which must arise and the basis
for effective training design (Jen-Chia, Tseng-Chang, & Chen 2012) The main reasons for
undertaking training needs assessment are given below-
 Determining whether there is any requirement of training and development
 Ensuring that the particular training will be connected to the needs of the enterprise.

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 Determining the main reasons of poor performance and what or who is required to be
trained
 Determining the desired performance or training outcome
 Providing baseline of the data.
 Identifying what and how it is to be measured.
 Identifying content as well as scope of training.
 Gaining participant as well as enterprise support. Furthermore, the base line is that needs
assessment facilitates in pinpointing the main problem, confirm the issue, and thus seek
solutions .
Poorly designed training needs assessment might lead to the training which-
 Addresses the in appropriate competencies
 Provides training to the wrong individuals
 Utilizes the wrong methods of training
Method used for conducting the needs assessment
Needs assessments could be undertaken at any time period but are usually done after
hiring of individuals, during performance appraisal times, requirement of performance
involvement, for development of career plans or the succession planning or during changes in the
organization includes changes in jobs of employees (Phillips, 2012). It is valuable to perform all
these needs assessments periodically for measuring changes in workers knowledge as well as

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skills and also effectiveness of training program. The methods generally used for conducting the
training needs assessment are explained below:
Step 1- Identifying the needs of business
Identifying the training needs analysis is the basic step for any effective training program
and hence is vital for the succession planning. By conducting this needs analysis permits an
enterprise to concentrate its efforts on certain training areas that are essential for workers to
effectively carry out the goals of organization, make optimum utilization of the enterprise’s
training dollars and also motivate the employees by making contribution to their development of
career. The individual conducting this training needs analysis must clearly know the whole
organization and the department goals as well as priorities (Pollock, Jefferson & Wick 2015).
This in turn can help to assess all kinds of training options and also identify the training
opportunities that will contribute to the success of workers, business units and the whole
enterprise.
Step 2- Performing the gap analysis
Performing the gap assessment includes analyzing the present state of the department or
workers performance and hence comparing it to desired extent. The main difference between
existing and desired state signifies the gap. Kaufman & Guerra-Lopez, (2015) opines that there
are several various methods to conduct the gap analysis. The process for recognizing the gap
might depend on the situation as well as organization. Based on this situation, it might be
facilitating to utilize one or several gap analysis procedures. Few gap analysis tools involves-
 Individual interviews-

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 HR records- This include job descriptions as well as competencies, grievance filings,
attendance records, , performance evaluations, exit interviews and other enterprise
records such as sales, cost records and production.
 Focus groups- Utilizing focus groups includes simultaneous questioning number of
people about the training needs. However, best results will occur with particular group of
workers who might have similar needs of training.
 Self- assessment, surveys and questionnaires- Surveys usually use the standardized
format and thus can be in the form of writing, phone or by electronic method. Based on
this situation, it might be facilitating to conduct the surveys with workers and the
customers.
 Observations- Some of the sources for the observation involves- work settings job
simulation etc.
Step 3- Assessing training options
The gap assessment generates specific list of the training needs. The list is then assessed
based on the target as well as priorities of an enterprise. Moreover, it would be measured using
certain scale such as critical, important and non important. Thus, this step helps the enterprise to
reduce the cost of training and find the solution to any workers performance problem.
Step 4- Reporting needs of training and recommending training plans
The manager should report all the findings from training needs analysis and making
recommendations for long term as well as short term training plans. If the training has the
timeline such as date or any legal compliance, then training might be the priority for budgeting

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as well as scheduling. The report might involve the summary of the methods used for completing
this assessment and the recommendations of training with a common timeline.
Strategic needs assessment process used if there is necessity of training and development
Training needs assessment is basically the first step before conduction of the training
program and thus an extremely important method of allocating training and development
effectively. For producing the appropriate training program, it must be based on appropriate
initial step. Additionally, being the basis of the determination of the training, this needs
assessment also gives the measurement for anticipating the future problems. By determining the
appropriate training program for the employees would value the enterprise as the outcome of the
training program. It has been opined by Kaufman, R., & Guerra-Lopez (2013) that, there are
mainly three stages of evaluation of training needs analysis process for determining the necessity
of training as well as development such as organizational analysis, individual analysis and
operational analysis.
Organizational analysis- Organizational analysis helps to determine the place where training
will be conducted within the enterprise. This analysis basically concentrates on the enterprise as
the whole, involving the assessment of enterprise goals, analysis of resource, efficiency analysis,
and analysis of enterprise climate. At the enterprise level, training needs must be analyzed
according to the organizational goals as well as strategies. Furthermore, analysis of external as
well as internal environment of enterprise is also extremely important. This analysis is crucial for
obtaining information such as trends of business strategy, total attendance, turnover, productivity
and workers behavior in the enterprise. All these information helps to determine the objectives of
training to be achieved.

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Individual analysis- Individual analysis is basically required to know about the performance of
each employee. In this stage, the training requirement of each worker is determined. In fact, the
difference between desired and actual performance is the basic need for individual training.
Moreover, standard performance that is generally set at the operation level is the performance
that is to be attained. Information about employee’s performance can be attained from the data of
individual performance, supervisor assessment, interviews, attitude survey and so on (Daley,
2012). Furthermore, gap between performance that is to attained and the actual performance will
be filled with this training.
Operational analysis- Operational analysis basically determines the way workers perform a
particular job. The objective of this specific assessment is to determine the task that is to be
provided to the employees , so that they can perform the work according to that target level.
Operational analysis mainly needs careful testing of work that is to be performed after this
training (Salas, E., Tannenbaum, Kraiger, & Smith-Jentsch 2012). However, this analysis
involves: 1) systematic collection of information that accurately explains how the job is
performed. 2) Determining the performance standards for the job. 3) Determination of the work
to be done for meeting the standards. 4) Determination of skills, knowledge, abilities, and several
other characteristics that is needed for an successful performance.
From the above stages of evaluation of strategic need assessment process, it is necessary
that enterprise analysis is based on operational analysis and this operational analysis is based on
individual analysis. However, the Australian organization must analyze these stages of needs
assessment process if training and development is necessary for the enterprise.

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Possible outcomes if needs assessment is not properly conducted or planned
The possible outcomes that might occur if the training needs assessment is not properly
conducted or planned are given below:
 It might increase the overall cost of training and development program
 It might leads to several issues and hence cannot identify proper interventions
 It might lead to inaccurate quality of the policies or the program decision
 It might not lead to subsequent decision regarding implementation of design,
project evaluation and the programs (Topno, 2012).
 It can also create conflict within the employees and managers , thus affecting the
culture of the enterprise.
 It might lead to revaluation of the process of training needs program
Conclusion
From the above report, it can be concluded that training needs assessment is required to
planned as well as systematic in order to attain effective outcome. The Australian organization
must adopt strategic analysis of the needs assessment in order to attain competitive advantage
against their rivalries. Moreover, by conducting needs assessment, the Australian firm can
anticipate faulty training that is the main reason of training failure. Additionally, it will also
reduce overall cost and time of the human resource development (HRM) of the enterprise.

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References
Arneson, J., Rothwell, W., & Naughton, J. (2013). Training and development competencies
redefined to create competitive advantage. Training & Development, 67(1), 42-47.
Ford, J. K. (2014). Improving training effectiveness in work organizations. Psychology Press.
Horng, J. S., & Lin, L. (2013). Training needs assessment in a hotel using 360 degree feedback
to develop competency-based training programs. Journal of Hospitality and Tourism
Management, 20, 61-67.
Jehanzeb, K., & Bashir, N. A. (2013). Training and development program and its benefits to
employee and organization: A conceptual study. European Journal of business and
management, 5(2).
Jen-Chia, C., Tseng-Chang, C., & Chen, K. Y. (2012). The systematic construction and
influential factors of training needs assessment. International Journal of Business and
Social Science, 3(24).
Pollock, R. V., Jefferson, A., & Wick, C. W. (2015). The six disciplines of breakthrough
learning: How to turn training and development into business results. John Wiley &
Sons.
Salas, E., Tannenbaum, S. I., Kraiger, K., & Smith-Jentsch, K. A. (2012). The science of training
and development in organizations: What matters in practice. Psychological science in the
public interest, 13(2), 74-101.

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Topno, H. (2012). Evaluation of training and development: An analysis of various
models. Journal of Business and Management, 5(2), 16-22.
Kaufman, R., & Guerra-Lopez, I. (2013). Needs assessment for organizational success.
American Society for Training and Development.
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Daley, D. M. (2012). Strategic human resources management. Public Personnel Management,
120-125.