Training Needs Assessment for Walmart: Analysis and Recommendations

This report provides a training needs assessment for Walmart, focusing on enhancing customer service and overall employee performance. It begins by defining the training needs assessment process and its significance for Walmart, highlighting the importance of skilled employees in driving organizational success. The report then outlines a step-by-step process for conducting a training needs assessment, including identifying business needs, performing a gap analysis, evaluating training options, and recommending training plans. Key issues identified include language barriers, poor interpersonal relations, and a lack of customer focus, leading to recommendations for on-the-job training and social skills programs. The report also justifies the chosen training methods, such as on-the-job training, and evaluates the overall process's essentiality, emphasizing its role in improving service delivery and product quality. Finally, it discusses the potential negative outcomes of inadequate needs assessment, such as customer loss and poor organizational image. This comprehensive analysis aims to guide Walmart in developing effective training programs to achieve its performance objectives.

Running Head: TRAINING NEEDS ASSESSMENT 1
Training and development
Student’s name
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University
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Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION.........................................................................................................................3
Training needs assessment in Walmart.......................................................................................4
Process of training needs assessment to be adopted by Walmart.............................................5
Training need for Walmart...........................................................................................................9
Reasons for undertaking a needs assessment at Walmart.......................................................11
Evaluation and justification of the chosen method...................................................................12
Evaluation of the entire process to determine the essentiality of the training needs
assessment.....................................................................................................................................13
Possible outcomes if needs assessment is not adequately planned or conducted...................14
References.....................................................................................................................................15

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INTRODUCTION
The success of any organization relies on the nature of the workforce. Skilled employees
enhance the performance of the organization through their quality services to the customers
which lead to the attraction of the customers to the organization(Cohen,2017). The success of
Walmart relies on how productive the employees are in the provision of quality goods and
services to the customers. This report shall focus on the preparation of the training needs
assessment for Walmart to improve the nature of customer services and the quality of the goods
offered by the organization to the target consumers. The report shall outline the process that shall
be adopted by Walmart in the development of the training needs assessment program that shall
be applied by the management to enhance the achievement of the performance objectives by the
organization. The training assessment shall identify various training programs that shall be
offered to the employees to enhance their efficiency in the delivery of services to the customers.
The report shall also address some of the reasons for conducting a needs analysis at Walmart
which shall entail the identification of the performance gaps and evaluation of the effectiveness
of the entire process in the organization through a performance appraisal to ascertain the
effectiveness of the training program to the employee performance in the organization.

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Training needs assessment in Walmart
The training needs assessment is the process of ascertaining the current skills and competencies
of the employees within the organization and measuring their performance against the objectives
to establish the gaps in performance and take the right action(Altarawneh & Aseery, 2016). This
enhances the formulation of practical training and development program to enhance the
acquisition of the necessary skills and competencies by the workforce. Walmart has experienced
issues in the quality of services offered by the relevant employees to the clients. This has made
Amazon be the most excellent website for purchasing various goods and services by the clients
worldwide.

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Process of training needs assessment to be adopted by Walmart.
A practical training needs assessment for the organization shall adopt the following procedure:
Identification of the needs of the business
Training needs assessment shall be very vital for Walmart because the management shall be able
to identify the business requirements and take effective action(Silberman & Biech,2015). This
process shall enable the organization to focus on specific areas of performance where the
employees need to be trained to improve their skills on specific areas within the organization
which is very crucial for the success of the organization within the competitive business
environment. The organization can effectively identify the business needs if it has a thorough
knowledge of the latest technology essential for effective service delivery. The organization
should also be in an excellent position to identify the trending skills in the market to enhance the
acquisition of such skills by its employees. The Human resource department should identify
these needs and provide a suggestion to the top management for useful feedback.

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Gap analysis
The performance of a gap analysis enables the organization to identify the areas that need to be
improved in the organization. Walmart is experiencing many shortcomings in the quality of
customer service. There is an inadequate response to the feedback of the customers due to a lack
of understanding of the needs of the customer. The busy schedule at Walmart makes it difficult
for the employees to address the needs of the clients. The performance of the gap analysis shall
enable the organization to assess the current state of the performance of the employees as far as
service delivery is concerned. This would enable the organization to compare the current level of
employees’ performance with the desired level and offer adequate training programs to ensure
that they perform according to the set standards. The organization can use the following gap
analysis tools for efficiency
a) Performance appraisal
Walmart can use various performance appraisal techniques to monitor the performance of
individual employees within the organization. This would be very crucial because it shall enable
the organization to address the performance issues among the employees which would enhance
the success of the organization within the competitive business environment.
b) Analysis of the feedback from the customers
A thorough analysis of the feedback of the customers shall depict the areas in the organization
that need to be addressed. If the customers have issues to do with the quality of goods, the

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quality assurance team shall have to be trained once more for effective quality decisions within
the organization.
Assessing various options for training
After identification of the gaps in performance, the Human resource department should then
come up with various training methods for the employees to enhance the achievement of the
organizational goals and objectives. Various factors shall determine the choice of the viable
method which are:
a) The cost involved
The organization should ascertain the cost involved for each method to enhance the formulation
of a reasonable budget to enhance the success of the training program. The total cost of training
can be determined through the product of the total number of employees to be trained and the
cost of training.
b) Achievement of the performance objectives
The organization can choose the method that shall enhance the achievement of the organizational
objectives. Walmart can adopt on- the job training where the managers work closely with the
employees and guide them on various issues especially on matters to do with consumer
feedback.
c) Time
The duration to be taken by each of the training methods determines the effective method of
employee training to be adopted by the organization.

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Reporting the training needs and recommending the training plans
The Human resource department should submit the report concerning the findings of the training
needs to the top management for approval. The department should then recommend effective
training programs to be adopted by the organization for practical training of the employees to
enable them to acquire relevant skills which are essential for the adequate performance of the
organization. The report should entail the criteria that were used to conclude the choice of
training programs for the employees.

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Training need for Walmart
From the training needs assessment done, it is evident that the employees have issues with their
quality of service when dealing with the clients(Viglione, Rudes & Taxman, 2015). Some of the
issues related to poor quality service are:
Lack of focus on the needs of the customers
The customers may wish to obtain certain types of goods according to their specification, but the
concerned person may end up a substitute for the same. This issue can be addressed by offering
on the job training to the employees.
Language barrier
The organization deals with clients from various parts of the world; hence the employees may
experience issues to do with the language barrier. The employees should be trained in various
languages used in its major markets in order to enhance clear communication between the
organization and the clients.
Poor interpersonal relations
Good relationship among the employees is very crucial for the success of the organization. This
is because the employees seek clarity from each other in some critical issues which enhance their
performance within the organization. The training program that may be efficient for this case is

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the social skills program to foster the functional relationships among the employees in the
organization.
Lack of continuous support to the customers
The customers require the organization's support all the time; hence the live chat should be more
productive. This is because the customers may need clarifications regarding certain products
before purchasing only to find the live chat ineffective. The organization should offer a training
program that creates much emphasis on the significance of customer support as far as the
performance of the organization is concerned.

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Reasons for undertaking a needs assessment at Walmart
To determine the need for training
Training needs assessment is very vital because it enables the management to identify areas of
deficiency and take effective action
To enhance effective training
Needs assessment ensures that the organization adopts an effective training method that is linked
to the organizational needs. Enhances the adoption of effective training methods to address the
performance gap most efficiently.
To determine the root cause of poor performance
Needs assessment enables the organization to ascertain the root cause of poor performance which
enhances an appropriate action to address the issue most effectively.
To determine the desired level of performance
Needs assessment enables the organization to determine the performance objectives and the
approach to be used to achieve individual performance objectives within the organization.
To identify what to measure during training

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Needs assessment enables the organization to ascertain the skills to be acquired at the end of the
training program.
To ascertain the scope of training
Needs assessment enables the organization to focus on specific areas during training to save the
time and cost used in the entire process.
To gain organizational support
Needs assessment creates an awareness of the organization regarding the areas that need
improvement an aspect that facilitates organizational support.
Evaluation and justification of the chosen method
On the job training is the most effective method for training the employees concerning various
areas of performance within the organization due to the following reasons.
a) Simplicity
It is a simple method through which the employees get to learn what is required from them at the
organizational level and do their best to adhere to the performance standards of the organization.
b) Enhances quick learning
Through this method, the employees are in an excellent position to learn through
observation for a specific period after which they become efficient in their
performance.
c) The method is systematic