Training Needs Analysis (TNA) is the process in which the company identifies training and development needs of its employees so that they can do their job effectively. It involves a complete analysis of training needs required at various levels of the organization.
Technology is changing at a very fast pace and so are the training and development needs of employees. It helps in grooming employees for the next level. It helps the manager to identify key development areas of his/her employees. With proper training and development, the productivity increases manifold.
Various companies have in-house experts who can train employees on various aspects of the business. Normally, a calendar is worked out in advance in which various sessions are listed out and which employees can pick their business requirement to enhance personal development needs.
At times companies also send employees for various training programs outside the organization to train in technical know-how or a course which would be relevant to their job profile. TNA is usually part of the appraisal process and at the end of the year an employee has to complete all the training and development needs identified by the manager.
Training and development, which was at some point in time was not given much weightage, is now a crucial part for any company to meet its broad goals and objectives. There are many aspects when managers are identifying training needs of their team members.
Firstly, the managers need to identify what skill set is required to complete the job or the process. Second, is to assess existing skill levels of the team members, and lastly, determine the training gap.
Training gap is defined as the difference between the skills required to complete the job and existing skill set of any particular team member.
Steps involved in TNA
- Identification of organization’s objective
- Identification of skills needed to meet the objectives
- Evaluation of existing skill levels at organization, team, and employee levels
- Identify courses available to meet gaps in skill levels
- Develop training programs to meet skill levels
Need:
Democratic needs
Are options for training that are preferred, selected or voted for by employees or managers or both. Programs that address these needs are likely to be accepted and desired by organization members. Therefore, democratic needs can be used to build support for training programs.
Diagnostic needs
Focus on the factors that lead to effective performance and prevent performance problems, rather than emphasizing on existing problems. Diagnostic needs are identified by studying the different factors that may affect performance. The goal is to determine how effective performance can be obtained.
Analytical needs
Identify new and better ways to perform a task. These needs are generally discovered by intuition, insight or expert consideration.
Compliance needs
Are those mandated by law? This category of needs most often deal with mandated training programs such as safety training, prevention of sexual harassment, training for implementation of reservation policy, etc.
Purposes
Requirement of Training Needs Analysis
Training needs analysis is always considered a first step toward helping an employee to improve their output at work. The requirement of training needs analysis is to
- Understand the performance improvement needed by the organization
- To relate this performance improvement with required skills, capabilities, and competencies
- To figure out the exact course work or skill set training program employees need to attend
- To design the appropriate training program to bridge the gap between the present productivity of the organization and desired output.
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