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Type: HR, Report if not a HR topic
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Training needs analysis
Type: HR, Report if not a HR topic
Posted 17-07-2011Reply
A useful one
Hello Dilip
Thanks you for this it is a useful place to start, however there are a few thoughts I would like to share with you.
1. An informal chat is a good way to establish if the managers in an organisation think they have a problem but I don't believe it's a good way to undertake TNA. When you only talk to managers you don't know if the manager is the problem. A much wider appraisal of perceived problems is needed before committing a company to the expense of additional training. Without this it is almost impossible to show ROI on training.
2.You do not advocate recording or taking notes during your initial meeting. What gets lost between the Lunch table and the office? There is always something which "falls through the cracks" in these situations, too frequently it proves to be something important.
3. What KPI are the staff being assessed against? Nowhere in your process or tick form do you have any reference to any KPI. If your measurement and analysis are not built on clear benchmarks how can you prove you are being consistent across an organisation? Objectivity is key in both good TNA and implementation of solutions. All else is opinion.
4. The form itself - Section B has open questions but requires closed answers. It may seem like only a minor problem which can be corrected with a simple change of design but it shapes thinking and that in turn can cause problems with the TNA and solutions derived from it. I recommend you look at http://www.edwardtufte.com/tufte/index and particularly http://www.edwardtufte.com/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=0001yB to see how the "shape" of a "document" (in this case PowerPoint) shapes the data and particularly shapes the thinking. The consequences are quite terrifying.
I hope these help.
One last thought, if you always give managers who think they have problems lunch then you will end up with some mangers will "find" they have problems when ever they fell like having a free lunch. The risk with that is not the cost of feeding them, it is that over time you will come to discount their problems - "Oh, he's feeling hungry today!" - and risk missing something important.
Thanks you for this it is a useful place to start, however there are a few thoughts I would like to share with you.
1. An informal chat is a good way to establish if the managers in an organisation think they have a problem but I don't believe it's a good way to undertake TNA. When you only talk to managers you don't know if the manager is the problem. A much wider appraisal of perceived problems is needed before committing a company to the expense of additional training. Without this it is almost impossible to show ROI on training.
2.You do not advocate recording or taking notes during your initial meeting. What gets lost between the Lunch table and the office? There is always something which "falls through the cracks" in these situations, too frequently it proves to be something important.
3. What KPI are the staff being assessed against? Nowhere in your process or tick form do you have any reference to any KPI. If your measurement and analysis are not built on clear benchmarks how can you prove you are being consistent across an organisation? Objectivity is key in both good TNA and implementation of solutions. All else is opinion.
4. The form itself - Section B has open questions but requires closed answers. It may seem like only a minor problem which can be corrected with a simple change of design but it shapes thinking and that in turn can cause problems with the TNA and solutions derived from it. I recommend you look at http://www.edwardtufte.com/tufte/index and particularly http://www.edwardtufte.com/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=0001yB to see how the "shape" of a "document" (in this case PowerPoint) shapes the data and particularly shapes the thinking. The consequences are quite terrifying.
I hope these help.
One last thought, if you always give managers who think they have problems lunch then you will end up with some mangers will "find" they have problems when ever they fell like having a free lunch. The risk with that is not the cost of feeding them, it is that over time you will come to discount their problems - "Oh, he's feeling hungry today!" - and risk missing something important.
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