Fit the training to your needs

Identifying training needs

A training needs analysis (TNA) is an effective way to identify any gap between the skills your business needs and those your employees have. It involves gathering information to identify areas where your employees could improve their performance. You can use employee surveys, management observations, customer comments, company meetings and inspections to collect this information.

A TNA can help you clarify your objectives in training your staff. This is invaluable for ensuring that money is spent on training that will help your business to achieve its objectives. 

To carry out a TNA, you need to:

• analyse your business goals and the skills required to meet these goals
• determine whether you are changing your products or business processes and what information or training employees will need to be effective in their job
• evaluate who you want to train and how best to reach them
• establish how employees will best accept and integrate training and their preferred learning method - for more information about learning methods, see the page in this guide on training methods that suit your people
• evaluate the training in place and decide what your company can and can't provide in the way of in-house training, funding and time
• assess which consultants or training providers can fill in these gaps
• take a decision on which type of training fits your needs best - for more information see the page in this guide on training methods to fit your business

It is crucial to assess skills gaps at all levels of the business, including senior management. Include yourself in this if you are an owner-manager. You may need to develop your entrepreneurial and technical skills as the business grows. 

Subjects covered in this guide

• Introduction
• Impact of training on business performance
• Identifying training needs
• Training methods to fit your business
• Training methods that suit your people
• Training resources - in-house delivery
• Training resources - distance learning
• Training resources - external delivery
• After the training
• Here's how a Training Needs Analysis improved our performance

 

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