OBH 412 MANAGEMENT TRAINING & DEVELOPMENT

Lesson No. 3
TRAINING NEEDS ASSESSMENT & ACTION RESEARCH

Au thor : Dr . T ejinder Sh arma

Dept. of Commerce,
K.U., Kuruks hetr a

Structure

3.0 Objective
3.1 Introduction
3.2 Environmental Contexts in Training Need Identification
3.3 Understanding Training Needs
3.4 Scope of Training Needs
3.5 Importance of Identifying Training Needs
3.6 Training Needs Matrix
3.7 Components of Training Needs Statement
3.8 Summary
3.9 Key Words
3.10 Self Assessment Questions
3.11 Suggested Reading

3.0 Objective
This lesson shall familiarize you with the following:

• Environmental context in identifying training needs

• Nature, scope and importance of identifying training

needs

• Methods of identifying training needs

3.1 Introduction

Any activity undertaken in an organization must be planned

carefully, otherwise it will lead to the wastage of resources
and efforts and not achieve the desired objectives. In this
lesson, the characteristics of training needs within an
organization are discussed and a practical framework for
their identification is suggested.
Most of the times, training in organizations takes place
without people necessarily thinking of it as training. The
individuals become aware of learning gaps that need filling or
of opportunities for self-development through interest,
curiosity, ambition or simply by having to cope. People take
advantage of these opportunities or take action to fill the
gaps often without, official guidance or direction. They watch
others, try things out, reflect on their experience, seek (or
are given) advice, or get hold of information. The
development opportunities outside the work environment can
cause the individuals to become aware that their skills and
knowledge are in some way deficient.
Rapid advances in information technology and flexible
learning facilities are increasing the learning opportunities
dramatically increasing. Media has also contributes to the
importance of learning.
However, they have focused more attention on what might be
termed ‘supply-led’ learning needs, that is, needs which,
although they existed before, were either not recognized as
such or, if recognized, were not accorded a high- enough
priority for action to be taken.
Most of the learning in organizations is achieved informally,
often on the job. However, training must be a more formal
process, directed towards a practical, performance-related
objective. In order to be effective, it must be a deliberately
planned and structured intervention into an informal day-to-
day learning. Its effectiveness increases if it involves

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someone else – a trainer, teacher or coach – to suggest,
organize and control what they learn.

3.2 Environmental contexts in training need

identification
While identifying training needs, it is important to take into
consideration the environmental contexts. Specifically, this
would include the national and organizational contexts within
which organizations are working. Training is highly influenced
by the current developments in these contexts. In general,
the environmental context for identifying training needs
includes the following:

1. The effects of legislation and national economic

policies on the organization's markets and
policies. For example, if an organization wants to
train its sales force, it has to apprise them of the
laws relating to sales tax and consumer protection.
A personnel department must be clear of the
prevailing labour laws.
2. The pace of technological development and job
change, which is increasing the requirement for
learning needs to be quickly and continually re-
identified. In the present times, technology has
created a paradigm shift in the human resource
management. Organizations are working across
boundaries and have a diverse mix of attitudes
and work environments. Training needs have to
comply with these.
3. The present age of competition needs flexibility in
its approach towards human resource

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 management. The work force of today might not
have a fixed office, nor would they have any
working hours. The older rules of compensation,
career advancement, job security etc. are not
longer true. The training needs have to
accommodate this flexibility also.
4. The integrated economies of today have led to the
convergence of markets and organizations.
Training has to include them and these should be
considered while designing any training
programme.
5. There are no qualifications for a job. This flexibility
allows people of diverse background skill to work
in an organization. Training needs must be based
on these diversities.
6. The increasing stress (sometimes in an uneasy
relationship with the ‘competence’ developments)
on continuous development, self-development and
on people taking responsibility for their own
learning.
7. The often rapidly changing pattern of government
intervention in the control, encouragement,
provision and funding of vocational education and
training, and the various ‘initiatives’ launched by
government departments.

3.3 Understanding Training Needs

Generally, it is stated that a training need exists when there
is a gap between the present skills and knowledge of its
employees, and the skills and knowledge they require or will
require for an effective performance. However, it must not be

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assumed that poor performance is being caused by a lack of
competence on the part of the employee. The real problem
may lie elsewhere. The following case would make this
clearer.

In a cafeteria where there are a lot of complaints about the attitude and
manners of counter staff. These were reduced, not by increased social-
skill training, but by a re-design of the counter layout, an alteration of
lunch-hour overlaps and a better presentation of food to the counter.
This reduced the problems that occurred, which were readily coped
with by the counter staff by using the social skills they already
possessed. In this situation, the extra training was unnecessary .

The simple definition of a training need can only be a starting

point. As with any organizational activity, a training
intervention will require resources, support and some
structured activities. There may be a cadre of instructors or
no-the-job trainers, an open-resources centre which people
are encouraged to use, external or internal courses, or a
programme of planned experience. To be of practical value
and enable training decisions to be made, a training-need
identification must recognize the resources implied and make
a supporting case to those responsible for making decisions
about resource allocations. The case has to demonstrate that
the need described is directly related to operating policies,
priorities, opportunities and problems and to budget
constraints Indeed, a preliminary identification may be
necessary in order to justify the expense and time of a more
detailed exercise. The following case would show how the
trainers can be unclear about the objective of imparting a
training to the employees.

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At a training officer course a newly appointed training officer was
presenting to her managing director the results of a thorough analysis
of the whole range of training requirements at her factory. He
congratulated her on the presentation of her project and then said: ‘But
tell me, what do you want me to start doing next Monday morning’?
She had no ready reply.

Nowadays a training need identification needs to do more

than describe and justify (in terms of costs and benefits)
what has to be learnt. It should also identify, and make some
assessment of wider made. These have to do with the
characteristics and circumstances of the learners, and the
opportunities and constraints present in their work
environments.

3.4 Scope of Training Needs

Logically, training needs must apply to individuals, at

whatever level in the organization, but the scope and
grouping of application varies considerably. Consequently,
the scale and characteristics of the related training also
varies, and so does its importance and cost. Three
categories of the scope of training needs can be identified,
as stated below:
(i) At the level of all individuals
There are some training needs, which may cover everyone in
the organization. For example, where the development and
survival of a business depends on a much greater willingness
on the part of its managers and work-force generally to
accept change, or where the whole business is moving to a
new site. In the present times of disinvestments of PSUs,

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computerization and corporate restructuring, many
organizations undertake the exercise of imparting training to
everyone in the organizations. Every individual has to relearn
newer skills to work in newer environment. Example of
BALCO disinvestments, computerization of SBI are some of
the typical examples.

(ii) Specific groups in an organization

This category of training relates to specific groups of people
within an organization, although it is less wide in its scope.
There may be in a particular unit, department, or section; at a
certain level, such as supervision; or within a particular
occupation or exercising a particular function such as
designated safety officers. An example is when a new
information system, linking all the retail outlets of a major
chain store, leads to the requirement for training in the use of
on-line computer terminals for certain grades of staff in all
branches. In armed forces, specific strike groups are trained
for counter insurgency of anti terrorist operations. When
Election Commission of India decided to use electronic voting
machines, it undertook the task of training the groups who
were to perform the job.

(iii) Particular individuals in an organization

The third category relates to particular individuals. Examples
of person-specific learning needs include:
• Preparing an employee for a new job. E.g. when a
person is shifted from one department to another, he
needs to get trained for the newer responsibilities.

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 • Activities in support of career or self-development.
E.g. a person getting training before getting
promoted to the next position.
• Remedial training or coaching where work
performance is not up to standard. E.g. an employee
might need specific training or counseling to be able
to perform better.
• Updating training E.g. the technology might change
and the organization might have to update the
training of the individuals.

3.5 Importance of Identifying Training Needs

The identification of training needs is very important because
of three contextual changes that occur in an organization.
They are discussed as follows.
(i) Job changes
While continuing to be employed by the same organization,
many managers and their staff, especially in recent years,
have had to adapt to significant changes in their work or work
environment, and on occasions be retrained for an entirely
new kind of work. These changes have occurred as a result
of new equipment, new methods, systems or procedures,
computerization, reorganization and takeovers, relocation, or
legislation. The changes in themselves may not be new; what
is new has been the frequency and pace with which they are
now taking place. In this context, what employers are
requiring, to a greater degree then ever before, is a work
force, which is flexible and responsive to change.

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(ii) Person changes
Individuals changing jobs, or preparing for future changes in
their work, whether in their present organization or
elsewhere, are potentially in need of training. There will be a
need for induction and initial training for young people
commencing employment or for adults joining a new
department or organization; ‘re-induction’ and updating for
women returning to work after a break; training as a
preparation for transfer or promotion or as part of a longer-
term career development.

(iii) Performance deficiencies

The emphasis placed on the need for training stimulated by
technological and other changes should not eclipse the
importance of identifying routine or maintenance needs.
Indicators of learning needs which result from shortfalls in
work performance include simple situations such as operator
faults, customer complaints, the carelessness of familiarity.
Reoccurrence of human errors - such as forgetting the
difficult aspects of tasks, instructions and procedures, which
are carried out less frequently etc. indicate that there are
shortfalls in the training.

3.6 Training Needs Matrix

The training-needs matrix suggested in Figure 3.1 provides a
summary of why training needs occur and for whom. It may
be found useful in providing a check list of needs across an
organization, in presenting these and in justifying
recommendations. Some of the ways by which training needs
are identified are as under:

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(i) Need identification by top management
The top management may recognize the training needs. The
day-to-day events, such as operating problems, staff
shortages, faults or complaints, or the inability of staff to
handle new systems might indicate a problem.

Why does the need occur? To whom does the need apply?
Specific Specific groups The organization
individuals of people as a whole
Job changes, e.g.
• Technology
• Methods
• Systems
• Products/services
• Organizational
changes
• Management style/
• Legal requirements
• Disinvestment etc.
People changes,
• Young people
starters
• Adult starters
• Transfers
• Promotions
• Career
development
• Personal
development
Performance deficiencies
• Technical
skills/know-how
• People skills
/know-how
• Managerial skills
/know-hw

Figure 3.1 Training needs matrix

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Experienced managers may be adept at identifying that such
problems that may need a training solution. Too often, this
occurs at a late stage in a planning cycle, or where there is a
crisis. Therefore, it is important for training and personnel
specialists to be vigilant enough to know what is going on
and to be able to spot and/or clarify the real learning need
and to respond quickly and flexibly.

(ii) Individual’s self assessment

Sometimes, individuals come to appreciate of their own

deficiencies in terms of their knowledge, skill or attitude. In a
supportive environment ignorance of some fact is not
regarded as a sign of weakness. In such situations, the
individuals themselves may state the training need.
Acceptance by individuals that they have a learning gap
which cannot be filled by informal learning. Such a self-
assessment is an important first step in securing a positive
attitude of mind towards taking part in training aimed at
remedying the need.

(iii)Systematic investigation

Despite a careful top management and receptive individuals

in an organization, not all requirements for training emerge in
the ways mentioned above. Important needs have to be
identified through a number of different forms of more
systematic investigation. These include carrying out training
audits and setting up needs-identification projects.
Systematic methods, such as interviews, questionnaires, job
or task analysis, assessment centers, diary-keeping, and
faults analysis, are described in most books and booklets on

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planned training and form an essential part of the repertoire
of training staff. Used without discrimination, some of these
methods can be mechanistic and time-consuming and do not
always reach the root of a problem. Skill and perception in
the use of the tools of systematic analysis is necessary while
undertaking these exercises.

(iv) Structured assessment

Training needs may also be identified in a structured way by
making sure that the consideration of training implications is
built into an organization’s policies, systems and procedures.
These include the processes for deciding about and
implementing objectives or introducing changes, and, of
increasing importance, staff appraisal systems. The latter
have a crucial role to play in securing that an individual owns
his or her learning needs, and has a chance of contributing to
their recognition.

(v) Peer review

Another method of achieving recognition and acceptance of
learning gaps is to involve people in a review of current work
practices. In such exercises, identifying training needs is a
‘hidden agenda’ item. This can be particularly effective when
the individuals concerned are critical of the present
arrangements and feel that management will take their
opinions seriously.

3.7 Components of Training Needs Statement

A statement of needs should aim the following points:
• Achieving the commitment of resources, by
demonstrating that such a commitment is warranted.

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 • Enable informed decisions to be made about the kind
of resources and where they should be focused.
• Provide information that enables a relevant and
effective provision of learning resources to be
planned.
Some of the most important features that personnel and
training specialists should consider in meeting these aims
are:

(i) Target audience and training needs

This has already been discussed in the training matrix.

(ii) Objectives of training

The overall objectives to be met out of a training programme
and the performance requirements should be clear. Rest of
the training strategy would depend on he clarity of the
objectives to be achieved.

(iii) Justification of training

Operational justification, priority and urgency of training
should be considered. Priorities can rarely be neatly or
clearly established. They may look different from different
vantage points in the organization, or to managers with
different interests and there can be merit in opportunism!

(iv) Type of training needs

It must be stated whether the training needs are once-and-
for-all, recurring, or continuous and changing. It must be
specified whether they require small amounts of training or
more substantial, longer-term learning, or are complete areas
of knowledge, skill or qualifications required.

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(v) Kind of learning required
The nature of training whether it consists of theory or
knowledge, of adaptation and development of existing
expertise, of practical know-how, of a need to be exposed to
new ideas or sources of information, or of changing attitudes.
The training process would depend largely on these issues.

(vi) Objectives of trainees

The trainees must be judged for their present range of
experience and knowledge, their likely motivation to learn
and learning styles, their availability for training, the
characteristics and circumstances of their working
environment which might help or hinder learning. Training is
for the trainees and their characteristics have a lot of impact
on the effectiveness of the training process.

(vii) Organization itself

The organizational factors are also an important factor while
preparing a statement of needs. Some of the organizational
issues to be considered while assessing training needs are:
• Is the organization’s culture hostile, neutral or
supportive to training?
• What opportunities and/or constraints are there as far
as traditional forms of training are concerned?
• Who currently has access to training and of what
kind?
• What facilities and opportunities do or could exist at
the workplace or elsewhere?
• What is the strength of the organization's
commitment to vocational education programmes or
continuing development?

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(viii) Kinds of training provisions
The type of training provision can influence its effectiveness.
The learning strategies are acceptable to the organization
and the trainees also needs to be considered. For example,
the issues such as support for informal on-the-job learning,
for updating or for individual initiatives, advice and help that
are available to initiate and sustain flexible individual
learning etc. must be looked into.
Rosset has summarized the needs assessment process in an
organization in the form of the following box (Box 3.1).
The basis of all training should be the achievement of the
optimal situation from the actual situation. The actual
situation is representative of the pre-training scenario in an
organization. It is an indicative of a gap in the current
systems. The optimal situation is the one, which is intended
top be achieved out of the training. It is an outcome of the
change that has been initiated by the training. In an
organization, there can be several causes of training, as
have been discussed earlier. The environmental contexts, the
organizational issues and the attitudes and feelings of the
people – both the trainees and the trainers, need to be
considered while assessing the training needs in an
organization. The effective solutions are a consequence of
the series of activities, thus undertaken.

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Basis

1. The optimal situation

2. The actual situation
3. Causes
4. Peoples’ feelings
5. Solutions

Steps

1. Select sources to be contacted

2. Determine the stages of assessment
3. Select and use need assessment tools
4. Create items/questions to use in seeking information
5. Consider critical incident analysis

Tools

1. Interview
2. Documents
3. Surveys
4. Observations
5. Focus groups

Box 3.1 Needs Assessment (Source Rosset, 1990)

As shown in the box, there are several steps to needs

assessment, which have been explained in the earlier
discussion. Typically, these include the selection of sources
to be contacted for imparting the training. The stages of
assessment need to be worked out and he selection of right
need-assessment tools has to be made. Typically, the tools
used are the questionnaires, whose effectiveness depends on
the information that they collect. In order to collect the right

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kind of information, the selection of question items (i.e.
framing of the questions) becomes very important. Literature
can be a useful basis for item selection. However, in the
organizational contexts, the opinion survey can be an
effective method of item selection. The views of the people
who need the training, their supervisors and the top
management can provide vital clues that can help to select
the right questions. Some organizations make use of critical
incident analysis as well. Critical incident can be a situation,
which shows the need of training. It can become a starter of
any training process. Even normal reports such as increased
number of customer complaints, strikes, dysfunctional
conflicts etc. can be certain critical incidents, which can
initiate the training process in an organization.
There are several tools available at the disposal of the
trainers to identify the training needs. The most commonly
used tools are the interviews, documents (containing the
organization’s record), surveys, observations and focus
groups. The basics of these techniques have been discussed
in several other chapters. Each of these has certain
advantages as well as limitations and the trainer has to
choose between these depending upon the specific
organizational situations.

3.8 Summary

Any activity undertaken in an organization must be planned

carefully, otherwise it will lead to the wastage of resources
and efforts and not achieve the desired objectives While
identifying training needs, it is important to take into
consideration the environmental contexts. Specifically, this

17
would include the national and organizational contexts within
which organizations are working. Training is highly influenced
by the current developments such as the effects of legislation
and national economic policies on the organization's markets
and policies, the pace of technological development,
competition, integration of economies, flexibility, increasing
stress and rapidly changing patterns of government. The
scope of training needs would include the three categories -
at the level of all individuals, specific groups in an
organization and particular individuals in an organization.
The identification of training needs is very important because
of three contextual changes - job changes, person changes
and performance deficiencies The training-needs matrix is a
useful tool for assessing the training needs and provides a
summary of why training needs occur and for whom. Some of
the ways by which training needs are identified are need
identification by top management, an individual’s self
assessment, systematic investigation structured assessment
and peer review. Some of the most important features that
personnel and training specialists should consider in meeting
these aims are: Target audience and training needs,
Objectives and Justification of training, type of training needs
and kind of learning required.

Training is an important activity in the present times.

However, it should not be undertaken for the same of doing
it. There is a need for proper need assessment. Researchers
have proposed several steps for identifying the training
needs and their use should be made by the trainer
judiciously.

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3.9 Key Words
Training Need
A training need exists when there is a gap between the
present skills and knowledge of its employees, and the skills
and knowledge they require or will require for an effective
performance.

Training Need Matrix

The training-needs matrix is a tool to assess the training
needs. It provides a summary of why training needs occur
and for whom. It may be found useful in providing a check list
of needs across an organization, in presenting these and in
justifying recommendations.

Peer review
This is a method of achieving recognition and acceptance of
learning gaps by involving people in a review of current work
practices.

3.10 Self Assessment Questions

1. What are various environmental contexts that should
be taken into consideration while identifying the
training needs in an organization?
2. How will you differentiate in a situation where the
problems occur not because of the lack of training,
but because of some other reason?
3. Discuss certain bases for assessing the training
needs.
4. What steps should a trainer follow for identifying the
training needs?

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 5. What are various tools available to the trainers for
assessing the training needs?

3.11 References/Suggested Reading

1. Allison Rossett (1990) Need Assessment: Fore-runner
to successful HRD programs, in Annual: Developing
Resources, ed. JW Pfeiffer, University Associates, San
Diego
2. Rolf Lynton and Udai Pareek (2000) Training for
organizational transformation, Sage Publications, New
Delhi.
3. Edgar Schein and Warren Bennis (1965) Personal and
organizational development through group methods,
John Wiley & Sons, New York.

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