The Importance of Training Needs Analysis for Designing Learning Aligned with Business Goals
The challenges companies face in the era of disruption encourage them to continuously prepare learning processes for their employees. One way to do this is by designing learning processes using a training needs analysis (TNA).
Businesses now face multidimensional challenges such as the challenge of human resources across generations with varying characteristics, constantly changing regulations, volatile market conditions, technological disruption, and other challenges.
The shift to a digital and knowledge-based economy makes a dynamic workforce more important than ever.
Research conducted by Ocean Tomo in the Intangible Asset Market Value Study shows that a significant percentage of the market capitalization of public companies is based on intangible assets: skilled employees, exceptional leaders, and the company's knowledge.
The study's findings emphasize the crucial role of human resource management and development in creating long-term value for organizations in this digital age.
Therefore, designing human resource development programs that align with business objectives is a top priority.
To ensure that human resource development programs align with these objectives, businesses need to conduct a training needs analysis, which will be discussed in this section.
What is a Training Needs Analysis?
Training Needs Analysis (TNA) is a systematic process used by organizations to identify gaps between the skills, knowledge, and competencies currently possessed by employees and those required to achieve future organizational goals.
This process is crucial to ensure that designed training programs are relevant, effective, and efficient in improving individual and organizational performance.
McKinsey emphasizes that learning strategies must align with the organization's business objectives.
Through an in-depth needs assessment, the learning & development division can ensure that training programs support the company's strategic priorities, such as digital transformation or leadership development, thus positively impacting business performance.
Why Do Companies Need a Training Needs Analysis (TNA)?
When designing job training or human resource development programs, the desired outcome is a return on investment (ROI).
ROI, in this case, refers to whether the investment the company makes in a training institution has a positive impact on the company, not only on revenue but also on other factors such as improved work ethic and the like.
However, in practice, companies face several challenges in achieving ROI from their job training investments. These challenges include:
Performance and Skills Gap.
Many businesses face a gap between the skills possessed by employees and the skills needed to achieve organizational goals. This can lead to decreased performance, operational errors, or an inability to adapt to market or technological changes.
Budget Limitations for Effective Training
Many organizations have limited training budgets. Without a clear analysis, training can be unfocused, ineffective, and even wasteful.
Difficulty in Aligning Training with Business Goals
Many companies struggle to ensure that their training programs truly support strategic business goals, such as increasing innovation, efficiency, or digital transformation.
To address these challenges, training needs analysis is the solution. By using training needs analysis, companies can identify specific areas requiring skills improvement.
Furthermore, companies can prioritize the most relevant and urgent training based on the organization's specific needs.
The next most important aspect is that training needs analysis helps align learning with business goals by identifying training needs directly related to the organization's strategic initiatives.
What are the Training Needs Analysis Methods?
There are several ways to conduct a training needs analysis within a company that can be applied to determine what training is suitable to support business goals.
1. Surveys and Questionnaires
Surveys and questionnaires are among the most common methods used to collect data regarding training needs within an organization.
Through surveys, organizations can efficiently reach a large number of employees and identify areas where they feel they lack skills or need further development.
These surveys can include a variety of questions focused on skills that need improvement, skills needed, challenges faced in daily work, and the types of training that are most beneficial.
While this method offers the advantage of efficiency and data collection from a large number of respondents, the results can be influenced by respondent subjectivity, which may not always provide an accurate picture of actual training needs.
2. Interviews
Interviews are a more in-depth method where the assessor speaks directly with the employee or manager to gain insight into training needs.
Through interviews, organizations can explore more complex issues and gain a more personalized perspective on skills that need improvement or development.
Interviews can be conducted individually or in groups, depending on the organization's needs. This method allows for more contextual and in-depth information about the challenges employees face in their work.
While interviews provide richer insights, they are more time-consuming and expensive, and may produce data that is not always generalizable to the entire organization. Due to time constraints, only a small sample size can be collected.
3. Observation
Observation is a method used to directly observe employees performing their daily tasks.
By observing how employees perform their jobs, assessors can identify skills gaps or areas where employees may be experiencing difficulty.
Observation provides direct insight into employees' work practices and provides insight into the effectiveness of their skills in a real-world work context.
The main advantage of this method is its ability to provide objective and practical assessments. However, observations are time-consuming and must be conducted carefully to avoid observer bias that could influence the analysis results.
4. Performance Data Analysis
Performance data analysis involves examining existing data, such as performance evaluations, customer feedback, or other performance reports, to identify skills gaps or issues.
This data can provide a clearer picture of where employees may be underperforming or need further training.
Using performance data as the basis for a training needs analysis allows organizations to focus on areas that truly require attention, which in turn can optimize training resources.
While this data is objective and results-based, its weakness is that it doesn't always capture all aspects of skills that may need improvement, especially those not directly visible in performance results.
5. Focus Group Discussion (FGD)
A Focus Group Discussion (FGD) is a method that involves a group discussion among employees or managers to discuss skills that need to be developed and challenges they face in their work.
Through focus group discussions (FGDs), organizations can gain a more holistic perspective on training issues that may not be readily available through other methods.
These group discussions provide an opportunity for participants to share their views and experiences regarding the training they feel is needed.
The advantage of this method is that it allows for a deeper and more open understanding of the issues at hand.
However, FGDs can also be affected by group dynamics, where participants may not always feel comfortable speaking honestly or sharing views that differ from the majority.
6. Job Analysis
Job analysis is a method used to analyze the roles and responsibilities of a specific job and identify the skills and competencies required to perform that job effectively.
This method allows organizations to map training needs based on specific roles within the company, ensuring that the training provided is relevant to the job's duties and responsibilities.
Job analysis provides a very clear guide to the skills required for each position within the organization. While very useful, this process can be time-consuming and requires a high level of analytical skills to ensure that the results are accurate and applicable.
7. Benchmarking
Benchmarking involves comparing an organization's performance and skills against industry standards or competitors.
By comparing performance and skills data with other companies with similar success, organizations can identify areas where they need to improve their skills to remain competitive.
Benchmarking provides insight into best practices implemented by competitors and can provide an overview of industry standards that need to be achieved.
While this method is very useful for assessing an organization's position compared to its competitors, the results are highly dependent on the relevance and appropriateness of the industry standards used for comparison.
When Should Companies Use Training Needs Analysis?
You already know how important training needs analysis is in aligning human resource development processes with business goals.
The next question is when is the best time for a company to conduct a training needs analysis?
The best time to conduct a training needs analysis is after the year-end performance appraisal. Annual performance appraisals provide a clear picture of each employee's strengths and weaknesses.
However, the best time isn't limited to the year-end performance appraisal. Other times include strategic changes within the organization, at the beginning of the year or Q1, when new product development is underway, or when performance is underperforming.
You can conduct a training needs analysis with an internal team or use a corporate program from Prasmul-Eli, trusted by many multinational companies.
Let's start designing employee learning that aligns with business goals. So not only employees reap the benefits, but the company also experiences a positive impact in terms of operations.
