McGoldrick Beth - Needs assessment basics

2016 ASTD DBA the Association for Talent Development (ATD)
All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America.

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Library of Congress Control Number: 2016948058

ISBN-10: 1-56286-774-1
ISBN-13: 978-1-56286-774-4
e-ISBN: 978-1-56286-569-6

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ATDs Training Basics series recognizes and, in some ways, celebrates the fast-paced, ever-changing reality of organizations today. Jobs, roles, and expectations change quickly. One day you might be a network administrator or a process line manager, and the next day you might be asked to train 50 employees in basic computer skills or to instruct line workers in quality processes.

Where do you turn for help? The ATD Training Basics series is designed to be your one-stop solution. The series takes a minimalist approach to your learning curve dilemma and presents only the information you need to be successful. Each book in the series guides you through key aspects of training: giving presentations, making the transition to the role of trainer, designing and delivering training, and evaluating training. The books in the series also include some advanced skills, such as performance and basic business proficiencies.

The ATD Training Basics series is the perfect tool for training and performance professionals looking for easy-to-understand materials that will prepare nontrainers to take on a training role. In addition, this series is the consummate reference tool for any trainers bookshelf and a quick way to hone your existing skills.

It has been more than 10 years since the first edition of this book was written. In that time, the world has changed substantially. With the financial crisis starting in 2008 that continues to challenge organizations today, as well as outbreaks of war and terrorism, many organizations are hesitant to make additional investments in hiring more people, and thus are expecting more out of the people on their payrolls. Organizations need their current employees to be more efficient and more effective. This is where training and other HRD professionals can make a huge impact.

Over the past few years, training professionals have built inroads into helping organizations design, develop, and implement training programs that help organizations overcome knowledge and skill problems, successfully introduce new products into the marketplace, and help them succeed in doing more with less. However, there is still room to build a stronger relationship between training professionals and the organizations they work with through performance consulting.

In this second edition, youll see:

a greater emphasis on how a training professional can move from being a training order taker to being a valued performance consultant

information on implementing a return on expectations (ROE) focus in which the client has expectations for the results of the training program, but doesnt want to pursue a return on investment (ROI) strategy

a stronger link for human performance improvement (HPI) to help organizations with the systematic and systemic discovery of the root causes that prevent them from getting the results they desire.

This book is still designed for new or established training professionalsinstructional designers, trainers, or training department managerswho want to make sure that their training programs meet the performance needs of their organizations. If youre reading this book, its likely that your goals are to develop the foundation that will ensure the training programs you design and deliver will help the organization succeed.

To successfully assess training needs, you need to be able to identify the context for a training course request at four separate stages. Youll also have to identify the big picture of training needs throughout the organization. This book can help you do that. Heres a summary of the 10 chapters in Needs Assessment Basics:

, Why Needs Assessment? gives you an overview of the book. It focuses on the multiple purposes of needs assessment and serves as a foundational layer for the rest of the book.

, The Training Request, shows you how to begin analyzing training needs within the most common framework encountered by trainers: receiving a training request from a client or manager in your organization. You will learn about the four stages of data collection required for thorough needs assessment and about the challenge of creating internal credibility so that you can conduct your needs assessment.

, Identifying Questions and Data Sources, helps you identify questions that must be answered by the training needs assessment. You will also discover how to identify the sources that will provide the necessary data with the help of your business partners and client.

, Evaluating Potential Data Collection Methods, offers guidance on how to choose data collection methods to answer the identified questions using the selected data sources. When comparing data collection methods, you must consider time and resource constraints, and realize that certain methods work best for certain information needs.

, Data Collection Implementation, offers guidance in the ultimate choice of data collection methods and provides some tips and techniques for carrying out the data collection process.

, Data Analysis, discusses what you discoverwhat the data tell you about the training need being investigated. One of the most important points is the fact that data are not the same things as recommendations.

, Data Analysis Recommendations, demonstrates the difference between data and recommendations. Recommendations are the needs assessors actual conclusions and suggested actions that she thinks should be carried out. The needs assessors role in identifying issues that are unrelated to training is also examined.

, Communicating With Your Client, presents communication techniques that can assist you in reaching your goal: the implementation of your recommendations to help the business improve. You will explore planning a presentation tailored to a specific client and stakeholders.