TNA is the process where in the company or organization identifies training and development requirements of its employees so that they can do their tasks in the most effective manner. It includes a full analysis of training needs needed at diverse levels of the business.
Certainly, technology is changing at a very rapid pace and so are the training and development requirements of employees. It helps in training employees for the next level. It is helpful for the manager to discover main development areas of his/her employees. In the presence of proper training and development, the productivity increases abundantly.
There are many businesses that have in-house experts and professionals who can train employees on numerous aspects of the business. Normally, one calendar is worked out in advance wherein diverse sessions are listed out and which staff members can pick their business needs to enhance personal development requirements.
Sometimes companies also send staff members and employees for diverse training programs outside the business to train in technical know-how or a training program or course that would be relevant to their job profile. Training needs identification is generally a part of the assessment process, and at the end of the year, a staff member has to complete all the training and development requirements identified by the manager.
Increasing weightage
Training and development that was at some point in time was not catered much weightage, is presently a critical part for any company to fulfill its broad goals and objects. There are various aspects when head of departments or managers are identifying training requirements of their team members.First of all, the managers have to identify what skill set is needed to fulfill the job or the procedure. Second, is to evaluate existing skill degrees of the team members, and finally, decide the training gap. Training gap is simply defined as the difference between the skills needed to fulfill the job and current skill set of any specific team member.
Training needs assessments can be both proactive and reactive. In both the instances , the goal of the training needs assessment is to recognize performance issues that can be cured through the introduction, practice, or strengthening of specific and measurable knowledge or skill sets. Proactive training requirement assessments initiate a strategic appraisal of future organizational needs that shall need new capabilities and competencies.
These assessments incline to be more formal and systematized so as to determine the complete range of possible training requirements throughout the organization. These might include assessment strategies that are time eating and require specialized know-how, like the on-line surveys, concentrated groups, and of course knowledge tests.
Talking about reactive training needs assessments, they respond to requests to train pre-recognized employees in particular content. These assessments incline to be much more informal so as to fetch a better idea of the reason for the training request and what the training is envisioned to achieve. They characteristically involve assessment strategies that are comparatively quick and need basic skills to conduct one-on-one interviews with supervisors or employees, or review the performance information.
Irrespective of whether or not the training needs assessment is reactive or pro-active, it should determine that:
There is a confirmed performance issue that can be solved through training. Does the performance problem include skills that can be taught? In case that is so, then training is the answer. In case the issue involves notification of fresh or changed policy, then a memorandum or a brief meeting might be the better option. In case the issue is individual employee performance, then performance management is going to be the finest approach.
Then you have to find out how critical will the consequences be to the business in case the training does not take place? The comparative importance of addressing this performance problem needs to be considered. Most of the organizations are going to have various different training needs, so some ordering has to take place.
Identification of appropriate audience
What is the main cause of the performance issue and who is eventually responsible? If staff members are not performing satisfactorily, the characteristic assumption is that they lack specific type of knowledge or skills that can be imparted. It may not be the case. Instead, their poor tasks or performance may actually be because of a lack of allocation, communication or planning skills of their managers or supervisors. In such an event, the right target audience would be the supervisors or bosses, not the staff members.
Identification of appropriate content
What skills, knowledge or behavior need to be learned? Once the root cause of the performance matter has been located and the right target audience has been identified, the training content can then be particularized. The content is going to be based on the knowledge and skills gap between present and desired performance.
Are the desired results practical?
Can the desired learning be attained within the given time frame? Expectations related to the outcome of a training program might need to be managed. Training can just build skills in an incremental manner. In case there is a main skills gap that requires to be addressed, then it may require more than one training session.
Is it cost effective?
You have to find out the most cost-effective manner to build the necessary skills. You know it is reasonable and cost effective to agenda a training program in case new skills require to be developed or current skills need to be refreshed and rationalized for a number of staff members. However, scheduling a whole training program to address separate individual performance issues is neither suitable nor cost-effective. It might make more sense to send the specific employee to a public workshop, provided at the time of job training and coaching, or make use of e-learning solution.
Conclusion
Whatever be the case, there has to be TNA in your organization so as to ensure that your training programs are effective or if they are needed at the first place. This is something that ensures your business runs in an effective and most dynamic manner.
