1 Training needs analysis (TNA)
Experienced training or learning and development (L&D) managers will tend to follow a pattern when organising the delivery of training and development. This will involve indentifying and understanding the needs of the employer and the business as far as the skills and knowledge development of staff is concerned.
The training or L&D team must consult senior management and line managers as to what the employer/business sees as its training and development needs in a defined period – usually the following year, either calendar or financial. This should be assessed and matched against individual and team and unit training and development needs.
Data for this is best acquired through a variety of sources:
Discussions with line managers.
Analysis of individual employees’ skills and learning needs as identified in a structured and regular assessment process, usually a personal development programme.
Surveys of line managers and selected employees to gather their views on training and L&D issues and needs.
Meetings with their learning representatives from the organisation’s recognised trade unions.
Once this detail is gathered, the training or L&D manager should produce a TNA – in theory for the organisation as a whole, for each department and each employee, or for a particular function. In practice though, this may be too onerous and the TNA may well be a detailed overview by department and function, with line managers deciding on what individual employees need.
Jack Markiewicz, director of HR, change and talent management at Swindon Borough Council and lead on talent management at the Public Sector People Managers’ Association, says: “Effective TNA is based upon a clear understanding of what the organisation is trying to achieve, as well as the current skills and competencies of staff and the essential ones to meet the needs of the organisation.”