Hello eveyrone - I work for a financial institution, about 55 ee's. I need to conduct a training needs assessment at my company (there are currently no formal training programs), and I get confused when I think about how to do it correctly.

Right now, supervisors are in the process of identifying the expected job results of each position. After we define those results, I want to conduct the needs assessment by asking them, "OK, are these results being achieved?" In other words, I am assessing the gap between what we are expecting to be achieved and what is actually being achieved.

But once I know the gap, I then need to dtermine the cause of the gap (e.g., lack of KSA, motivation, poor communication, etc.).

The draft of the questionnaire I drafted asks about the results gap and then asks supervisors to identify the KSA's that are required. I'm hoping that by doing that, I'll get a good idea of not only the gap but also its cause.

Am I trying to do too much? Does this sound like the right way to approach it? Thanks for your feedback!

After you've found your performance gaps, it's important to determine if they are training problems or not. Process problems, misaligned rewards, etc. probably cause a lot of the problems you will find.

Check out the contents of the Needs Analysis course on my web site. The lesson descriptions themselves might spark some ideas for you.

Another way to approach training needs analysis is to start with standards of behavior. Identify what behaviors are important to the success of your business and of your employees, assess your employees on these behaviors, and develop training programs based on those findings.

Sounds easy, but it does take some work. I’ll tell you what we did. First, we had a series of conference calls with representatives from each of our stores. We asked just one question: Imagine yourself as a customer walking into your ideal store. What behaviors would you expect to see? I should note that we decided at the outset to define the standards from the customer’s point of view, so we won’t get lost in behaviors that might not ultimately matter.

We collated the results, and compared them to theoretical constructs (e.g. the EIC Competency Framework), and to standards used by other organizations. We then convened a panel of five of our leaders, and agreed upon a one-page document that listed specific standards of behavior. By specific, I mean something like “Acknowledge and greet every customer within ten feet”.

We focused on behaviors because we can manage behaviors – we can observe them, encourage them, and correct them. Values, principles, and beliefs are all very important, but you can’t manage them.

We then designed a survey based on the standards of behavior. Essentially, for each standard we asked the question: How often do you do this? We set a 5-point scale for the answers, from 1-Never to 5-Always. To help keep people honest, we let them know that the results will be shared with their managers and peers.

We deploy the survey in two ways: we have some participants do the survey all at once, while others take the survey during a basic training session. I prefer the latter approach because it trains and assesses simultaneously – we discuss each behavior, then ask participants how often they engage in that behavior. The results of the surveys make clear to us where to focus future training. They also identify other areas for improvement, e.g. which obstacles to remove so our people can engage in outstanding customer service behavior.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Leo Romero,

Hi there! The book Performance Consulting (Robinson and Robinson) has complete details, templates and guidelines for doing gap analysis and then making recommendations accordingly.

Usual disclaimers apply.

Good luck, and please let us know about your experience so we may all learn from it.