HRM

Ch04TrainingNeedsAnalysis_updated.pptx

Home >Human Resource Management homework help >HRM

Chapter 4 Assessing HRD Needs

Werner

© 2017 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part, except for use as permitted in a license distributed with a certain product or service or otherwise on a password-protected website for classroom use.

Learning Objectives

Reasons for conducting a needs assessment

Discuss five steps that can be used to conduct a task analysis

Explain the importance of identifying individual developmental needs

Importance of prioritizing training and HRD needs

Discussion

Your sales director complains that her representatives are not making their monthly quotas. She is convinced they need more sales training to address this issue and asks you to design something by the end of the week.

What would you do?

This may be a familiar scenario for students involved in training in their organization. It may also be a familiar thought for those who believe training is the answer to all performance issues. The goal of this opening scenario is to get students to think about the role of a needs assessment before deciding that training is the appropriate intervention.

Have students read the scenario on the slide and ask what they would do:

For those who answer that they would design the training without question, ask “how do you know that training will fix the problem?” “What other influences might be affecting the sales representatives’ performance?”

For those who answer that they would collect more information before designing training, ask “What types of questions?” “Who would you ask?”

The answer is that there is not enough information provided by the manager to assess that training is the right solution to address the performance issue. The trainer or HR professional should collect more information in the form of a needs assessment.

This discussion provides a nice transition to review the learning objectives on the next two slides.

Discussion

Process:

Conduct a performance analysis; desired vs. actual employee performance. What is the difference in current vs. desired performance?

Conduct a training needs assessment (TNA) to determine if training is the most appropriate intervention. How can the performance gap most effectively be eliminated?

Before we discuss the specifics of a training needs assessment, it is important to understand how a needs assessment is positioned in the larger context of addressing performance issues. So, this short primer on assessing performance issues should be helpful.

Using the sales representative (or another example) is useful. For the sales representative, before we know what to do about the performance issue (low sales quotas), we first need to know what the desirable performance outcome is. How much in sales is expected?. We also need to know the cause(s) of the low quota numbers. Possible scenarios could be an equipment issue, unclear expectations, lack of knowledge of skills or a result of a poor attitude or low motivation.

Training is the appropriate intervention when a performance issue is caused by a knowledge or skill deficiency.

Goal of HRD

To improve an organization’s effectiveness by:

Solving current problems (like an increase in customer complaints)

Preventing anticipated problems (such as a shortage of skilled technicians)

Identify new or better ways to perform tasks

Including as participants those individuals and units that can benefit most

Exercise

Imagine you are the manager of a factory with 500 workers making ice cream for export to Europe.

What information and evidence do you need before you can say the employees need training?

Try to list 5 ideas.

Pressure Points

Pressure points may signal the need for training (but not always)

Accidents report

Sick leave report

Employee compensation statistics

Product quality control report

Wastage report

Efficiency report

Machinery out-of-order report

Staff discipline report

Staff enquiries & complaints

Guests complaints

Refusal of orders made

Quality of product report

Market needs & trends

Demographic data & background of employees

legislation

lack of basic skills

poor performance

new technology

customer requests

customer dissatisfaction

new products and innovations

higher performance standards

Needs Assessment

Needs assessment (or needs analysis)

A process by which an organization’s HRD needs are identified and articulated

It is the starting point of the HRD and training process

Needs Assessment Can Identify

Organization’s goals and its effectiveness in reaching these goals

Discrepancies between employees’ skills and the skills required

Discrepancies between current skills and the skills needed in the future

The conditions under which the HRD activity will occur

Why Needs Assessment Are Sometimes Not Conducted

A needs assessment can be a difficult, time-consuming process

Action is valued over research

Available information already specifies what an organization’s needs are

There is a lack of support for needs assessment

Training and HRD Process Model

HRD interventions should be designed and conducted using a four-phase approach:

It is important to consider the outcomes of needs assessment

what trainees need to learn

who receives training

type of training needed

frequency of training

buy versus build training decision

other HRM solutions

Who Should Participate?

It is important that all relevant stakeholders be involved

Company leaders

Mid-level managers

Trainers

Employees

Subject matter experts (SMEs)

Different stakeholders bring unique and needed perspectives to the process

How Should Data be Collected?

Observation

Survey

Interview

Focus Groups

Existing Documentation

Various methods may be used to collect information. No one method is necessarily superior to another. There are strengths and limitations of each, and each may be more relevant in some contexts than others.

Observation: Observe a learner complete a job task. Use a checklist or other rating sheet to identify specific tasks. Can also be used for a learner analysis to observe if the learner has basic skills.

Questionnaire: A series of questions that can be administered during an organization, task or learner analysis. Best when assessing ability (cognitive or intellectual) or attitudes.

Interviews: One-on-one interviews to assess attitudes or reactions to a situation. Can also be used to follow-up on questionnaire items that require additional explanation.

Focus groups: An interview with more than one person. Best to use when the feedback and interaction from multiple persons is needed to understand an issue.

Document review: Reviewing documents such as personnel, training and performance records and other files that may be useful to understand the issue. Particularly useful for assessing learner readiness.

It is often useful to collect data using more than one method. For example, using a questionnaire and then following up with an interview to explore the responses.

Assessment Methods

Observation

Advantages: relevant data, minimizes interruption of work

Disadvantages: requires skill in observation, employee behavior may be affected by being observed

Survey

Advantages: inexpensive, can collect data from a large number of individuals, data easily summarized

Disadvantages: potentially low response rates, may lack detail

Assessment Methods

Interview

Advantages: good at uncovering detail, can explore unexpected issues

Disadvantages: time consuming, socially desirable responses, difficult to analyze

Focus Groups

Advantages: useful for complex or controversial issues, can explore unexpected issues

Disadvantages: time consuming, potentially socially desirable responses, difficult to analyze

Assessment Methods

Existing Documentation(technical manuals, records)

Advantages: good source of information, objective

Disadvantages: may be difficult to understand, potentially obsolete

Online Technology

Advantages: objective, minimizes work interruption, limited human involvement

Disadvantages: low response rates

The Needs Assessment Process

Strategic/Organizational analysis

Where in organization training is needed

Under what conditions will it occur

Task Analysis

What must be done to correctly complete a task

Person Analysis

Who needs to be trained

What kind of training do they need

Organizational Analysis

To align training with business strategy and to ensure there are resources and managerial support for training.

Task Analysis

To identify the important work-related tasks and knowledge, skills, behaviors, abilities (KSBAs); determine if the content and activities are consistent with trainee on-the-job experience; and to develop measurable and relevant content, objectives and methods.

Person Analysis

To ensure that trainees have the basic skills, motivation, prerequisite skills or confidence.

Strategic/Organizational Analysis

Components of a Strategic/Organizational Analysis

Organizational goals

Organizational resources

Organizational culture and climate

Environmental constraints

Gather data mainly from senior and mid-level managers.

Questions to Ask during Organizational Analysis

Are unspecified goals translatable into training objectives or criteria?

Will trainees be rewarded for efforts?

Is training being used instead of more appropriate measures such as bonuses, placards, new equipment, etc?

Is top management willing to commit resources?

Have various levels of participating units been involved in developing program?

Are key people ready to accept the behavior of trainees and to serve as role models?

Organizational Goals

Are areas meeting goals?

Probably don’t need training

Areas not meeting goals?

Is training the answer?

Organizational Resources and Core Competencies

Funding

Is it available?

Facilities

Are they available for HRD?

Materials

Are they on hand?

Expertise in-house

Is it available without impairing production?

CH-4

Organizational Culture and Climate

Is it supportive to HRD?

Is there inter- and intra-area cooperation and trust?

Is there management support?

Is there supervisory support?

Is there profit center support?

Environmental Constraints

Environmental constraints include:

Legal issues

Social issues

Political issues

Economic issues

Advantages of Conducting Strategic/Organizational Analysis

Ensures HRD efforts are tied to organizational strategy and mission

Communicates linkage between operations and HRD

Generates support for HRD efforts and activities

Activity

Task Analysis

Task analysis (sometimes called operations analysis)

A systematic collection of data about a specific job or group of jobs to determine what an employee should be taught to achieve optimal performance

Data sources: Subject matter experts (SMEs), managers, exemplary employees.

How To Conduct a Task Analysis

1. Develop an overall job description

2. Identify the task to be analyzed

3. Describe KSAOs needed to perform the task

4. Identify areas that can benefit from training

5. Prioritize areas that can benefit from training

Essentially, the tasks analysis answers the question: “What does good performance look like?”.

Step 1: Develop an Job Description

A job description is a narrative statement of the major activities involved in performing the job and the conditions under which these activities are performed

Job Analysis: A systematic study of a job to identify its major components (Jobs

Tasks, Working conditions, KSAOs)

CH-4

Step 2: Identify the Task

Task identification focuses on the behaviors performed within the job

The major tasks within the job

How each task should be performed (i.e., performance standards)

The variability of performance (how the tasks are actually performed in day-to-day operations)

Methods for Task Identification

Stimulus-response-feedback

Time sampling

Critical incident technique

Job inventories

Job-duty-task method

Methods for Task Identification

Stimulus-response-feedback

Time sampling

Critical incident technique

Job inventories

Job-duty-task method

Step 3: Identify What It Takes to Do the Job

Knowledge

Skills

Abilities

Other Characteristics

Includes motivation and attitudes

Step 4: Identify Areas that HRD/Training Can Help the Most

Focus is on determining which tasks and capabilities should be included in HRD programs

Ratings of tasks as well as KSAOs should be examined

Step 5: Prioritize Training Needs

Get management and supervisors to agree with priorities

Achieve “buy-in”

Discussion

Review the following sample tasks and task ratings for the electronic technician’s job. What tasks do you believe should be emphasized in the training program? Why?

Person Analysis

Helps to identify who needs training

Involves obtaining a variety of information on person characteristics

Data sources include learners, managers and document reviews (personnel records, prior training records, or testing).

Also known as gap analysis, which involves determining what is responsible for the differences between current and expected performance

Data for a Person Analysis

Basic skills

Reading ability

Cognitive ability

Age and generation

Awareness of training needs, career interests, and goals

Self-Efficacy

Input

Output

Consequences

Feedback

Basic Skills

Basic skills are those necessary for employees to perform successfully on the job and learn training content

A literacy audit can be used to indicate employees’ basic skill levels

Readability

Training material should be evaluated to ensure that its reading level does not exceed that required by the job and trainees’ abilities

If trainees’ reading ability is low:

use other training methods

reassign trainees to different positions

provide remedial training

Cognitive Ability

Cognitive ability relates to intellectual capacity and general intelligence

One of the strongest determinants of training success

Includes verbal comprehension, quantitative ability, and reasoning ability

Age

There is biological evidence that certain mental capacities decrease from age twenty to age seventy

However, with age comes experience

Trainees may need to adapt training design and delivery accordingly

Generational Differences

Millennials are __________

Gen Xers need __________

Baby Boomers are __________

Traditionalists are __________

Millennials are optimistic, embrace technology, and appreciate diversity

Gen Xers need feedback and flexibility and dislike close supervision

Baby Boomers are competitive, hardworking, and concerned with fairness

Traditionalists are patriotic, loyal, and have a great deal of knowledge

Needs, Career Interests, & Goals

Awareness of training needs, career interests, and goals enhances motivation to learn

The link between training and areas where employees need to improve should be emphasized

Self-Efficacy

Self-efficacy relates to trainees’ beliefs that they can master training content and perform on the job

If trainees lack confidence, motivation will suffer

Enhancing Self-Efficacy

Let trainees know the goal is to improve performance and not reveal incompetence

Providing information about training prior to the program

Describe the success of peers

Emphasize that learning is under trainees’ control

Emphasize that trainees have the ability to overcome obstacles

Inputs

Inputs relate to resources employees need to help them learn

Situational constraints include lack of tools, equipment, materials, supplies, budgetary support, and time to perform

Social support

Social support refers to manager and peer willingness to provide feedback and reinforcement

Enhancing Support

Provide materials before training begins

Speak positively about the company’s training initiatives

Reinforce employees using new skills

Provide feedback to encourage employee support

Provide opportunities to practice and transfer

Outputs

Trainees need to understand the level of expected proficiency

Therefore, it is important to assess employee perceptions of performance expectations

Outputs refer to a job’s performance outcomes

Therefore, it is important to assess employee perceptions of performance expectations

Consequences

Consequences refer to the type of rewards that employees receive for performing well

Motivation to learn can be enhanced by communicating the job, personal, and career benefits of learning

If employees do not believe rewards adequate, motivation will suffer

Feedback

Employees need frequent, specific, and detailed feedback

Feedback also needs to be frequent to influence performance

Feedback refers to the information that employees receive

Use Performance Appraisal in Person Analysis

Get access to a complete, accurate performance appraisal

Identify discrepancies between the employee’s behavior and/or traits and those required for effective performance

Identify the source of the discrepancies

Select the intervention appropriate to resolve the discrepancies

Discussion

Explain the process you would use to determine the cause of a performance problem. Draw a picture showing the process.

Model of Performance Appraisal in Person Analysis Process

SOURCE: From Herbert, G. R., & Doverspike, D. (1990). Performance appraisal in the training needs analysis

process: A review and critique. Public Personnel Management, 19(3), 255255. Reprinted by permission.

Is Training the Best Solution?

Is the performance problem important and potentially costly?

Do employees know how to perform effectively?

Can employees demonstrate the correct knowledge or behavior?

Were performance expectations clear?

Were positive consequences offered for good performance?

Did employees receive appropriate feedback?

Were other solutions too expensive or unrealistic?

When Is Training NOT the Best Intervention?

Training is not the best intervention when the performance issue is a result of:

Recruiting, selection or compensation problems.

Policies and procedures issues.

A lack of coaching and feedback.

Insufficient tools, equipment or resources.

Physical setting problems.

A lack of motivation (job-person fit; person-org fit); a “won’t do” issue.

Any of these issues can be addressed through a non-training intervention. A needs assessment can determine if the performance gap will be effectively addressed through training or another performance improvement approach (i.e., job redesign, increased feedback, goal-setting, removal of obstacles, improved communication).

Additional discussion: Ask students to give examples of non-training interventions that are appropriate for the situations listed on the slide.

Discussion

Needs assessment involves organization, person, and task analyses. Which one of these analyses do you believe is most important? Which is least important? Why?

Homework

After reading the article: Off to a good start: Tips for new trainers, answer the following questions:

Highlight three of the tips that were described in this article, and state why you think each one is important for effective training.

Describe both a positive and a negative experience you have witnessed where a trainer (yourself or someone else) either did or did not follow one or more of the tips listed in this article. What made this experience either positive or negative?

What is one thing you would like to use from this article the next time you are asked to train someone? Why?

Challenge of Training Needs Analysis

Time constraints can limit the length and detail obtained from needs assessment.

What should you do if you lack the time to conduct a TNA?

Lack of management support :

The scope of the needs assessment depends on the size of the performance issue.

Starting over each time. However, you can anticipate training needs if you are attuned to:

Business problems.

Technological developments.

Other issues facing the organization.

Now that we’ve identified and critiqued the TNA process, we can discuss some of the challenges when conducting a needs assessment. Some of these issues become apparent in the organizational analysis.

Time constraints: Focusing on the essential elements of a needs assessment can minimize the time needed to complete the analysis. For example, you can obtain information for the organizational analysis rather quickly, so moving on to a task and learner analysis can expedite the data gathering process.

Lack of support: Often, organizations want training yesterday and do not understand the value of a needs assessment. You can use some of the reasons presented in first class to substantiate why a TNA should be completed, but consider amending the process to include fewer steps. For example, perhaps you can limit your data gathering to a few (groups of) persons.

Load: TNA data can be used for multiple training scenarios. If HR professionals are attuned to business needs and trends, needs assessment can be gathered before a training request.

Training Needs Analysis Review

When to conduct a TNA.

Data sources and collection methods used.

The three main analyses included in a TNA.

When training is the appropriate intervention.

Challenges to conducting a TNA.

Ensure that all students understand each of the TNA areas. Clarify any misunderstanding and then transition to the final module activity (Activity #3). The majority of time in the last class period will be spent on this activity and in the final discussion.

Case Study

Read the mini-case. Please answer the associated case questions and be prepared to discuss them.

In groups of three, review your answers. Discuss any differences in member responses and come to a consensus on an answer.

Be prepared to share your responses with the class in a general discussion.

Activity

Using a current performance issue in your organization or workplace, create a needs assessment plan that describes the specific assessment process and methods you will use to collect necessary needs assessment data.

Students will create a needs assessment plan describing the specific assessment process and methods they will use to collect the necessary data.

have students share their information in smaller groups of 3-5 students and then ask for a couple examples to be shared with the entire class. It is important that the instructor ensures students create a needs assessment plan that includes organization analysis, task/job analysis and person/learner analysis. To the extent feasible, students should also suggest multiple methods and sources from which to gather needs assessment data in order to cross-validate their findings. Multiple methods help triangulate findings and offset the limitations of other methods. Also, by limiting data collection to a few sources, the trainer will lack insights from others who might provide further insights and explanations into the performance issue at hand.

DesignImplementationEvaluation

Define

objectives

Select

evaluation

criteria

Develop

lesson plan

Develop/acquire

materials

Select

trainer/leader

Select methods

and techniques

Schedule the

program/intervention

Determine

evaluation

design

Conduct

evaluation

of program

or intervention

Deliver the

HRD program

or intervention

Interpret

results

Assessment

Assess needs

Prioritize

needs

Appraise individual

employee’s performance

Determine source of

discrepancies

Identify discrepancies

Internal factors

Motivational deficiency

External factors

Knowledge, skill, or ability

deficiency

Compare individual’s

behavior and traits to

others’ behaviors and traits

or to an ideal

Inadequate equipment,

adverse conditions

Integrate information from

organization, job, and

person analyses

Select intervention