HRMN 406: Project Deliverable 1

Chapter 4

Conducting a Needs Assessment

Knowing what is necessary is half the battle.

Chapter Four Learning Objectives

Readers will achieve the following learning objectives after reading Chapter Four.

1 Identify and describe the purpose of a needs assessment at it relates to knowledge development, skills acquisition, ability development, and performance improvement.

2 Define and describe the usefulness of a needs assessment required in designing a training program.

3 Identify and discuss the goals of a needs assessment. 4 Identify and describe the different types of needs assessments. 5 Examine and explain the range of uses and depth of coverage of a

needs assessment. 6 Describe and compare the differences between a formal and informal

needs assessment. 7 List and explain the different types of methods for collecting

information. 8 Identify, describe, and explain the different types of questions to

ask in the needs assessment information gathering stage of the needs assessment process.

9 Identify, describe, and explain the different circumstances that require a needs assessment or do not require a needs assessment.

10 Identify, describe, and sketch an example of a needs assessment information gathering process.

11 Identify, explain, and demonstrate how to present the results of a needs assessment using a model report and a model presentation format.

C o p y r i g h t 2 0 1 9 . R o u t l e d g e .

A l l r i g h t s r e s e r v e d . M a y n o t b e r e p r o d u c e d i n a n y f o r m w i t h o u t p e r m i s s i o n f r o m t h e p u b l i s h e r , e x c e p t f a i r u s e s p e r m i t t e d u n d e r U . S . o r a p p l i c a b l e c o p y r i g h t l a w .

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Book: Stanley C. Ross. (2019). Training and Development in Organizations: An Essential Guide For Trainers. Routledge

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36 Conducting a Needs Assessment

Learning Objective #1: Identify and Describe the Purpose of a Needs Assessment as It Relates to Knowledge Development, Skills Acquisition, Ability Development, and Performance Improvement

A needs assessment represents a methodology for collecting information and it represents the preliminary step in the process of designing a training pro- gram. A needs assessment can be organized systematically as a formal process or it can function as an informal process. A formal needs assessment requires a structured plan that serves as a blueprint to follow. An informal needs assess- ment adheres to a process as well, but the process is less structured.

The circumstances dictate whether a more or less formal approach is nec- essary. Formal and informal approaches represent two ends of a continuum. A sense of urgency is one factor that determines the choice of approach. When time is critical, the designers of a needs assessment will opt for a less formal approach. The requirements of the important decision-makers represent an important factor in deciding whether to use a formal or less formal approach. When decision-makers stress the importance of the training, the result is the creation of a formal, structured needs assessment process to ensure thorough- ness of the process. Finally, the importance of the subject dictates the choice of approach. An important subject leads to a formal needs assessment process. The importance of the subject matter can influence the design and imple- mentation of the training program.

Where the training is very important but there is no urgency, the individu- als responsible for designing the needs assessment must be thorough and must create a more formal process. When the situation is important and urgent, the needs assessment won’t be as formal because of the time limitations in conducting the needs assessment. A less formal design is the result. Finally, when there is no urgency and the issue is not important, the design is more informal (see Figure 4.1).

As an information collection, analysis, and dissemination process, the designers of the needs assessment process will collect the information, analyze the information, report the important themes that emerge from the analysis, and provide a report about the information in a way that facilitates the work of the training program designers in designing the actual training program.

There are three broad categories of information that the designers could focus on, depending on the purpose for undertaking the needs assessment. One category is knowledge acquisition or knowledge enhancement. Trainees

Informal Design

Formal Design

Not Urgent Not Important

Urgent Not Important

Not Urgent Important

Urgent More Important

Not Urgent Very Important

Figure 4.1 Continuum on the Range of Possible Design Configurations

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Conducting a Needs Assessment 37

either need to learn something new, build on prior knowledge, or both gain new knowledge and build on prior knowledge. Skills development is another category. Skills acquisition or building on an existing skill represent varia- tions of skills development. Trainees learn a new skill, work on improving an existing skill, or both. The third category is the development of an indi- vidual’s abilities. Abilities represent natural tendencies to be strengthened. For example, an individual might be a strategic thinker or a natural organizer or an effective communicator. Such abilities are improvable through training.

Learning Objective #2: Define and Describe the Usefulness of a Needs Assessment Required in Designing a Training Program

Important stakeholders initiate the idea that some type of training is necessary. The role of the training program designers is to learn from the stakehold- ers the specific goals that training needs to achieve. Identifying the train- ing goals encompasses the scope that a needs assessment must cover. Scope involves learning how much trainees need to learn about different subjects; skills required, as well as the trainees’ abilities which can be built on. Depth of coverage is an important focus as well. Stakeholders might not require a broad range of knowledge but do require that the trainees are very knowl- edgeable about one or several subjects. For example, a student might take a lot of business courses to be knowledgeable about business. This represents the scope of knowledge required. Depth occurs when a student concentrates on one subject (e.g., marketing, accounting, etc.).

Stakeholders might want trainees to have a broad range of skills, such as the ability to use different pieces of equipment (e.g., road building equip- ment, etc.), or to specialize in the use of one piece of equipment (e.g., exca- vator, etc.) and all the possible applications of that equipment.

The development of personal abilities can focus on a wide-range of per- sonal abilities such as critical thinking, communication skills, self-motivation, stress tolerance, social skills, and self-leadership. The alternative approach is to narrow the scope by focusing on critical thinking only, for example, to develop critical thinking abilities. This is an example of depth of coverage.

The importance of a training program’s goals dictates the context of the needs assessment, the types of questions to ask, and the process to follow in collecting the information. Content refers to the subjects the design team needs to learn about. Questions are important to ensure that the informa- tion accurately reflects the views of the respondents answering the questions. Process entails the stages associated with the design, implementation, and reporting of the findings of the needs assessment.

The goal of the needs assessment is to generate the information necessary to facilitate the design and implementation of the training program. Designing a training program requires an understanding of the subjects to cover; learning

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38 Conducting a Needs Assessment

about the preferred instructional methods to use, and learning how to ensure that trainees remain motivated throughout the training program. Motivation of trainees is often influenced by the importance of the subject to the trainee, the preferred instructional methods that work best with the adult trainees, the trainer’s attitude, and the use of motivators during training. Knowles et al. (2005) mention that motivation is high for the adult learner when training is perceived as furthering the self-development process for the adult learner. Ross (2015) speaks to the personal development of the individual as part of the self-leadership process that motivates the individuals and which they pur- sue in building self-esteem through work-related activities.

Learning Objective #3: Identify and Discuss the Goals of a Needs Assessment

A needs assessment provides information but the important focus of this information gathering process is to identify the type of training program to design. Stakeholders may have general ideas about the training program requirements, but the role of the needs assessment is to either confirm or not confirm these ideas and to provide more specific details that offer guidance to the individuals responsible for designing the training program.

Another goal of a needs assessment is to help the designers of the training program to organize the information based on the types of issues reported by the respondents. During this information organization process, the needs assessment analysts must prioritize the subjects using a method (such as rank- ing) to identify where the training program designers should focus their efforts. The needs assessment can facilitate organizing and prioritizing the types of issues to focus on by asking respondents to identify the important subjects by the type of questions asked. This is not a foolproof method and the stakeholders might disavow the feedback, but the information does con- tribute to the overall analysis of subjects to focus on during training.

A third goal of a needs assessment is to identify the specific knowledge, skills, and abilities of the trainees in order to identify baselines for each. Analysts need to identify trainee baselines to identify what trainees need to learn. The training program designers want to avoid unnecessary duplication that can de-motivate the trainees and result in a less-than-successful training program.

Learning Objective #4: Identify and Describe the Different Types of Needs Assessments

There are six major types of needs assessments. By understanding the type (based on purpose) of a needs assessment, the training program designers can design the information gathering process that is integral to the needs assess- ment and questions to ensure the collection of relevant information to aid in the design of the training program. Each subject identified through the

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Conducting a Needs Assessment 39

information collection process generates a different set of training goals and learning objectives associated with each training goal.

Mandatory training is one type of training program. Mandatory training can be externally or internally driven, or both. For example, financial service firms must provide annual training on ethics for all financial advisors and ensure that all financial advisors participate in the training. A firm can meet the minimum requirements, such as hours of training. But a firm can also request more hours, as well as a variety of methods to promote ethical train- ing. A firm might require a minimum score that all financial advisors need to achieve. Internally driven training could include training on sexual harass- ment. The training could be preventative or in response to events within the organization that warrant a formal response by the organization. The scope of training could be narrow by covering only the definition of sexual har- assment. The scope could be broad by focusing on the definition of sexual harassment, reporting process, review process, penalty policy and notifica- tion process. An organization’s policies are fundamental for implementing the organization’s strategy. The organization often wants to ensure adherence to these policies through mandatory review training sessions which serve as a reminder of the importance of these policies.

Another subject of a needs assessment is to identify problems or deficien- cies that exist. Once decision-makers (e.g., stakeholders, etc.) have identified issues, the needs assessment designers need to design the information col- lection segment of the needs assessment to accurately identify the problems, determine the scope of the problems, assess the seriousness of the problems, and determine the degree of urgency in solving the problems. Ranking the problems from most critical and urgent to solve to least critical and least urgent to solve helps prioritize the problems to focus on.

Often symptoms are defined as problems. The question or questions asso- ciated with collecting the information need to ensure that responses delineate between a problem and a symptom. Symptoms are typically some type of performance indicator that we see or experience, whereas problems cause symptoms but remain unobtrusive. For example, when sick and visiting the doctor, the doctor asks what is wrong, and the response is a list of symp- toms. The doctor attempts to identify the causal factors from hearing about the symptoms and conducting tests that generate additional information that together enable the doctor to make a diagnosis.

Another subject of a needs assessment is to learn about impending organi- zational changes. A new strategy, a new executive hire, an acquisition, or a new product or service all result in change. The designers need to create an assessment method that collects information that enables the training program design team to create a training program that prepares people to successfully implement the changes.

Often an organization looks to pursue new opportunities as part of a strategy. The range of opportunities can vary widely. The needs assessment

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40 Conducting a Needs Assessment

designers must create the information collection process and questions such that the respondents can accurately identify the knowledge, skills, and per- sonal abilities needed to successfully pursue these new opportunities.

Organizations seek to leverage existing strengths by building on these strengths to improve organizational performance. The designers of the needs assessment must create a process that includes questions that identify the types of changes planned, the magnitude of the changes, the urgency in imple- menting the changes, and what individuals need to participate in the train- ing process.

Organizations often pursue new strategies to implement in the pursuit of new opportunities. These new strategies require different approaches in order to implement the new strategies. A needs assessment must target the important decision-makers associated with implementing the new strategy to learn about the implementation methods required. The designers must develop questions that enable the designers to learn about the specific implementation require- ments so that the individuals responsible for designing the program can do so correctly. A well-designed training program provides trainers with relevant information that is comprehensive and thorough in detail. Implementation of change is the most challenging aspect of change management, and training is one of the instrumental methods used to facilitate successful change.

Learning Objective #5: Examine and Explain the Range of Uses and Depth of Coverage of a Needs Assessment

There are six issues that determine whether a needs assessment is necessary and the type and amount of data required. An analogous scenario serves as a way to facilitate understanding of the associated issues. College students must take a wide variety of college courses that cover three areas: non-major courses, major courses, and specialty area courses. These three categories of require- ments demonstrate the range of coverage. Assuming a student is a business major, the depth of coverage begins with the number of business courses cov- ered, for example. Further depth of knowledge and skills development occurs from specializing in a particular subject such as marketing or accounting.

The needs assessment designers must learn what is feasible to cover within the training program. The needs assessment designers have to learn the breadth of a subject to cover from the needs assessment respondents in order for the training program designers to create a training program that encompasses the range of subject matter and the required depth of subject matter overage.

If better performance is a training goal, the designers of the training pro- gram need to know the factors that contribute to improving the performance of the trainees and the extent to which each factor’s depth of coverage con- tributes to improved performance. A useful example helps to explain. If stu- dents need to achieve a score of 80 or higher in an accounting exam, this is a performance goal. The range of topics included in the exam is dictated

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Conducting a Needs Assessment 41

by whether the topics are covered in a single accounting course or several accounting courses. The fewer the courses, the greater the depth of coverage, whereas the more courses required, the less depth of coverage is necessary. However, a professional qualifying exam likely requires broad comprehen- sive knowledge of a subject along with detailed knowledge of topics within each subject area. This explains why training is often required prior to sitting for a professional qualifying exam, and often the pass rate on the first attempt is well below 100%.

If a problem and solving a problem is the training goal, then the design- ers need to create a needs assessment instrument and information gathering process that enables the training program designers to focus on problems and not symptoms. Furthermore, the designers need to be able to differentiate between major problems and secondary problems, focus on major problems, and learn whether the solutions to the problem are simple or complex in order to ensure successful trainee learning. The range of problems and the seriousness of the problem(s) dictate the subject matter that trainees will be exposed to. Complex problems often require complex solutions and so fewer problems are covered during a single training session. Trainers need to know this information during the design phase of the training process.

Typically, the need for training originates from a variety of sources, both external to the organization and from within the organization. Externally, examples include the need to meet legal requirements, competitive circum- stances, economic conditions, and other types of external reasons. Internally, training often follows the needs required based on organizational policies, strategic plans, and important decision-makers. Designers of the needs assess- ment must craft an assessment method that provides information which ena- bles the training program designers to create a program that encompasses the range of subjects that must be covered and the topic coverage within each subject, all within the required time frame allocated.

Finally, the training program designers need to learn if training is knowl- edge-based, the range of subjects to cover, and the depth of coverage within each subject. If training is skills-based, then the designers need to know the range of skills to cover as well as the minimal level of satisfactory performance expected. If proficiency of knowledge acquisition or skills development (or both) are necessary, then the designers need to learn how proficiency is measured to determine the range of subjects and the depth of coverage of each subject. All of these issues need to be addressed by the designers of the needs assessment.

Learning Objective #6: Describe and Compare the Differences between Formal and Informal Needs Assessments

A formal needs assessment and the stage of information gathering represent planned events. A formal needs assessment process and the method(s) used to

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42 Conducting a Needs Assessment

gather the information is driven by the importance of the training program and the complexity of the subject of training. This is illustrated in Figure 4.2.

Often formal methods for collecting information aim to generate objec- tive information that comes in the form of quantitative results. For example: rank ordering of subject material, the percentage of participants indicating the importance of a subject or topics within a subject area, or scaled responses such as 75% of respondents indicated the subject is “very important.”

A formalized information gathering process along with the formal method(s) associated with gathering the information is typically required when the performance of the trainees or seriousness of the problem(s) require a careful and thorough understanding of the problem(s) and not the symp- toms of the problem(s). Figure 4.3 illustrates how the level of criticalness influences the level of formalization required.

An informal needs assessment and informal information collection pro- cess are defined as requiring little systematic planning because there is a clear understanding of the needs to satisfy from the training and there is no urgency associated with designing the training program. An additional type of situation where an informal approach is the best method is when the needs assessment is for the purpose of confirming information gathered from a tangentially related prior study. Decision-makers can decide that an informal approach is best because the decision-makers have a general idea of the training needs to focus on and the needs assessment only needs to confirm the details of the required training.

F or

m al

Importance

Figure 4.2 The Importance of Training and the Extent of Formalizing the Needs Assessment Process

F or

m al

Performance/Problem Critical

Figure 4.3 The Level of Criticalness Influencing the Level of Formalization Required

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Conducting a Needs Assessment 43

Typically, an informal needs assessment process generates qualitative types of information because the training program designers only require confirmation of the subject knowledge to cover and topics within each subject. There is no need for objectifying the collected information. Examples of qualitative infor- mation for a sexual harassment training program can include: the definition of sexual harassment, the process for reporting sexual harassment, the sexual harassment adjudication process, etc. Topics within each subject provide the specifics to cover in that subject area. For example, a topic within the definition of sexual harassment can be forms of sexual harassment, the government man- dated definition of sexual harassment, level of seriousness of the harassment, etc.

Informal and formal needs assessments represent two ends of a continuum. Often circumstances initially lead to the use of an informal approach that transi- tions to a more formal approach during the design of the needs assessment and information collection stage (along with the method(s) used to collect the infor- mation). Personal experiences, interactions among people, and customer/users/ clients or employees can all indicate the necessity of either a formal or informal needs assessment. Over time, when and if the circumstances result in a growing sense of urgency and the importance of the subject matter becomes more criti- cal, then the informal needs assessment can lead to a formal needs assessment.

Learning Objective #7: List and Explain the Different Types of Methods for Collecting Information

Several methods are available to those individuals responsible for implement- ing the needs assessment information collection process. Table 4.1 presents each method along with the advantages and disadvantages of each method. The circumstances dictate the choice of method. A comprehensive approach is to use two or more of the methods in some combination. For example, face-to-face interviews can lead to creating a survey instrument to gain input from a large number of individuals, or survey results can initiate face-to-face meetings. Survey results can lead to selective contact with participants by telephone to clarify the survey findings.

The method individuals use during the information gathering process can vary and can be as simple or as complex a process as necessary to gain the feedback that enables the training program designers to design a well thought- out training program that meets the organization’s requirements.

Learning Objective #8: Identify, Describe, and Explain the Different Types of Questions to Ask in the Needs Assessment Information Gathering Stage of the Needs Assessment Process

The goal in formulating questions is to generate responses to the ques- tions that aid training program designers in designing the training program

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44 Conducting a Needs Assessment

correctly. Good questions increase the response rate as well as providing clear, accurate, and relevant information. The response rate is important if the information gathering process relies primarily on indirect methods for collecting information (e.g., surveys, etc.). The type of questions asked directly impacts on the quality of the responses. A quality response provides clear, concise, and unambiguous responses necessary to design a relevant training program.

If quantitative types of responses are the goal, then the questions need to be framed to generate quantitative types of responses.

Examples of questions generating quantitative responses include:

1 Select and rank the top three subjects to cover in training. 2 Select the percentage that best represents the amount of time to spend

on subject “A.” 3 Rate the importance of covering subject “A” during training.

Not Important Somewhat Important Very Important Important Critical

1 2 3 4 5

Table 4.1 Types of Methods for Collecting Information

Method Advantages Disadvantages

Face-to-Face • Able to get detailed responses w/clarifications

• Target important participants

• Time consuming • Fewer participants due to

time constraints • Unable to meet with enough

key participants Survey • Able to reach large numbers

of participants • Able to ask specific questions • Able to generate quantitative and

qualitative responses • Able to categorize respondents to

note differences among groups

• Low response rates • Unable to ask clarification

questions unless able to send another survey

Telephone • Able to get more detailed responses to questions

• Able to ask clarification questions

• Difficult in reaching enough people

• Time consuming • Contact fewer participants

due to time constraints Email • Quick

• Able to reach large numbers of people

• Low response rate • Selection bias based on

who responds • Difficult to clarify responses

Secondary Sources

• Information accessible • Information available quickly

• Information too general • Information does not

directly address the reasons for training

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Conducting a Needs Assessment 45

1 How much time (in minutes) during the eight hours of training should be spent covering subject “A?”

2 Is covering subject “A” during training important? _____ Yes _____ No

When the preference is qualitative types of responses, preparing the right type of questions is critical in order to achieve the goal of generating detailed state- ments from the respondents.

Examples of questions generating detailed qualitative responses include:

1 Identify the important subjects to cover in the training program and explain why these subjects are important.

2 Describe what subjects you think need to be covered in the training program.

3 What makes covering subject “A” during training important? 4 Identify the types of instructional methods to use and explain the impor-

tance of each. 5 Describe the type of personality a trainer needs to have in conducting

training on subject “A.”

Often the use of questions to generate qualitative responses is done with the aim for respondents to provide viewpoints that were not considered or were initially considered irrelevant, and after sorting through and organizing the responses into categories, the information gathers can formulate more perti- nent questions that generate more useful responses.

Questions designed to generate a qualitative response are used when the information gathers have a general idea on possible subject matter and want to learn about other issues to consider in designing the training program. Setting a narrow range of subject matter is important so as to avoid over- whelming the trainees with too much information to learn.

The design of the question is one of the critical factors that can influence the response rate. Important criteria to consider when designing a question include:

1 Non-Technical: avoid technical terms that might confuse the respond- ent, but if necessary, offer a brief explanation.

2 Non-Jargon: jargon can confuse the respondent and jargon can have dif- ferent meanings to different people.

3 Short: brief questions keep the respondent’s attention better. 4 Specific: non-specific and multi-part questions can exceed the respond-

ent’s attention span as these types of question are long and confusing as to the purpose of the question.

There are four broad categories of types of questions that information gath- ers can include during the information collection stage of the needs assess- ment process.

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46 Conducting a Needs Assessment

1 Open-ended questions: the purpose is to generate qualitative responses. 2 Closed questions: the purpose is to generate quantitative type responses. 3 Range of responses limited: the purpose is to set limits on the responses

and to quantify responses. 4 Multi-part questions: the goal is to reduce the complexity of asking one

question by sub-dividing a question into parts, with each part asking for a limited response from the respondent.

The number of questions to include in the needs assessment information gathering process is critical because this likely will influence the response rate and the quality of the responses. There is not a set number of questions to use. However, if the decision is to seek qualitative responses, the fewer the ques- tions, the greater the likelihood of a higher response rate and better quality responses. If quantitative responses are the goal, using more questions is okay because the respondents need only circle a choice or put in a number. Brief questions still remain the preferred choice in order to encourage rather than discourage participation. Think of the time you received a survey and the questions were wordy and there were too many questions. What did you do?

Including questions that solicit both quantitative and qualitative responses is doable, but some concerns remain because the more questions, the greater the likelihood of a lower response rate and less informative responses.

Respondents’ time constraints, attention span and knowledge of a subject can vary. The designers of the questions need to consider these issues when designing the questions to use. When in doubt, fewer, shorter, and concisely worded questions is the default mode.

Learning Objective #9: Identify, Describe, and Explain the Different Circumstances That Require a Needs Assessment or Do Not Require a Needs Assessment

A needs assessment is always necessary, but a formal, planned needs assess- ment is not always required to design a training program. An informal needs assessment is an option when training follows prior practices and the focus of the training is well-known to all the important stakeholders. An informal needs assessment requires a minimal effort at gathering information to assure stakeholders that there is no change in circumstances to warrant modifying an existing training program, or that a modest change in circumstances requires only minimal changes to the existing training program.

However, there are circumstances when a formal needs assessment is nec- essary and required to design a new training program to ensure successful training results. First, there are externally based conditions that can require a formal, planned needs assessment process. Government initiatives and/or government decisions can rule that an organization needs to offer specific types of training. For example, several years ago certain personnel practices of Ford were ruled as biased and the government required Ford to initiate a

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Conducting a Needs Assessment 47

specific type of ethics training for all employees. Customers, users or clients might have concerns, and the organization seeks to respond by developing a training program intended to train personnel in ways the organization has determined are necessary to be responsive to the concerns expressed.

Organizational decision-makers may determine that training is necessary to resolve a problem or correct a situation. Training goals originate from the deci- sion-makers and these goals necessitate that the designers of the training program design it according to the decision-makers’ requirements. Gaining important insights on how to design an effective training program warrants creating a formal information collection process that includes identifying important infor- mation providers, the methodology to use in gathering the information (e.g., survey, interview, etc.), and the analytical method needed to analyze the find- ings so as to provide a blueprint to follow in designing the training program.

Finally, a formal needs assessment is necessary when decision-makers determine that the effectiveness of a training program is questionable and warrants evaluating. When this situation occurs, the expectations of the deci- sion-makers requires careful consideration to ensure that the training require- ments are identified thoroughly. To evaluate the effectiveness of a training program, trainees are tested prior to training and post-training. Knowing what to test for, knowing the subjects and topics to cover during training, and learning about the preferred instructional methods to use during training are all important issues to consider when designing a training program.

Learning Objective #10: Identify, Describe, and Sketch an Example of a Needs Assessment Process

Conducting a needs assessment includes creating a process for collecting information that aids in designing a training program. Developing a pro- cess provides a systematic, logical approach to gathering the information. Whether the process is formal or more informal, creating some type of pro- cess functions as a means for helping to collect the information needed for designing the training program.

The scope of the training subject shapes the process and is shaped by the information gleaned from the process. The first stage of the process is being aware of an issue or problem and deciding that training is a logical method for solving the problem or educating trainees on an issue(s). The next step is to develop fact-based reasons for requiring a training program. Facts introduce an objective-based approach to justify moving forward with the needs assess- ment and information collection stage. Once the idea of a needs assessment gains acceptance, the next step is to identify the goals of the needs assess- ment. The use of SMART (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Time-limited) goals provides an objective approach for learning if the needs assessment process was successful. SMART-type goals objectify the needs assessment process whereby measured, time-limited goals provide the neces- sary focus to the entire needs assessment process.

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48 Conducting a Needs Assessment

The next stage involves estimating the time needed to complete the entire needs assessment process. Estimating the approximate time for completing the needs assessment process begins with a rough approximation that likely changes as the planners work on the plan of action to pursue in designing the needs assessment process. The plan involves identifying all the stages involved. The plan considers sub-steps to the overall needs assessment process. These sub-steps focus on identifying who to collect information from, the type of questions to ask, the method(s) for collecting the information, the analytical method(s) used to assess the information, analysis of the information collected, method(s) for prioritizing the findings, preparation of a report that includes rec- ommendations, and a presentation of the results of the process (see Figure 4.4).

Learning Objective #11: Identify, Explain, and Demonstrate How to Present the Results of a Needs Assessment Using a Model Report and a Model Presentation Format

Presenting the findings and recommendations is an integral part of the needs assessment process. It is critical because any confusion in presenting the findings can lead to a less than optimal training program. Organizing the

Idea or Problem

Fact- based

Reasons Goals

Time Frame

Plan Participants Questions Data

Collection Methods

Collect Responses

Aggregate Results

Analyze Data

Prioritize Findings

Prepare Report

Present Findings

Design Training Program

Figure 4.4 Flowchart of the Process for Conducting a Needs Assessment

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Conducting a Needs Assessment 49

information and recommendations in clear, concise, and easy to understand language benefits the reader. A sensitivity to the reader’s interests and con- cerns helps to set the author’s priorities in the order of subject coverage. However, the general rule of thumb is to present the important issues first, and these issues are determined by the goals of the needs assessment.

All results, whether quantitative, qualitative, or some combination of the two, are easily presented in tables. The author identifies the appropri- ate table for the reader to reference, with the narrative covering only the top two to three issues. The narrative includes the analysis of the findings and recommendations.

Sectioning a report makes it easier for the reader to follow the presentation of the important issues. For example, the report could begin with an Executive Summary in Section 1, which provides the reader with an overview of the report. Next is the section that presents the Situation. This section serves two purposes. First, the author states the purpose of the report. Second, the author identifies the goals of the needs assessment.

Section 3 of the report presents an overview of the Needs Assessment Process, referencing a flowchart that shows the process along with a brief overview that describes the process followed.

Section 4 covers the Important Findings. The author can sub-divide this section by subject categories. For example, one category could include important knowledge. Another category could entail important skills. A third category could cover preferred instructional methods. The narrative works best when using bullets to present the information and to make reading easier. At the end of each major section the author could pro- vide the reader with Conclusions. Conclusions represent the implications of the findings, as all the stakeholders reading the report need to under- stand the usefulness of the findings. Finally, the report includes a section on Recommendations. Recommendations describe the author’s suggestions on how best to design the training program.

Any technical information, including tables, belongs at the end of the report in an Appendix. Most readers choose not to review technical material, but the author provides easy access to the material for those readers interested in this information.

Oral presentations need to follow the order of the information in the report and the report should be accessible to audience members. An effec- tive PowerPoint presentation is clear, succinct and follows the format of the report. A maximum of four to five bullets under a heading with no bullet more than two lines in length is optimal. The audience’s attention span is maintained by brief, simple, and non-technical terminology. An outline of the PowerPoint presentation should accompany the presentation as an additional means to follow the presentation and for taking notes. A Q&A session works best when conducted after the formal presentation. The pre- senters should prepare the audience by briefly providing an overview of the presentation.

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50 Conducting a Needs Assessment

Questions

1 Explain the importance of a needs assessment. 2 Describe why the design of a formal needs assessment process is important. 3 Explain the difference between a formal and informal needs assessment. 4 Under what circumstances is an informal needs assessment process preferred? 5 Discuss the reasons why creating a formal report to present an over-

view of the needs assessment process and the findings of the assessment is important.

Bibliography

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Killington: Elsevier. McCawley, P.F. (2009). Methods for conducting an educational needs assessment.

University of Idaho Extension (online). 1–23. Available at: www.cals.uidaho.edu/ edcomm/pdf/bul/bul0870.pdf.

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Rouda, R. H. & Kusy, Jr. M.E. (1995). Needs Assessment: The First Step. Technical Association of the Pulp and Paper Industry (online). Available at: http://alumnus. caltech.edu/~rouda/T2_NA.html.

Society for Human Resource Management. (2014). How to conduct a training needs assessment (online). Available at: https://www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/tools-and-samples/how- to-guides/pages/conduct-training-needs-assessment.aspx.

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