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Week3INFO.docxCHAPTER SIX
Needs Assessment: A Lighthouse Beacon *
Catherine M. Sleezer
Darlene Russ-Eft
Those who captain ships at sea rely on a lighthouse beacon to mark a safe path to the journey’s end. The bright, flashing light mounted on a tall tower that is visible over the horizon also reveals underwater areas that are too risky, too shallow, or too dangerous for safe passage. The lighthouse beacon for human learning, training, and performance improvement initiatives—whether labeled as needs analysis, needs assessment, or some other term—is a type of evaluation that lights the path for completing an initiative and reveals places that are too risky, dangerous, or shallow for safe passage. Such analysis takes more time and planning than simply moving forward to implement solutions; it does, however, avoid costly mistakes and greatly increases the likelihood of an initiative’s success.
Indeed, evaluation expertise applied at the beginning of a project to assess needs (predictive analysis) may provide a higher return on investment than the evaluation expertise that is applied after a project is completed (summative evaluation) (Bahlis, 2008; Sleezer, 1990). Such analysis can link learning and performance improvement expertise to an organization’s strategic needs, its mission and goals, and the perceived issues. For a useful visual of this linkage, see the Pershing Performance Analysis Model (Haig & Addison, 2008).
In this chapter, we set the stage by first defining the term needs assessment and describing some needs assessment models and approaches. Then we discuss evaluation standards and principles that are especially important when planning, implementing, or evaluating a needs assessment, and we show how the standards and principles can be applied.
WHAT IS NEEDS ASSESSMENT?
Needs assessment is a diagnostic process for determining the important learning and performance needs in the situation and how to best address them. A “need” is the gap between the current condition and the desired condition. The indicators that a needs assessment should be implemented include dissatisfaction and growing concerns with a current learning, training, or performance situation; a sense that there are gaps in accomplishments, processes, or capacity; and the willingness to expend resources to improve the situation. Sometimes, a needs assessment targets a subset of gaps (for example, critical incident analysis, audience analysis, technology analysis, situational analysis, media analysis, and cost analysis).
Needs assessments are implemented in situations that are dynamic, where some information is unknown and where key players may disagree about the information that is known. Moreover, a needs assessment either supports or challenges the current power structure. In such situations, sound evaluation practices keep a needs assessment grounded and assure the integrity of the process and results.
Implementing a needs assessment involves data collection and analysis and collaboration and negotiation with key stakeholders. The data collection and analysis focus on behaviors, processes, systems, and culture that produced the current conditions and those that are required to create the future situation and the gaps between the two sets of conditions. Collaborating with the key stakeholders to implement the needs assessment assures that their relevant insights are shared, their incompatible beliefs are uncovered, and that areas that are too risky, dangerous, or shallow are identified and become common knowledge. The negotiations by the analyst and the key stakeholders during the needs assessment process about the meaning of various events and stakeholder comments clarify ambiguities and help build support for successfully implementing the solutions.
Thus, the results of a needs assessment are influenced by the characteristics of the organization, the stakeholders, and the analyst (Sleezer, 1990). The needs assessment results are also influenced by the needs assessment model that guides the process.
MODELS FOR NEEDS ASSESSMENT
Needs assessments are implemented in complex systems and organizations; thus, a change in one part of the system can affect other levels and parts. For example, a needs assessment within an organization can produce results that contribute to the larger shared society (Kaufman, 2005). Three kinds of needs commonly found in organizational settings include:
· Learning needs: These are gaps in knowledge and skill between the current and desired conditions. Most needs assessment experts agree that individuals have learning needs. In addition, growing bodies of literature describe team and organizational learning needs.
· Individual performance needs: These are gaps between current and desired conditions relative to a person’s accomplishments, behaviors, or capacity for performance.
· Strategic or operational business needs: These are gaps between current and desired conditions for an organizational unit or for an entire organization. Closing these gaps is critical for the long-term success of the organization or one of its units.
Needs may also be determined for various groups (such as specific teams, departments, organizational units) or for groups with specific foci (such as sales performance or management).
Learning and performance needs may be only vaguely understood when they initially surface. As Harless (1970) observed, when confronted with problems, organizations tend to look for solutions even before the problem is fully defined. Harless, a leader in needs assessment, focused on accomplishment, and he coined the term “front-end analysis,” which he defined as “all the smart things a manager does before addressing a solution to a human performance problem” (p. v). Front-end analysis is used to determine the root causes of performance problems. The title of Harless’ book, An Ounce of Analysis Is Worth a Pound of Objectives, communicates well his view on the relationship between needs assessments and instructional objectives.
Gilbert (1978) proposed the behavior engineering model (BEM), which has become a classic model for measuring performance. The BEM describes the relationships among behaviors, accomplishments, and performance. Behaviors are what people do, accomplishments are their outputs, and individual performance includes both behaviors and accomplishments.
Mager and Pipe (1984) differentiated between performance problems that result from a skill deficiency and those that result from other causes, such as lack of motivation or obstacles to performing. There is little point to providing individuals with knowledge and skills if the lack of performance is caused by low motivation or obstacles to performing (such as lack of resources).
Kaufman (1992, 2005) introduced the organization elements model (OEM). In this model, needs assessment and strategic planning are used to link and define an organization’s desired external and internal results. Elements in the OEM include the following:
· Inputs: The resources an organization uses
· Processes: The internal ways, means, methods, activities, and procedures an organization uses to achieve desired results
· Products: The results produced within an organization
· Outputs: The end results delivered outside an organization
· Outcomes: The effects or payoffs for clients and society
Rummler and Brache (1995) revolutionized the practice of needs assessment in organizations. Instead of referring to a traditional organizational chart with its departmental silos, they described an organization as a system with such components as inputs, a processing system, outputs, markets, and shareholders. They also showed the importance of the interrelationships among departments. Needs assessment practitioners who understand the systems view of organizations can move beyond focusing on activities that occur within departmental silos to focusing on activities that occur across departments.
Rummler and Brache also described the importance of diagnosing performance needs that occur at three levels: the organization, the processes, and the individual jobs and performers. Because the three levels are interdependent and critical to the whole system’s optimal performance, a failure at any one level can affect the ability of the organization to perform optimally. Today most needs assessment practitioners view organizations as systems comprised of subsystems.
Today, we find that the literature describes many types of analysis (such as systems task analysis, knowledge task analysis, environmental analysis, cause analysis, extant data analysis) and many approaches to needs assessment (for example, Altschuld & Witkin, 2000; Rossett, 2009; Swanson, 2007; Van Tiem, Moseley, & Dessinger, 2004). While it is beyond the scope of this chapter and the patience of most of our readers to cover all the approaches to needs assessment, the next section describes four commonly used approaches.
FOUR APPROACHES TO ORGANIZATIONAL NEEDS ASSESSMENT
This section describes the following approaches to organizational needs assessment:
1 Knowledge and skills assessment
2 Job and task analysis
3 Competency assessment
4 Strategic needs assessment
Examples of when to use each approach and the phases and steps required for each type of needs assessment are described in the following sections. Note that these approaches can be used separately or in combination. Figure 6.1 shows the time and labor required for the each of four approaches that are described in this chapter. Additional details on each of these approaches, along with data collection instruments and other tools, can be found in Gupta, Sleezer, and Russ-Eft (2006).
Figure 6.1 Comparison of Time and Labor Requirements for the Four Needs Assessment Approaches.
Adapted from A Practical Guide to Needs Assessment (2nd ed.) by Gupta, Sleezer, and Russ-Eft.
Knowledge and Skills Assessment
As a training manager for a manufacturing firm, you may be asked to provide an employee safety curriculum; as an HR manager for a government agency you may be considering training the agency’s employees on newly adopted policies; or as the adult educator for an international consortium, you may be considering updating the orientation program for new employees. A knowledge and skills assessment provides just the right beacon of light for systematically examining the developmental needs of a group and for determining if training is an appropriate solution. The purposes of a knowledge and skill assessment are
1 To identify the knowledge and skills that people must possess in order to perform effectively on the job and
2 To prescribe appropriate interventions that can close the knowledge and skill gaps.
A knowledge and skills assessment has five phases:
Phase 1. Gather preliminary data provides a holistic perspective and establishes specific goals for the needs assessment. Completing this phase requires gathering background data by reviewing the available documents and talking with key individuals. During this phase, the analyst may discover that key stakeholders have different goals or that training is not an appropriate solution. Such a discovery suggests that the analyst may need to modify the direction of the assessment.
Phase 2. Plan involves developing a work plan to ensure that the needs assessment stays on target. The plan details the types of data that must be collected, the sources of data, the tools that will be used to collect data, and the approaches that will be used to analyze the data.
Phase 3. Performance training requirements analysis involves developing or adapting tools for collecting the data (for example, an interview form or a survey instrument). Data are also collected during this phase. The Practical Guide to Needs Assessment (2nd ed.) contains a tool book with various data collection instruments and other needs assessment documents that can be adapted for specific situations. The book also contains tips on how to collect and analyze data.
Phase 4. Analyze the data involves using the process that was specified in the plan to evaluate the data collected in the previous phase.
Phase 5. Prepare and present a report involves creating a formal report that details the needs assessment process and results. The report may be written and/or oral.
Job and Task Analysis
As an HR practitioner you may be asked to prepare job profiles or job descriptions; as a technical trainer, you may be asked to develop training for highly specialized or highly technical jobs; or as a chief learning officer, you may be involved in redesigning jobs and tasks for a work group. A job and task analysis provides just the right beacon of light for assessing needs based on detailed knowledge about the scope, responsibilities, and tasks for a particular job or job function. A job and task analysis has three phases:
Phase 1. Prepare involves collecting information individually from high performers about the details of the job. The steps of this phase include identifying the high performers, preparing the job analysis questionnaire, and preparing materials (for example, summarizing the individual responses on a flip chart).
Phase 2. Conduct job task analysis work session involves participants collaborating to identify the key responsibilities and job tasks required for effective on-the-job performance. They also identify training and non-training requirements for each job task. The participants use the materials gathered in Phase 1 of the needs assessment as a resource in this phase.
Phase 3. Develop and present job training and non-training recommendations involves first reviewing and organizing the information from the work session. Then, approval must be obtained from supervisors, HR, and others as needed for the job responsibilities, the tasks, and the training and non-training recommendations.
Competency-Based Needs Assessment
As an OD manager, you may be asked to develop career paths for various job functions; as an HRD specialist, you may be charged with conducting management development; or as an HR manager you may be required to create a system that relies on competencies for recruiting, hiring, developing, and promoting people within certain jobs. A competency-based assessment provides the right beacon of light for identifying the knowledge, skills, attitudes, or behaviors for jobs or for job functions that enable a person to perform effectively to the standards expected (that is, the competencies). One way to identify competencies relies on critical incidents and behavioral event interviewing. This approach has five phases:
Phase 1. Develop a project plan involves determining how the competency model will be used (for example, for recruiting or for development), specifying the scope and objectives for the project, selecting the people who will participate in the project, and creating a work plan.
Phase 2. Conduct behavioral interviews involves gathering and analyzing the data required to build a competency model. Data for this phase are usually gathered through surveys, behavioral interviews, or focus groups. The behavioral information collected in this phase can specify the main responsibilities for the job, the skills and abilities needed to be successful on the job and to accomplish each responsibility, the specific examples of when someone experienced success, and the specific examples of when someone experienced failure.
Phase 3. Construct competency model involves creating a competency model that specifies the competencies that are required at various levels of a job and precisely defining each competency and all the dimensions of the model. For example, the levels of jobs in the professorate could include lecturer, assistant professor, associate professor, and professor; the levels of jobs within a research function in an organization could include research assistant, research associate, research scientist, senior research scientist, and managing research scientist; the levels within a marketing function could include marketing assistant, marketing specialist, marketing supervisor, marketing manager, marketing director, and marketing vice president.
Phase 4. Assess gaps involves using the competency model to identify gaps in competencies for people who perform the job functions. This phase also involves analyzing the results. For example, a survey can be implemented that allows people to self-rate themselves on each competency. Or competencies could be assessed by supervisors or trained assessors. The analysis of data compares the competencies for various groups (for example, the top performers compared with the average performers).
Phase 5. Implement the model involves using the model as specified in the plan that was developed during Phase 1 of the needs assessment. For example, a competency model created for recruitment could focus on selecting individuals who have all the competencies for a job, while a competency model created for development could focus on employees who hold the job and lack critical competencies.
Strategic Needs Assessment
As a performance improvement specialist, you may be asked which needs in a situation are the strategic needs; or as an OD consultant, you may be asked to identify the strategic needs for a work group in a newly acquired part of the company. A strategic needs assessment, which relies on a thorough understanding of organizational strategy, identifies the performance gaps between the current situation and the strategic goals.
A strategic needs assessment provides the right beacon of light when performance improvement needs are linked to an organization’s business strategy. It also provides the right beacon when processes that do not add value to an organization must be identified or when the organization is taking on long-term performance improvement or culture change initiatives. This approach has five phases:
Phase 1. Gather preliminary information about the situation to develop a better understanding of the performance need. The senior executives in a business unit can usually provide this information.
Phase 2. Examine external environment involves first identifying and isolating the external factors that affect a performance need and then determining their implications. Once isolated, this information is analyzed.
Phase 3. Examine internal environment involves answering two questions:
1 What is the organization’s competitive strategy given its external environment?
2 Which business processes are affected by the performance problem or performance need?
Answering these questions involves validating the business strategy, documenting current performance, and identifying causes of performance gaps.
Phase 4. Chart future events involves documenting the desired processes and performance. Also, structural, reward, and other system improvements may be developed to support the new processes and performance.
Phase 5. Develop performance improvement plans involves converting the information from the previous phase into a performance improvement plan that includes all the projects that will be undertaken to improve performance in the organization. Implementing this phase involves assessing the readiness for change and selecting the interventions.
ASSESSING LEARNING AND PERFORMANCE NEEDS FOR INDIVIDUALS
In this section, we describe three approaches for assessing an individual’s learning and performance needs. In the first approach, individuals assess their situation and determine what they need based on their unique conditions, characteristics, interests, and goals. An individual’s selection of a community college course or a college degree often reflects this approach. As another example, individuals often gain unique on-the-job experiences by taking actions based on their own interests as well as on their perceptions about their own knowledge and skill needs.
In the second approach, an individual’s needs are determined by a source other than the individual. For example, supervisors often determine developmental needs for each of their direct reports. Also, the many instruments that assess an individual’s developmental needs based on their responses to a set of questions also reflect this approach.
In the third approach, data are collected from the individual and from external sources and data are analyzed by the individual and one or more external sources. An example of this approach is a 360-degree assessment that relies on data from the individual, the supervisor, the direct reports, and the boss. Often the data are displayed using a computer-generated program. The individual and a performance improvement professional can analyze the data together and jointly agree on the high-priority needs and how they will be addressed.
Each approach has both advantages and disadvantages. An individual can provide unique observations about his or her interests and commitments for a learning or performance improvement project. However, individuals often have faulty information and assumptions about themselves, about the larger environment in which they are learning or performing, and about how they compare to others. The supervisors and others may provide needed insights from the perspective of the larger organization. At the same time, they may overlook the individual’s perspectives and desires. Certainly, using data from the individual and external sources helps to link individual learning and performance needs with organizational needs. Gathering such data may be expensive in both time and cost. Therefore, regardless of which approach is chosen, care must be taken to assure that the identified needs truly reflect both the individual and the organization or larger environment.
NEEDS ASSESSMENT AS EVALUATION
A word that has nearly the same meaning as assess is evaluate. Dictionary definitions for the term evaluate that were found on www.dictionary.com include:
1 To determine or set the value or amount of; appraise: to evaluate property.
2 To judge or determine the significance, worth, or quality of; assess: to evaluate the results of an experiment.
3 Mathematics: to ascertain the numerical value of (a function, relation, etc.). ( www.Dictionary.com , 2007)
Implementing a needs assessment involves determining or setting the value of various needs. The gaps between the current situation and the desired situation (that is, the needs) must be appraised because individuals and organizations have more needs than resources to address them. Moreover, the dissatisfaction with the current situation that initiates a needs assessment contains insufficient information about what is causing the needs, what must be done to address the needs, or how to best implement the solutions. The information that is gathered during the needs assessment and the options that are identified for moving to the desired condition must be judged by the decision-makers and by the others who have a stake in the situation. These judgments determine the significance, worth, or quality of the needs.
Applying evaluation principles and standards assures that the needs assessment processes and results are undertaken in a professional manner. The Joint Committee on Program Evaluation Standards developed thirty Program Evaluation Standards in 1981 and revised them in 1994. The standards focus on the following four areas of evaluation:
· Utility standards are intended to ensure that an evaluation will serve the information needs of the intended users.
· Feasibility standards are intended to ensure that an evaluation will be realistic, prudent, diplomatic, and frugal.
· Propriety standards are intended to ensure that an evaluation will be conducted legally, ethically, and with due regard for the welfare of those involved in the evaluation, as well as for those affected by its results.
· Accuracy standards are intended to ensure that an evaluation will reveal and convey technically adequate information about the features that determine the worth or merit of the program being evaluated.
Details on the thirty standards can be found at www/eval.org/Evaluation-Documents/progeval.html .
In 1995, the American Evaluation Association developed Guiding Principles for Evaluators. These principles, which were ratified by the membership in 2004, offer direction in the following areas:
1 Systematic inquiry (evaluators conduct systematic, data-based inquiries).
2 Competence (evaluators provide competent performance to stakeholders).
3 Integrity and honesty (evaluators display honesty and integrity in their own behavior and attempt to ensure the honesty and integrity of the entire evaluation process).
4 Respect for people (evaluators respect the security, dignity, and self-worth of respondents, program participants, clients, and other evaluation stakeholders).
5 Responsibilities for the general and public welfare (evaluators articulate and take into account the diversity of general and public interests and values that may be related to the evaluation).
Additional details on these principles can be found at http://eval.org/Publications/GuidingPrinciples.asp .
The Evaluation Standards and the Guiding Principles for Evaluators communicate the values and behaviors found in professional evaluation. Therefore, they provide frames that are useful when planning, implementing, or evaluating a needs assessment. For practice, review the following needs assessment and identify the unprofessional values and behaviors.
Needs Assessment Example
