An assistant to the training manager of a medium size company, called me a couple of days ago, asking if I have experience in training needs analysis surveys.
The company at hand, is a high-tech global company with an employee base of a few hundreds people in Israel. The training is planned and delivered locally.
They have conducted in depth needs analysis survey 2 years ago, using qualitative tools like interviews and focus groups. Last year no such analysis was conducted due to the economic situation. This year, they are considering running such a project again, and are looking for advise on how to properly do it .
I asked: "How much of the plan devised following the analysis was actually conducted? What was the difference between planning and execution?" The person I spoke with did not know
Why am I telling this?
My experience tells me that companies relying on training needs analysis survey to be the main planning tool, are facing a problem.
I am not against gathering needs towards the beginning of the fiscal year, not at all. However, one should realize that the ability to forecast needs for the entire year is practically impossible
Such survey should focus on the major top-down training projects. Such projects, in a well planned company, will make approximately 30-50% of the scope of training, which will actually be conducted.
The remaining 50-70% will be bottom up ongoing needs, arising from the dynamicity of the business.
For the ongoing bottom-up training needs, the training function needs to set up complementary mechanism to the training needs analysis.
Such mechanism could be translated to a person or number of people dedicated to proactively gathering training needs from the business units in the company. It could be a forum of training trustees, fostered and cultivated by the training function
In my mind, only a combination of the two will ensure good alignment between the training function and the business.
Now I am waiting to see if I will be invited to present myself to the training manager. I'm not sure I gave the "right" impression.
Amir
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