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The foundation, the starting point, for everything (related to training, learning and performance) is effective needs assessment and analysis. - Geary Rummler
When was the last time your organisation conducted a training needs analysis? There hasn't been a great deal of discussion of TNA in the past few years. Does the world move so fast that people don't really ask the TNA questions anymore - they just jump to an answer....?
Once upon a time, a decade or two ago, TNA was a serious process, and the training (or human resource development) department might spend 2-3 months gathering data about training needs.
From a planning perspective, there is a compelling argument for conducting a needs analysis before designing a training program. It makes sense to know what learners already know and what the gap is between their current level and the desired level of performance. It also makes sense to know the history of the current situation, relevant characteristics about the learners, and what kinds of resources and methodologies are available for training purposes.
However, there are many pressures on training managers and trainers to spend as little time as possible on needs analysis. Requests for training generally come from top managers or line managers, and they frequently come with a ready-made set of assumptions about what is needed, and a quick response - with training, not analysis - is expected.
Training programs then become based on marketing priorities - the need to have something in place, the need to be seen to be doing something. The effect on training design is a Jack ot attention to objectives in the content and the learning activities.
Often the need, and the solution, seem clear. A new system is introduced, and workers need to know how to use it. The decision to introduce the system has already been taken, and the only question seems to be how to roll out training quickly and economically.
But even in a constrained situation like this, there are many factors which will make a difference to the design and the impact of training. What is the workers' attitude towards the new system? Can the training be divided into chunks and delivered in phases (core features, specialised features)? What differences...