In this piece of work I will focus on Training Needs Analysis (TNA) as the a prerequisite for an effective training initiative of any company that has the objectives to contributing to employee development, in a nutshell it involves an investment on human resource in employment for enhanced productivity. Within this paper I will briefly describe the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) and what it does. All over the world, managers, are responsible for in house management including development and training of their teams. This gives them an understanding of TNA and its implications to an organization such as the Society for Human Resource Managements.
The SHRM is a big company dealing with all the aspects of human resource as a very significant asset in an organization. They are the masters of human resource articles, periodicals, templates that are very useful to other corporate who have the drive to invest in the human resource department. This company was formed in 1948 and later in 1984 changed its name to SHRM from the previous American Society for Personnel Administration (APSPA). Currently with over thirty departments and more than 350 staff, it is by far the most comprehensive company that deals with strategic management. The company hosts an excellent managed quality website that has detailed information about job adverts, Human resource regulations and disciplines and much more.
Training needs analysis refers to a process in which set of activities are conducted to check problems or other aspects in the work place and to determine if appropriate training would be necessary or appropriate. TNA determines the objectives and purpose of tailor made training in institutions. It forms the foundation of evaluation of sessions and a focused design. An effective TNA has a systematic analysis, planning and coordination across the company. This ensures that all the priorities are considered in advance, thus avoiding duplication of resources and achieving the maximum scale of economies (Donovan & Townsend, 2004).
Training Needs analysis should be done just before Evaluation of a company’s needs. It is like a prerequisite for ensuring thorough assessment of the organization needs. The analysis include the outlook of the business, aspects and fields to undertake in the training program, the departments targeted, what aspects of the training the departments require and when and where it be scheduled. This makes it easier to tailor make solutions for a company integrated with its goals and objectives.
Secondly, TNA is best undertaken when a company is looking for suitable training needs for its departmental staff. It offers to the best opportunity to understanding the final results and the selecting vital and most efficient training programs. Not all companies use the same training programs thus, it allows for diversity and creativity for training programs that varies from one company to another depending on the performance of the entity in terms of profitability, market share, popularity and business ethics such as customer service, staff attitude and discrepancies.
There are different approaches that different Human resource and Strategy managers have defined all through the world of Strategic management. I will mention the common used approaches that will go hand in hand with the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) as my reference company.
Proactive Training Needs Analysis
This pay attention to the future of human resource needs. The Human resource requires being in the designing of a strategic plan using the SWOT analysis. The objectives attributed to the analysis must be integrated with company’s staff with the required Knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs). Two methods will be used to enhance the KSAs in each of the critical departmental staffs. One is the preparation of staff for transfer or promotions to different jobs and for changes in their existing jobs. For example in the SHRM, when preparing staff for change in normal positions, the TNA will consist of the strategic objectives of the new position integrated with the KSAs for the job.
Organizational Analysis
This approach begins with the strategic plan and the company’s goals and objectives. This will be done by determining the best perfect fit in the company’s existing internal environment such as internal procedures, policies and structures. The important queries about the structure may include: whether the new objectives and priorities are in sync with its performance appraisal structure (Donovan & Townsend, 2004). If the priority is quality, then does the company’s system have the ability to measure it? Secondly, is the strategy in sync with the current practices of the company? This enables a revisiting or amendment of the previous policies to enhance a positive relationship between the management and staff (Harnisch, 2008). Furthermore, it will seek to ask the question about the staff capabilities to accomplishing the strategic plan of the company such as international certification that only come through extensive quality standards. There will be also informal company’s procedure will be analyzed by asking the following questions; whether the norms of the company any circumstance restrict staff output, workers believe that new performance changes are required and whether the existing formal procedures are inappropriate and what are their implications. If all these questions are asked in all levels of the company, more meaning and relevant data will, be extracted that will help the company in predicting its goals and objectives.
TRAINING IMPLICATIONS
1) Goals and Objectives of the Organization
Great emphasis should be accorded. Training provides both the expected impact and direction.
2) Human resource
Here training is required to fill gaps brought by age factors such as retirement.
3) Skill Inventory
Scrutinize the numbers of staff in the various departments, KSAs levels. This is useful in predicting the cost benefits.
4) Efficiency analysis
Training involving cost accounting concepts; quality of services and products, and the predicted standard performance.
5) Management interrogations
This will involve need determination
6) Change in System
A new or change system presents a new training problem
7) Organization indices
Present quality of indicators in the organization level. This help in ensuring the training components do not have problems.
Operation Analysis
It is very obvious that dynamism in the technological era have become so normal in the employment world. Jobs requirements keep, on changing and employees must also be prepared to for these changes. The analysis will not only focus on the various tasks in the organization but also on the tasks that will be needed in the future. This is because of the changes in areas of legal issues, societal values, markets and economics, politics and world’s affairs (Blanchard & Thacker, 2010). This will need people who are specialized in the following fields, corporate strategy, completion structures within companies, efficiency specialist, genius thinking strategist who suggest new ways of doing things and creative ideas.
Personal Analysis
This includes the assessment of people at an individual level. It scrutinizes the field that a person is posted and checks for the knowledge and skills the staff posses. It focuses on one department and interviews peers of the staff that portrays discrepancies, which could be in many forms such as previous interaction with other staffs.
Traditional training methods
There are several training methods for developing and training of staff in this company. The tasks of training and development of experts in the human resource department comprise career development plans, needs assessment and selection of the best mode of training for staff. The tradition methods of training include:
Classroom training
This is the most effective traditional mode of training. A classroom setting enable the participants the privilege of asking questions, exchange ideas, and engage in experimental learning by the involvement of role play activities More maximum effectiveness of this mode of training it is recommended that all participants should be of the same level of the caliber that is same commanding authority, power and leadership (Harnisch, 2008). This is increases optimum participation of the company staff and fully engagement in the training session.
Vocational Training
This involves training participants with certain trade or skills by an expert. Vocational training can be conducted in the work place and is normally referred to as on the job training. This requires an apprenticeship mode of training where an experienced person is fused with a learner for learning and exchanging ideas (Harnisch, 2008). This provides for a personalized learning for the each staff in a company. However, in some cases it can impact productivity since the experts or mentors are not always available all the time to consultations and questions from their subjects.
I would choose the Classroom training method for the SHRM Company. Since it has over thirty specialized departments it would be effective to training each department with experts who will integrate important Knowledge and skills that will increase their productivity in the various departments. The classroom training will also improves inter and intra personal skills amongst the staffs in the departments thus increase in motivation that will results in the increase in productivity.
Computer based Training (CBT)
With the radical development of the internet and technological systems, the online platform has created the use of computer based training where the training expert develops online training for staff. In this company, computer based training basically is the perfect mode of training for employees. CBT enhances both learning and productivity because it is flexible. It much faster since the staff will be able to access training at their own convenient time. This implies that there will be no close down of production lines during training sessions. This will enhance the productivity of the country through optimum utilization of time (Blanchard & Thacker, 2010).
CBT reduces the training duration per staff by 40-60 percent; this is also integrated with the ability to customize training to some staff with different learning abilities. This enables the staff to focus more specifically on their job and applying new learnt skills on their roles in the company. Another element for CBT involves the ability for staff to learn at their own different speeds. Unlike in classroom training the trainer dictates the speed but with the CBT where staffs have the power to train own their pace.
There are obstacles in the implementation of the CBT. One has to deal with the environment under which the skills ought to be applies. It can amount to minimal results if delivered in a vacuum. Given that it offers some great benefits, some staff may uses the advantages to cripple it since there is no monitoring on the part of the trainer immediately to supervise whether he learners have understood all the concepts.
I will initiate several procedures to ensure that these obstacles are mitigated about. First by setting a deadline in which all staff will have completed the training, this conveys some urgency that the training is indeed important. Moreover, I would ensure the program runs all the time to enable for refresher for learners who think it is necessary. Ensuring the staffs get the opportunities to apply the acquired skills and knowledge in their respective jobs and initiating one to one interviews to gauge how they are progressing.
It is unfortunate that many companies have failed to acknowledge the significance of TNA assessment method. Still many use the informal and unsystematic approaches that give power and authority to the top management to initiate training to employees. This negatively affects the outlook of these companies since they cannot scientifically measure their strategic objectives and project their future markets. TNA is here to stay and an investment in the human resource in terms of the skills, knowledge and abilities surely have long term positive effects on a company such as the Society for Human Resource Management.
References
Harnisch, O. (2008). Analysis of senior management training needs in international hotel companies - A field study. München: GRIN Verlag GmbH.
Donovan, P., & Townsend, J. (2004). The Training Needs Analysis Pocketbook. Alresford: Management Pocketbooks.
Blanchard, P. N., & Thacker, J. W. (2010). Effective training: Systems, strategies, and practices: 2010 custom edition (4th Ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall - Pearson.
