The Needs Assessment Phase

1. The Needs Assessment Phase Dr. Steve Training & Development INP6325

2. Generic Training Development Model Training Validity Levels Training & Development Needs Assessment Evaluation Org Support Org Analysis Req’ment Analysis Task Analysis Person Analysis Training Validity Transfer Validity • Development • Of Criteria • Reaction • Learning • Behavioral • Results Instructional Objectives Intra-Org’l Validity Selection And Design Of Instructional Programs Inter-Org’l Validity Use of Evaluation Models Training

3. Task & KSA Analysis Person Analysis Input Design And Eval Of Training Program Org Support Org Analysis Req Analysis Establish Relationship With Top Management Specify Goals Define the Target Job Analyze Tasks and KSAs Develop Performance Indicators Choose Methods Determine Training Climate Develop Tasks Determine KSA Gaps in Target Population Determine Participants Establish Relationship With Other Org Members Form Task Clusters Identify External And Legal Constraints Determine POCs Develop KSAs Determine Approach to Resolve Gaps Anticipate Problems Determine Relevant KSAs and Tasks Form Liaison Team Develop Protocol Link KSAs To Tasks Detailed Model of Needs Assessment

4. Working Organization Training Organization Information & Support Training Program or System Organizational Support Interactive Process

5. Organizational Support • Establish Relationship w/ Top Management • Top Mgmt must understand goal • Agree as to why Needs Assessment is necessary • Design new training, improve training, validate training, etc. • Find out who else in org will need to cooperate in needs assessment • Determine expectations of top management • Establish relationship w/ Members of Org • Involve, advise, inform key members about procedure • Obtain commitment from key members • Form liaison team

6. Organizational Support Liaison Team • Purpose • Communication pipeline • Help w/important tasks – send memos, set up meetings • Increase participation of org members • Composition • Representative sample of the org (all units affected) • Leaders w/in depts, units (with knowledge of unit) • Individuals interested in solving org problems

7. Organizational Analysis • Organizational Analysis – studying how the org system affects the training program • Includes: • org goals • Resources • org climate • internal/external constraints • ability to use new skills

8. Organizational Analysis • Organizational Goals – cannot specify evaluation criteria w/out clear goal • Goals must be considered at all levels: individual to org • Types of situations (London, 1991) • Type I – Clear goals/training methods exist • Money and people to make it happen required • Type II – Clear goals/training method not obvious • Task analysis required • Type III – Unclear goals/determine if training is problem • Needs assessment required • Type IV – Unclear goals/training method not obvious • Org change required

9. Organizational Analysis • Determine Organizational Climate • Climate places restrictions on effectiveness of training • Supervisors must allow trainees to use new behaviors • Supervisors must continue to be productive while workers are in training

10. Organizational Analysis • External Constraints on Training • Regulatory Agencies –training must not violate rules of these agencies • Vertical Agencies – oversee particular industries • Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) – trucking • Food and Drug Administration (FDA) – food and pharmaceutical safety • Federal Communications Commission (FCC) – radio and TV • Horizontal Agencies – Look after social concerns • Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) – consumer safety • Occupational Safety and Health Admin (OSHA) – worker safety • Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) – civil rights • Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) – ecological concerns

11. Organizational Analysis Resource Analysis – determine what resources are available • Equipment, finances, & personnel (Internal Constraints) • Person Resource Inventory • Number of employees in job classification / number needed • Skill/Knowledge level required by job of each employee • Level of performance of each employee • Level of skill/knowledge of each employee for other jobs • Potential replacements for job from within and outside company • Training time required for potential replacements • Training time required for a novice • Absenteeism and turnover rates for this job • Job specs

12. Requirements Analysis Requirements Analysis – understanding the details of the assessment phase in context of the job & org. • Understanding the job within the org (research) • Previous analyses – sources include: dictionary of occupational titles, Manpower Administration, Defense Technical Information Center, on-line databases • Documentation – descriptions of existing training – sources include: org itself, ASTD, books, etc.

13. Requirements Analysis • Define Target Job • Choose Assessment Methods • Know the problems with each technique (table 3.3) • Use more than one technique • Use representative cross-sample of organization • Use and create documentation • Observation • Questionnaires • Key consultation • Print media • Interviews • Group Discussion • Tests • Records/Reports • Work samples

14. Requirements Analysis • Determine Participants – what org members are to be included in assessment? • Use as many as possible within constraints • Builds support for acceptance once training is implemented • Gains multiple perspectives • Include participants at various stages and from all org sites • Determine which groups are most capable of providing info • Incumbents for task statements, supervisors for KSAs • Participants should be representative of incumbents or supervisors • Random sampling or purposely over-represent minorities • Training analyst, not org, selects individuals

15. Requirements Analysis • Determine Points of Contact • Who to go to and for what? • Avoid miscommunication by having this settled up front • Anticipate Problems • Things that can disrupt the assessment process • E.g., new mgt, policy changes, mergers, labor strikes, layoffs • Develop a Protocol (link to some NA tools) • How will interviews, panels, data collection be accomplished? • Scripts to: • Explain who you are, why you’re there, what a needs assessment entails, how you will conduct sessions • Ensures that team gathers data in a standardized manner

16. Task & KSA Analysis • Task Analysis - determines training objectives related to job activities (job-oriented job analysis) • Leads to task statements • KSA Analysis – identifies the knowledge, skills, abilities and other things necessary to do job (worker-oriented job analysis)

17. Task & KSA Analysis Task Analysis • Task Statements – summarize job in terms of critical duties and responsibilities (not quality) of the job • Begin each with an action verb • Answer: What? How? For whom? Why? • One task per statement (unless always performed together) • Complete, but brief (necessary detail) Ex: Umpire, referee, sports official See O*net or Job Genie • Observes actions of participants at athletic and sporting events to regulate competition and detect infractions of rules. • Resolves claims of rule infractions, or complaints lodged by participants, and assesses penalties based on established regulations.

18. Task & KSA Analysis Task Analysis • Task Clusters – organizing task statements into meaningful categories • Develop definitions of task clusters to describe job functions • Category of tasks • SMEs sort tasks into clusters • Card sort by supervisors / incumbents • Determine criterion for interrater agreement (e.g., 7/10) • If disagreement, re-define clusters

19. Task & KSA Analysis KSA Analysis • Psychological fidelity – extent that training represents tasks performed on the job and elicits the necessary KSAs • Developing KSAs (ex: auto mechanic) • Knowledge – factual or procedural info needed to perform job • Ex: Know what the treadwear indicators on a tire mean • Skill – capability to perform tasks, usually psychomotor, with precision • Ex: Skill at removing a tire from a car • Ability – Global, often cognitive, capabilities needed to perform task • Ex: Ability to lift 30 lbs. (weight of tire)

20. Task & KSA Analysis KSA Analysis • Collecting KSAs • Incumbents tell you what they do • Supervisors discuss critical incidents relative to task clusters • Describe characteristics of good and poor employee performance • Think of an employee who is better than others. Why? • What does an employee need to know to do tasks? • Give examples of effective/ineffective performance of tasks.Why? • What KSAs would you want from a person performing this task? • What do you expect people to learn in training that would make them effective at this task?

21. Task & KSA Analysis KSA Analysis • Guidelines for developing KSA statements • Balance between general and specific • Ex: dialing a phone vs. pressing buttons • Do not simply restate task statement • Don’t be redundant, break down tasks by KSAs • Do not include very trivial info • If K,S, or A overlap, make sure at least one is included and that it is sufficient to convey what is necessary to perform task.

22. Task & KSA Analysis • Determine Relevance of tasks and KSAs – no need to train irrelevant or non-essential KSAs • Survey incumbents and supervisors as to importance of tasks and KSAs • Major league umpire must know every rule in the book, no time to look while game is in progress, however a paralegal may not have to recall all the necessary laws, just know where to find them.

23. Task & KSA Analysis Sample questionnaire (rate importance on a scale of 1 = not important to 5 = critically important, then state whether KSA is necessary on day 1) KSAs: • How important is KSA for performing the job? • How difficult is it to learn the K,S, or A? • Where do you expect the KSA to be acquired (before selection, training, on the job?

24. Task & KSA Analysis • KSA–Task linkages – must know which KSAs are important for which tasks. • Weed out unimportant tasks ahead of time • Might use scale of 0=not relevant to 2=essential • Might first try to link the KSAs to the task clusters, then only those with strong links to cluster are analyzed by task. • Focus training on KSA-task linkages that are agreed on by SMEs

25. Person Analysis Person Analysis – Who needs training and for what? • What performance criteria will you use to determine who needs training? • Program must be designed with characteristics of the trainees in mind • Motivation level, education, willingness to improve, etc. • How to get employees to accept negative feedback and/or provide self criticism? • Do not tie monetary incentives to self-appraisal • Allow employee input into what they would like to improve and assure that training will be provided

26. Other Uses for Needs Assessment • How do current training programs at the org fit in with the needs assessment? • Are they already meeting some of the needs? • Job analysis aspect can be used to create performance appraisal tools. • Already know what are important tasks and what constitutes good performance from these analyses • Because the needs assessment points out which KSAs are required by day 1 on the job, this info can be used to develop selection.

27. Needs Assessment Methods • Content-Oriented Job Analysis – Task & KSA approach • May use critical incidents • Phase 1 – Develop framework for organizing/describing content data • Training records & materials and observations • Used to understand work • Phase 2 – Interview SMEs to find out what KSAs are necessary • Leads to task statements • Phase 3 – SMEs given structured q’naires containing task statements and ask to rate them on • A) importance • B) opportunity to learn on the job • Phase 4 – Data analysis used to define those tasks that will be relevant for training

28. Needs Assessment Methods • Strategic Job Analysis – describe future requirements of the org. • Similar to Task Analysis except that SMEs rate importance of task cluster now and in future • Ex: use of computer equipment/software may be expected to become important • Functional Job Analysis – Tasks are the fundamental unit • Task statements include answers to: • Who? what action? To accomplish what immediate result? With what tools/equipment? Upon what instructions? • For task functions, list data, people, things involved • What data used, who interacts with whom, what they do, what is used. • Then assign percentage of involvement for the data, people, & things

29. Objectives • Objectives determined by needs assessment • Objectives described in terms of: • Performance – what trainee is expected to be able to do • Conditions – conditions under which performance is to occur • Criterion – standard of acceptable performance

30. Objectives Checklist Your objectives will communicate better if you can answer “Yes” to the following questions: Performance: • Is your main intent stated? • If the main intent is covert (mental), is an indicator stated? • Is that indicator behavior the simplest and most direct one you can think of?

31. Objectives Checklist Conditions: • Have you described what the learner will be given, or be deprived of, during performance of the objective? • Have you described all of the conditions that will influence the shape of the performance?

32. Objectives Checklist Criteria: • Have you described how well the learner must perform to be acceptable • Do those criteria describe some aspect of the performance, or the product of the performance, rather than instructional process or meaningless percentages? • Where a percentage is included in a criterion, does it reflect a realistic expectation?