Needs assessment is important because a manager or other client asking for training (which focuses on closing skill gaps resulting from a lack of knowledge or skill) could really be asking for or need something else, such as employee motivation, changing perspectives or attitudes, or redesigning workflow.
Needs assessment is the first step in the instructional design process, and if it is not properly conducted, any one or more of the following situations could occur: Training may be incorrectly used as a solution to a performance problem (when the solution should deal with employee motivation, job design, or a better communication of performance expectations). Training programs may have the wrong content, objectives, or methods. Trainees may be sent to training programs for which they do not have the basic skills, prerequisite skills, or confidence needed to learn. Training will not deliver the expected learning, behavior change, or financial results that the company expects.
There are many different causes or “pressure points” that suggest that training is necessary. These pressure points include performance problems, new technology, internal or external customer requests for training, job redesign, new legislation, changes in customer preferences, new products, or employees’ lack of basic skills. Note that these pressure points do not automatically mean that training is the correct solution.
What outcomes result from a needs assessment? Needs assessment provides important input into most of the remaining steps in the training design. The needs assessment process results in information related to who needs training and what trainees need to learn, including the tasks in which they need to be trained, plus knowledge, skill, behavior, or other job requirements.
Needs assessment helps determine whether the company will outsource its training (i.e. purchase training from a vendor or consultant, or develop training through internal resources). Determining exactly what trainees need to learn is critical for the next step in the instructional design process: identifying learning outcomes and objectives. Through identifying the learning outcomes and resources available for training, the needs assessment also provides information that helps the company choose the appropriate training or development method.
Needs assessment also provides information regarding the outcomes that should be collected to evaluate training effectiveness.