Value and Components of a Training Needs Assessment

Milestone 2
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Illustrate the value of a training needs assessment in an organization in general, supporting your response
Regardless of employees’ training level, the ever-changing business environment makes organizations experience a “gap” between the required performance and the actual performance. A training needs assessment is valuable because it identifies employees' level of knowledge, skill, or competency in various areas and contrasts that level to the required standard set by the organization (Ford, 2014). If a gap or a difference exists, a training needs assessment can also be used to explore the causes for the gap, the consequences for ignoring the gap, and the training methods that can eliminate or close the gap. However, a training needs assessment is only valuable if it addresses the resources required to enhance productivity and the quality of products and services. An efficient training needs assessment tool should provide resources to areas of utmost demand if a company has limited resources.
Describe the components of a needs assessment used to determine the training requirements of a Customer Service – CARE Business Partner at Maersk.
Ideally, a needs assessment has three components; organizational needs analysis, task/job needs analysis and personal analysis. The main responsibility of a Customer Service CARE Business Partner at Maersk is to create valuable relations with the company’s customers. Therefore, the components of a needs assessment used to determine such employee’s training needs are task needs analysis and personal analysis. Task needs analysis evaluates skills and knowledge with respect to an employee’s responsibilities. In the case of Maersk, task needs analysis will be used to determine gaps related to the use of Microsoft Suite, knowledge in commercial intelligence and claims policy, and familiarity with KPIs. On the other hand, personal analysis involves evaluating an employee’s personality, strengths and weaknesses. As a result, personal analysis will determine gaps in communication skills, advocacy skills, and negotiation skills.
Describe the importance of creating Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Time-oriented (SMART) objectives for a training plan.
Any training program’s main aim is to tie learning objectives with business results. However, regardless of the number of training programs employees are exposed to, it is difficult to assess their impact if they are too theoretical or generic. Creating SMART objectives for a training plan ensures that training managers have clear and decisive training objectives that correlate with the organization’s goals. According to Rodriguez and Walters (2017), incorporating SMART objectives into organizational training programs enables the HR department to determine staffing needs, effective training m...