needs analysis example in education

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Needs assessment: step-by-step through practical examples.

Through Extension, we aim to improve people’s lives by responding to their needs through research and education-based efforts. The first step in offering effective and efficient educational programs that address people’s needs is identifying and prioritizing the community’s needs, which we call a needs assessment. A needs assessment allows you to construct a more objective picture of needs than you would receive depending on one person’s perspective. As Extension professionals (agents and specialists), a needs assessment is crucial for informing your educational program decisions and enhancing their effectiveness and value.

This publication aims to help Extension professionals get started with needs assessments, illustrated through practical examples.

Needs Assessment Step-by-Step

1. clarify the reasons for conducting the needs assessment..

Outline the purpose and planned use of the results.

The purpose of conducting a needs assessment is to identify topics for 4-H programs and activities. The results will be used to determine the three programs that will be implemented during summer break.

Keep in mind!

• What is the purpose?
• What do you aim to accomplish?
• Who will use the results?

2. Identify the individuals who play a significant role before, during, and after conducting the needs assessment.

Identify individuals who: a) share their perspectives on current issues; b) hold decision-making power; c) assist in prioritizing the gathered needs; d) aid in reaching out to the community or target audience and share the findings from the assessment; and e) communicate results to key stakeholders.

Create a list of individuals, sponsors, administrators, interest groups (Farm Bureau, CREATE Foundation, United Way, or the Minority Farmers Alliance), and the county advisory board. These groups or individuals need to be included because they can share their perspectives on current situations, communicate the results of the assessments, directly influence the community’s priorities, and be part of the decision-making process.

• Identify the stakeholders.
• Build your networks.
• Reach out to your community.

3. Gather existing information to decide if a needs assessment is warranted.

Understand the history of the problem and what information/data already exists in your county by seeking expert advice, visiting the area (if possible), establishing local contacts, and building community relations (attending local events and town hall meetings, partnering with local organizations, forming an advisory council, etc.).

Consider attending a community event such as a farmers market; observe the participants, meet people, and collect information from as many individuals as possible.

• A needs assessment takes time, energy, money, and other resources.

4. Identify secondary data (what is known) and pinpoint what you still want to know.

Secondary data will give you a quick sense of what is going on in your community.

Agriculture and natural resources agents rely on county data from the Agricultural Census, where data such as age, race, and sex are listed for all the counties in Mississippi. The Agricultural Census is a helpful source for assessing needs in your county. However, primary data should be collected directly from those individuals connected to the community problems, ranging from clients and advisory groups to opinion leaders, to enhance an understanding of community needs. Example sources of secondary data include the following:

• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
• Census of Agriculture
• U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
• National Center for Education Statistics
• Food and Nutrition Information Center
• USDA Economic Research Service
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
• Mississippi State University Extension Service
• National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
• Mississippi Department of Education
• United States Department of the Interior
• Mississippi State Department of Health
• World Factbook
• Mississippi Department of Agriculture and Commerce
• Health and nutrition statistics
• Local and regional media reports that have stories that impact your communities
• Regional and county level data at local libraries or chambers of commerce
• Using a mix of primary and secondary sources provides a rich and comprehensive assessment.
• Secondary data provide detailed information from a large sample size that would be difficult and unrealistic for you to collect independently. They also provide information over several years, helping to identify trends.
• It is important to look at county-level statistics and not just statewide data because each county might have hidden issues.

5. Determine the data-collection technique to gather the needed data.

Choose methods that help discover more specific issues and gain different perspectives from various sources.

Use techniques you are comfortable with and that are applicable to the target audience. An older population may prefer a written survey or an interview, while a younger population may prefer an online survey using a QR code. The information you are attempting to gather may also determine the method. A roundtable discussion may be more successful for Extension agents when collecting data from their advisory council. A roundtable discussion is a more personal method of gathering data, helping to establish group relationships.

Keep in mind

• A needs assessment must consist of several methods. Looking at only one dataset will not accurately reflect what is happening in a community.
• Many methods can be used to gather data, including individual methods (surveys and key informant interviews) and group methods (focus groups, advisory committees, and the Delphi method). The key is to be aware of the pros and cons of each technique to ensure their effective use.

6. Analyze the data you collected and prioritize needs.

Analyzing data means breaking down the collected information to identify key findings, areas of agreement or disagreement, and agreed-upon conclusions about the identified needs. Sorting and prioritizing needs means organizing and ranking each identified need and determining which ones to address first.

• Participants in the prioritization process should include volunteer staff, community leaders, legislative leaders, and representatives of funding organizations.
• Establish and develop criteria to evaluate each issue, and then determine the priority issue (e.g., using propriety, economics, acceptability, resources, and legality—the PEARL test).

7. Use the data to set program priorities, create an action plan to address the needs, and share the results.

According to a review of secondary data, beekeeping is a growing industry in Lee County, Mississippi. County residents also reported that it is a growing hobby and expressed interest in both beginner and advanced beekeeping. To address and identify the needs of Lee County residents, we planned two different beekeeping workshops. We created priorities related to beekeeping topics of interest and implemented a program to address them. We selected speakers based on the education necessary for each group, chose dates for each workshop, made promotional materials, ordered complementary publications for the topic, and secured a location at the back of our office. After promoting the workshops, we waited for individuals to sign up, effectively putting our plan into action.

• A needs assessment is only completed once the results are shared and used.
• Create an action plan, accept that plans may change, and be prepared to adapt and modify the action plan as needed.
• There are several ways to share the results with stakeholders, including a detailed report or executive summary. These could be sent via email or posted on the organization’s website for everyone to see.

When considering needs assessments in your community, listen closely, be observant, and be diligent. Set your goals and act with enthusiasm. Feel free to ask for help. Including your community increases the likelihood of buy-in regarding the action plan.

Benge, M., & Warner, L. (2019). Conducting a needs assessment #2: Using needs assessments in extension programming .

Caffarella, R. S., & Daffron, S. R. (2013). Planning programs for adult learners: A practical guide ( 3rd ed.) Jossey-Bass.

Israel, G., Harder, A., & Brodeur, C. W. (2021). What is an Extension program? EDIS .

Jimenez-Marty, B. (2018). Community resources: Why use community resources ?

Mississippi Department of Agriculture and Commerce. (2023). Mississippi Agriculture Snapshot .

United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service. (2023). Agriculture and its related industries provide 10.4 percent of U.S. employment .

Publication 3983 (POD-03-24)

By Warner Creekmore, Extension Agent, Lee County, and Nesma Osman, PhD, Assistant Professor, School of Human Sciences.

The Mississippi State University Extension Service is working to ensure all web content is accessible to all users. If you need assistance accessing any of our content, please email the webteam  or call 662-325-2262.

Select Your County Office

Ms. Mildred Warner Poindexter Creekmore

Dr. Nesma Osama Abdelrahm Osman

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How to conduct a needs analysis

by Ethan Mansur in Blog

Needs Analysis Overview

What is a needs analysis, the needs analysis is the very first step in the addie instructional design process. the needs analysis identifies the core problem(s) to solve, target audience, current state, desired outcomes, and training recommendations. a needs analysis sets the stage to design and develop an effective instructional design experience. the needs analysis is one of the most crucial parts of instructional design, yet it is often overlooked and even skipped in an effort to save time. research has demonstrated however, that when the needs analysis phase is by-passed, it ends up costing much more in the long run..

Key Ingredients of a Needs Analysis

Below is a summary of the most important ingredients of a needs analysis:  

A great needs analysis identifies the core problem(s) to be solved.  

A great needs analysis describes the target audience of the training.  

A great needs analysis lists the desired outcomes or goals of the training.  

A great needs analysis identifies existing performance gaps and training content.  

A great needs analysis provides training and performance improvement recommendations.

A typical learning needs analysis can take anywhere from 2 hours to two weeks. It is important avoid the temptation to get stuck in a state of "analysis paralysis." Analysis paralysis occurs when the instructional designer loses traction (and spins) in an attempt to answer all the questions up front. Remember that the modern instructional design needs analysis process is fluid and changing. Great instructional designers gather enough information to target the course in the right direction, but remains efficient and never loses focus in the details. 

What Makes Up a Needs Analysis?

Free needs analysis app.

5 Tips for Effective Needs Analysis

Top needs analysis tips for instructional designers.

#1. Listen and Record When you perform a needs analysis be sure interview and carefully listen to both the stakeholders and the learners. We also recommend that you record the audio for each of your interviews. This will allow you to go back and listen later.   

#2. Avoid Analysis Paralysis It is important that you avoid the temptation to get stuck in a state of "analysis paralysis." Analysis paralysis occurs when the instructional designer loses traction (and spins) in an attempt to answer all the questions up front. Remember that the modern instructional design needs analysis process is fluid and changing. Great instructional designers gather enough information to target the course in the right direction, but remains efficient and never loses focus in the details. 

#3. Don't Start From Scratch

When performing your needs analysis, take time to gather existing content and training materials. Often times, content already exists and it just needs to be curated, refined, and delivered. Don't start from scratch and reinvent the wheel.

#4. Never Skip the Needs Analysis Phase The needs analysis is one of the most crucial parts of instructional design, yet it is often overlooked and even skipped in an effort to save time. Research has demonstrated however, that when the needs analysis phase is by-passed, it ends up costing much more in the long run. If you don't target your training upfront, it can come back to bite you at the end. 

#5. Share Your Needs Analysis Take time to quickly document the key findings from the needs analysis and share it with key stakeholders and team members to ensure alignment. If you are aligned upfront on the needs analysis, the design and development phases will be more efficient and effective. 

Download Needs Analysis Template

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School Improvement: Needs Assessment

For schools identified for comprehensive support and improvement (CSI), districts are required to work with school teams to conduct a school-level needs assessment. State educational agencies (SEAs) and districts are also required to complete a needs assessment for several other major program areas included in the the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA), as amended by the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) (link is external) (e.g., Title I Part A; Title IV Part F) (for more information on these requirements, please see the the Needs Assessment Guidebook from the State Support Network, available here ). Needs assessments encourage districts and their schools to systematically examine performance gaps and identify, understand, and prioritize the needs that must be addressed to improve outcomes for all students. Conducting a needs assessment can also help district and school staff understand how the various components of their local educational system interact. Specifically, the needs assessment process helps districts to:

• find gaps between current conditions (what is) and desired conditions (what should be);
• place these gaps or needs in priority order;
• implement strategies, practices, and evidence-based interventions aligned to needs; and
• target resources to address needs.

SEAs and districts are required to engage in timely and meaningful discussion with stakeholders during the needs assessment process, specifically principals and other school leaders, teachers, and parents; in addition, it is highly recommended that SEAs and districts engage with a wide range of other stakeholders appropriate to the local context, such as business or community leaders. A key element of a successful needs assessment is a root-cause analysis following the initial needs assessment process by examining relevant data to understand the most pressing needs of students, schools, and educators and the possible root causes of those needs. 1 Data on students (e.g., assessment results, graduation rates), schools (e.g., resources, climate), and educators (e.g., effectiveness, retention rates) can also provide insight into local needs. Districts should consider the following when conducting a needs assessment:

• In addition to the required stakeholders, which other stakeholders are needed to identify local needs?
• What data are required to best understand local needs?
• How do student outcomes align to identified performance goals?
• What are the potential root causes of inequities or performance gaps?
• How should needs be prioritized when several are identified?

Common Challenges and Potential Risks

Districts and schools can face challenges when conducting and using needs assessment processes effectively as part of school improvement plan development, typically stemming from limited staff capacity. The Needs Assessment Guidebook from the State Support Network describes the following common challenges districts and schools face when conducting and using a needs assessment as part of school improvement plan development:

• Districts and schools may have limited expertise and capacity, including trained staff, to conduct needs assessments and use the results to develop meaningful school improvement plans.
• Districts and schools may struggle to take an objective and open-ended review of needs without predetermining solutions, and may tend to continue existing programs without reexamining needs of current students.
• Districts and schools may start by examining summary results from standardized tests and other state accountability measures but may be unsure of what other data and systems to review as part of a needs assessment process and root cause analysis.
• Districts and schools may struggle to effectively engage school leadership teams and other stakeholder groups in the needs assessment and improvement planning process, often due to timeline constraints and capacity to effectively incorporate feedback from diverse groups.

Strategies to Support a Successful Needs Assessment

There are a variety of strategies that SEAs can use to help districts conduct meaningful and insightful school-level needs assessments and subsequently develop effective school improvement plans.

• Provide guidance, training, and support to districts and schools around conducting a school-level needs assessment. This might include examples of data to examine or examples of completed school-level needs assessment summaries.
• Support districts and schools as they gather feedback and input from a variety of stakeholders, colleagues, and experts to elicit new ideas and insights about the needs of students. SEAs may be able to help support this process.
• Establish an organizing framework that defines the problems, topics, and questions to be addressed in the needs assessment.
• Fund and facilitate (directly or through partner organizations) an on-site school quality review process that provides robust, qualitative data and expert, third-party insights on school strengths, challenges, and priorities for school improvement.
• Require or support districts to conduct a needs assessment to analyze trends across Comprehensive Support and Improvement (CSI) schools and evaluate local practices and systems that are hindering (or supporting) school improvement.
• Pilot new protocols and tools with a small group of districts to test implementation of the needs assessment process to gather feedback and fine-tune the process to serve both state and local needs.

State Examples

Additional resources 2.

Every Student Succeeds Act: Guiding LEA Needs Assessments and Plan Development to Consider Early Learning (link is external) This resource from the Mid-Atlantic Comprehensive Center provides guidance to SEAs in framing and planning for district needs assessments. It provides actions that SEAs can take to support districts and their needs assessments as well as how to shape district needs assessments through guiding questions and data elements.

Needs Assessment Guidebook: Supporting the Development of District and School Needs Assessments This resource from the State Support Network describes the elements and implementation phases of an effective needs assessment process. The guidebook

• reviews some of the major school-improvement-related needs assessment requirements found in ESEA;
• introduces the elements of a successful needs assessment;
• presents a practical approach to addressing those elements across the phases of needs assessment implementation;
• describes supports that states can provide to districts, and districts to schools, in the implementation of effective needs assessments; and
• discusses the role of needs assessments within a continuous improvement process.

Needs Assessments Survey Options (link is external) This resource from the Cross State High School Collaborative outlines eleven different surveys that SEAs (and their districts and schools) might consider including in their needs assessments. The resource describes how each survey is used, what it measures, the necessary logistics, and points of contact to learn more.

Root-Cause Analysis Workbook (link is external) This resource from the Center on Great Teachers and Leaders offers eight steps states can take for conducting a root cause analysis in way that addresses equity gaps. It also offers additional resources and tools to help states move toward equity.

Using Needs Assessments for School and District Improvement (link is external) This tactical guide from the Center of School Turnaround describes the core components for developing and administering needs assessments for improvement. The guide includes information on ESEA requirements, tips on planning and designing a needs assessment, descriptions of how a needs assessment is part of the improvement process, and key decision points. Worksheets are included to aid users in designing and developing needs assessments for schools or districts.

Click on the Strategy Selection graphic to jump to the next section.

Click here to return to the School Improvement Tool home page

1 For more information, please see Non-Regulatory Guidance: Using Evidence to Strengthen Education Investments from the U.S. Department of Education at https://ed.gov/policy/elsec/leg/essa/guidanceuseseinvestment.pdf (link is external) . [Return]

2 The inclusion of information or links on this site from sources outside the U.S. Department of Education is done for purposes of information-sharing only and does not imply endorsement of any such information, products, or services by the U.S. Department of Education. [Return]

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Navigating the Needs Analysis in Instructional Design: A Comprehensive Guide

By Anthony Miller

Instructional Designer and Hiring Manager

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Needs Analysis in Instructional Design:

The journey of creating impactful and effective learning experiences begins with a crucial step: the needs analysis. This foundational phase in the instructional design process allows designers to uncover the real gaps between the current state of learners' knowledge or skills and the desired outcomes. A thorough needs analysis not only informs the direction of the instructional design but also ensures that the learning interventions are relevant, targeted, and capable of achieving the intended educational goals. In this comprehensive guide, we will explore the steps involved in completing a needs analysis, offering insights and strategies to enhance the effectiveness of your instructional design projects.

Understanding Needs Analysis:

Needs analysis, at its core, is a systematic process for identifying and analyzing the learning needs of an audience. It serves as a diagnostic tool that helps instructional designers develop a deep understanding of their learners, the context in which learning will occur, and the specific objectives that the educational program aims to achieve. By conducting a needs analysis, designers can tailor their instructional strategies to address the unique requirements of their learners, thereby maximizing the impact of the educational experience.

The Importance of Needs Analysis:

Skipping the needs analysis can lead to misaligned learning objectives, irrelevant content, and instructional strategies that fail to engage or meet the learners' actual needs. In contrast, a well-conducted needs analysis:

Ensures that the instructional design is learner-centered and goal-oriented.

Helps in allocating resources efficiently by focusing on priority areas.

Facilitates the alignment of learning objectives with organizational or educational goals.

Increases the likelihood of the educational program's success by basing decisions on data and evidence.

Step-by-Step Guide to Conducting a Needs Analysis:

Completing a needs analysis involves several key steps, each contributing to a comprehensive understanding of the learning requirements. Here's how to navigate these steps effectively:

Step 1: Define the Scope and Objectives

Begin by clearly defining the scope of the needs analysis. Understand the broader educational or organizational goals that the learning program aims to support. Establish specific objectives for the needs analysis itself, such as identifying skill gaps, understanding learner characteristics, or assessing the effectiveness of existing training programs.

Step 2: Gather Data

Data collection is a critical component of the needs analysis. Utilize a variety of methods to gather comprehensive information about your learners and the learning context

Surveys and Questionnaires: Deploy surveys to collect quantitative and qualitative data from potential learners, instructors, and stakeholders.

Interviews and Focus Groups: Conduct interviews and focus group discussions to gain deeper insights into the learners' needs, preferences, and challenges.

Observations: Observe learners in their work or educational environments to identify performance gaps and contextual factors that influence learning.

Document Analysis: Review existing documentation, such as performance reviews, educational records, or curriculum guidelines, to identify learning needs and objectives.

Step 3: Analyze the Data

With the data in hand, the next step is to analyze it to identify patterns, trends, and specific needs. Look for discrepancies between the current state of learner knowledge or skills and the desired outcomes. Use this analysis to pinpoint the specific areas where instructional interventions are needed.

Step 4: Identify Learning Objectives

Based on the needs identified in the analysis, develop clear and measurable learning objectives. These objectives should directly address the gaps uncovered during the needs analysis and guide the creation of the instructional content and strategies.

Step 5: Prioritize Needs

Not all identified needs will have the same level of urgency or impact. Prioritize the learning needs based on factors such as the potential for improvement, alignment with goals, and resource availability. This prioritization helps in focusing the instructional design efforts on areas that will have the greatest impact.

Step 6: Develop a Plan

With the needs and objectives clearly defined and prioritized, develop a detailed plan for the instructional design project. This plan should outline the instructional strategies, content, technologies, and assessment methods that will be used to address the identified needs. It should also include timelines, responsibilities, and resource requirements.

Step 7: Validate and Refine

Before proceeding with the full-scale development of the learning program, validate your findings and plans with stakeholders and potential learners. Use their feedback to refine your needs analysis and instructional design plan, ensuring that it accurately reflects the learning requirements and is positioned for success.

Best Practices for Effective Needs Analysis:

To maximize the effectiveness of the needs analysis process, consider the following best practices:

Engage a Diverse Range of Stakeholders: Include perspectives from all relevant stakeholders, including learners, educators, administrators, and industry experts, to ensure a holistic understanding of the needs.

Use Mixed Methods for Data Collection: Combining quantitative and qualitative data collection methods provides a more comprehensive view of the learning needs.

Be Objective and Data-Driven: Base your analysis and conclusions on the data collected, avoiding assumptions or biases.

Continuously Iterate: Needs analysis is not a one-time activity. Continuously collect and analyze data to refine and adjust your instructional design as needed.

Conclusion: The Foundation of Effective Instructional Design

A thorough needs analysis is the cornerstone of effective instructional design. By systematically identifying and analyzing the learning needs of your audience, you can create educational programs that are relevant, impactful, and aligned with both learner requirements and organizational goals. This guide provides a roadmap for conducting a comprehensive needs analysis, ensuring that your instructional design efforts are grounded in a deep understanding of your learners' needs and the context in which learning occurs. As you navigate the complexities of instructional design, let the needs analysis be your guide, leading you to develop learning experiences that truly make a difference.

Discussion Question:

Join the conversation and participate with the 24/7 instructional design community by answering the dq in the comment section below:.

Reflect on a learning program or course where you either participated as a learner or were involved in its design. Considering the steps outlined in the guide for conducting a thorough needs analysis, discuss how a well-executed or missed needs analysis impacted the effectiveness of the learning experience. In your discussion, address specific aspects such as the alignment of learning objectives with learner needs, the relevance of content, and the engagement strategies employed. How could the insights from the needs analysis have been better utilized to enhance the learning experience?

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Needs analysis

Needs analysis involves doing some kind of activity with a learner in order to find out what their learning needs are.

A good understanding of learner needs can contribute to successful course planning.

For example On the first day with a new group the teacher gives the proposed syllabus aims for the course, and asks learners to prioritise them in relation to the contexts that they will need to use language in.

In the classroom Needs analysis is part of building learner awareness and autonomy. Asking learners what they feel they need to practise is a good initial step. As well as providing data, it can encourage them to start thinking about their learning and taking responsibility for it.

Further links: https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/article/syllabus-writing https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/article/designing-business-english-programmes-1 https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/article/teaching-mixed-ability-classes-1 https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/article/teaching-without-a-coursebook  

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Needs Analysis: a Tool Every ESL Teacher Should Be Using

While working as an English teacher over the years, I’ve learned plenty of valuable strategies to improve my teaching practices for my students and to make my job easier. One of these is the concept of carrying out a needs analysis before starting each course. If you’re not quite sure what this is or how to use it to your advantage, here’s a practical guide to carrying out your first needs analysis.

What Is a Needs Analysis?

A needs analysis, also called a needs assessment, is a method of figuring out what your students need to learn and what’s the simplest and fastest way to teach this to them. If teaching ESL is a journey, then think of a needs analysis as your compass.

It guides the way by pointing you in the right direction, so you don’t waste time teaching irrelevant things and can stick to the topics, vocabulary, and grammar that will actually lead to positive and observable results.

What Are the Benefits of Needs Analysis?

Needs analyses can be beneficial because they:

• Bridge the gap between prior and future knowledge
• Guide the direction of your course or lesson plans
• Make your job easier by identifying students’ needs
• Keep clients by giving them value for their money

How to Carry Out a Needs Analysis

There are many different models you can follow for a needs analysis, some more formal than others. However, the process can be simplified by breaking it down into the following four easy steps.

1. Collect Data

The first step in any needs analysis is to collect data, which is meant to give you insight into your students’ prior knowledge and interests. You need to know what your students have already learned so you don’t cover things they  already know  and can have a better idea of what they  need to know .

It also helps to know what their interests are, such as their reasons for wanting to learn English. This may be less relevant for younger students, where you’re simply preparing them to use English in a variety of different real-life scenarios, but for older students, they may be learning English for a specific purpose, so you’ll want to ask them about this.

Methods for Collecting Data

The following methods can all be used to collect data from your students:

Questionnaires and Surveys

Depending on your students’ age group or English skill level, surveys and questionnaires, including self-analyses, can work great as data-gathering tools, though your students will need to have some reading skills to complete these. Open-ended questions where your students write full sentences can give you better data to analyze later, but for younger students or when time is a factor, cloze questions, such as multiple-choice questions, may be more appropriate.

Pretests and Quizzes

If you simply want to gauge your students’ English skills to assess prior knowledge, then pretests or quizzes can be the perfect way of doing this, and you can still gauge their interests by having an informal conversation or Q&A with them. You can create a quick quiz that tests students on all the domains that may be relevant to your course based on the age group or learner level.

Observational Data

Gathering your data strictly through observation normally isn’t recommended, because a proper needs analysis should normally be carried out before starting a course. However, if you must start your course immediately, then you may need to gather data in a formative way by observing your students’ skills and proficiency levels during your first lesson and making adjustments to the course curriculum as needed.

2. Determine Student Learning Outcomes

The second step of a needs analysis is to determine your student learning outcomes, which are also called desired outcomes. Your lessons are the process, and your desired outcomes are the final product of this.

These are the observable and measurable skills that your students will be able to exhibit by the end of your course, and you should write them down in a “students will” format, such as “Students will be able to repeat the vocabulary words that I teach them.”

Using Bloom’s Taxonomy to Determine Objectives

A common framework that many teachers use while writing learning objectives is Bloom’s Taxonomy, which outlines the important learning domains that students can master. This can help give you an idea of what areas of learning you should be focusing on so you’re not just sticking to one area while neglecting others.

Bloom’s Taxonomy Levels

Below are the learning levels found in Bloom’s taxonomy. Examples of how your learning objectives should look are included, though I used a Business English course for adults for these specific examples.

What will your students know after you’ve taught them?

Example: “Students will be able to remember and say target vocabulary words.”

Comprehension

What will your students understand after your course?

Example: “Students will be able to recognize and explain different business terms.”

Application

How effectively will your students be able to use what they’ve learned?

Example: “Students will be able to write full sentences using the vocabulary words.”

How well will your students be able to analyze things or recognize differences?

Example: “Students will be able to explain how ‘meeting’ and `announcement’ differ.”

How skilled will your students be at assessing things they’ve learned?

Example: “Students will be able to assess whether ‘utilize’ or ‘use’ is more appropriate.”

How adept will your students be at creating something with what they’ve learned?

Example: “Students will be able to create a sales pitch with the vocabulary.”

Note: For younger or beginner learners, you can stick with focusing on the first three domains only (Memory, Comprehension, and Application), as they typically won’t be able to analyze, evaluate, or create yet.

3. Identify Your Students’ Competency Levels

Now that you have your data and you know what you want your students to do by the end of the course (i.e. learning objectives), you’ll need to figure out how you will use that data to measure their competency levels.

While all of your students may be able to read, how well can they do this, and at what level? Even if every student knows how to write, can they write full coherent sentences, and if so, how strong are their grammar skills? These are the questions you should be asking so that you can gauge your students’ competencies.

Using a Rubric to Identify Competencies

One easy way to assess competency levels is by using a competency-based rubric. This is simply an analysis tool that uses different columns to specify the different skill levels that students may be performing at.

For example, for the skill of writing, the first column may state, “Student can write vocabulary words with correct spelling.” The next column would typically show a higher level of writing, such as “Student can write full sentences with fair spelling.”

The third column next to this might then use the same criteria as the last but instead of “fair spelling” it would read as, “good spelling.” The final column might then read “excellent spelling” instead of “good spelling” to indicate a more advanced competency level.

Resource: Rubric Templates

Instead of making a rubric from scratch, you can always use the free rubric examples and printable templates provided courtesy of New York State Education Department.

After creating your rubric, which shouldn’t take longer than 10 minutes for most teachers, you can then assess the collected data to see where on the rubric your students fall when it comes to their English skills. Now you have a more accurate picture of what prior knowledge your students possess.

4. Implement the Plan

Going back to the analogy of a needs analysis being similar to a compass while on a journey, think of this last step as a way of plotting the course and the learning objectives that you identified during the second step as the final destination.

Once you reach this last step, you now have an idea of where the students have been (prior knowledge) and where they’re going (learning objectives). Your curriculum or your lessons should now be focused on teaching the students anything that you think will help bridge that gap.

Tip: Use the Rubric to Plan Your Lessons

To ensure that your lessons are bridging the knowledge gap, you can use the same rubric that you used to gauge competency levels by looking at which column most of your students fall under and which column or competency level comes next. The column that comes next should give you an idea of what areas your lessons should be focusing on.

Parting Advice: Never Forgot the Individual Learner

Unless you’re only teaching one-on-one lessons, most of the focus of a needs analysis is based on group needs rather than individual needs. As the one who is collecting the data, you should always consider your students’ individual needs during the process and address these as well so no student gets left behind.

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• Acknowledgements
• Contributing Authors

Introduction

• The Competencies for Instructional Designers in Higher Education
• Communicating Instructional Design with Faculty

Conducting Needs Assessments to Inform Instructional Design Practices and Decisions

• Managing Instructional Design Projects in Higher Education
• Designing with Instructional Continuity in Mind
• Designing Non-Instructional Messages: Beyond Training
• Immersive Learning Environments: Designing XR into Higher Education
• A Guide to Designing Accessible eLearning
• Data-Informed Design for Online Course Improvement
• Learning Analytics as a Tool for Improvement and Reflection on Instructional Design Practices
• The Use of Q Methodology to Evaluate Instruction in Higher Education
• An Examination of the People and Processes Involved in Quality Assurance
• Instructional Designers Leading Through Research
• Embedding Effective Instruction in Educational Technology Professional Development Programs
• Translations

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Questions and Tasks

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Instructional designers can be assigned to projects at various stages. They may be assigned to work with a faculty member and provide support on an individual class activity or assist with transferring a face-to-face course to an online environment. Other times, they may be involved in a larger scale project that impact a number of courses being offered within an academic program or department.

Regardless of when instructional designers are integrated into a program, the focal point of their work never changes. The learner is the center of everything that they do. To address the needs of their learners and advocate for them accordingly, it is important to ensure that appropriate and sufficient information has been gathered that can inform their instructional design process. This can be accomplished through conducting a needs assessment.

Purpose of a Needs Assessment

The purpose of a needs assessment is to determine the current state of performance and the desired state of performance (Altschuld & Kumar, 2010). The difference between the current and desired states is where the need lies. While the process of conducting a needs assessment can be very cumbersome and time-consuming, many steps can be scalable to meet the demands of instructional design projects in higher education settings. The purpose of this chapter is to provide an overview of the process of needs assessment and resources to support instructional designers in gathering the necessary information they need to do their jobs.

When conducting a needs assessment, it is important to gather sufficient data to understand the situation warranting instructional solutions. While a needs assessment identifies an existing gap in performance (or an area for improvement), the purpose of needs analysis is to determine what is contributing to the gap in performance and/or problem being addressed. Understanding what factors are supporting or inhibiting a situation can help the instructional designer identify sustainable solutions that will hopefully eradicate the existing gap in performance.

Overview of Needs Assessment Process

Most needs assessments consist of five steps: identification of a problem, identification of data sources, data collection, data analysis, and recommendations. Each of these steps can be scaled to meet the size of a project an instructional designer in higher education may be working on, as well as the time limitations associated with those projects. Table 1 provides an overview of how an instructional designer may address each of these steps during a needs assessment as depicted by Stefaniak (2021 ).

It is very rare that an instructional designer working in higher education will have the authority to make decisions for an entire design project. These projects often involve collaborating with faculty. Administrators and senior leadership may also be involved in large-scale projects involving the development of new programs or changes to organization infrastructure. Regardless of who may be involved in a project, it is important that every needs assessment project includes individuals who know about the issue, care about the issue, and can help implement any changes that occur as a result of the project (Cavanaugh & Chadwick, 2005).

Additional Resources

• Framing problems (Svihla, 2020).
• Determining environmental and contextual needs (Stefaniak, 2020).
• Guidebook for assessing needs (Watkins et al., 2012).

Asking Questions

An overarching goal of any needs assessment is to identify performance gaps and opportunities for improvement. To make recommendations that can be sustained over an extended period of time, it is important that the instructional designer understands what is causing or contributing to the current state of affairs. By determining what factors are contributing to the current situation, the instructional designer can work with others involved in the project to design and implement solutions directly addressing any gaps in performance.

A common misconception that a lot of instructional designers have about needs assessments is that they take a long time to complete. While larger projects will most likely take weeks or months to complete, other needs assessments can be scaled to be completed quickly. There are lots of ways that needs assessments can be conducted rapidly in a matter of a few meetings or days depending on the project.

Conducting a learner analysis at the beginning of a semester is considered a needs assessment activity. Most of the time, instructional design activities that are presented with the ADDIE framework are limited to focusing on learner analyses (Stefaniak & Sentz, 2020). It is important that instructional designers expand beyond the learner analysis to better understand contextual factors impacting the organizational environment.

This can be accomplished by asking questions regarding resourcing, personnel, and plans for sustainability (see Figure 1). It is most beneficial to the instructional designer to ask as many questions as possible during a needs assessment to ascertain a detailed account of the environment. For purposes of needs assessments conducted in higher education, the environment could be considered the classroom, an academic program within a department, a department, a college, or the university as a whole.

Factors influencing instructional design decisions

Table 2 provides examples of the various types of questions an instructional design may want to consider asking while working on a needs assessment.

Examples of Questions to Ask During a Needs Assessment

When working as an instructional designer in higher education, it is important to gather enough information to inform what types of non-instructional solutions may be needed to support instructional efforts. Table 3 provides an overview of how an instructional designer may address each of these steps during a needs assessment as depicted by Stefaniak (2021 ). It provides a sample list of questions an instructional designer may consider when collecting information for projects warranting instructional solutions.

Example of Project Intake Form

Determining Appropriate Data Sources

Once an instructional designer begins identifying questions that will help inform their team in designing appropriate solutions (instructional and non-instructional), it is important to gather data from multiple sources that inform the instructional designer of the current and desired state of affairs and help them approach their design work. Table 4 provides examples of data sources an instructional designer may consider when gathering information.

Data Sources an Instructional Designer May Gather During a Needs Assessment in Higher Education

Suggested Tips When Conducting a Needs Assessment

Regardless of the project that an instructional designer may be assigned to in higher education, the following suggestions should be taken into consideration while planning:

• Identify appropriate people. Be sure to identify individuals within your organization who are familiar with the project, care about the project, and have the ability and authority to implement any changes that may result from the needs assessment.
• Develop intake forms for projects. A large majority of instructional design support units at higher education institutions require faculty who are requesting support to fill out a form providing an overview of the project. Intake forms help to ensure that everyone involved with the project has a shared understanding of what the project entails, timelines, and resources needed.
• Ask WHY! When gathering data sources and asking questions, do not be afraid to ask WHY? When conducting a needs assessment, asking follow-up questions to help understand why a situation is occurring or what is causing a problem in the organization helps the instructional designer mitigate uncertainty.
• Align Needs Assessment Activities with Given Project Constraints. Every project comes with constraints. It is okay to scale your needs assessment activities based upon the time constraints or resources associated with a project. A needs assessment that an instructional designer may conduct while assisting a faculty member with modifying an existing course will look much different in comparison to supporting a department who wishes to develop a new online degree program.

The following is a list of books that may be of interest to instructional design professionals working in higher education who are interested in learning more about how to conduct needs assessments in higher education. Altschuld, J.W., & Kumar, D.D. (2010). Needs assessment: An overview. SAGE. Kaufman, R. & Guerra-Lopez, I. (2013). Needs assessment for organizational success. Alexandria, VA: ASTD Press. Stefaniak, J. (2021). Needs assessment for learning and performance: Theory, process, and practice. Routledge. Watkins, R., Meiers, M. W., & Visser, Y. L. (2012). A guide to assessing needs: Essential tools for collecting information, making decisions, and achieving development results. The World Bank.

Examples of Needs Assessments Conducted in Higher Education

Ali, N. S., Hodson-Carlton, K., Ryan, M., Flowers, J., Rose, M. A., & Wayda, V. (2005). Online education: Needs assessment for faculty development. The Journal of Continuing Education in Nursing, 36(1). https://edtechbooks.org/-GypM

Babcock, A., Lehan, T., & Hussey, H. D. (2019). Mind the gaps: An online learning center's needs assessment. Learning Assistance Review, 24(1), 27-58.

Bolliger, D. U., & Wasilik, O. (2009). Factors influencing faculty satisfaction with online teaching and learning in higher education. Distance education, 30(1), 103-116. https://edtechbooks.org/-ravb

Lewis, K. O., Baker, R. C., & Britigan, D. H. (2011). Current practices and needs assessment of instructors in an online masters degree in education for healthcare professionals: A first step to the development of quality standards. Journal of Interactive Online Learning, 10(1), 49-61.

Vafa, S., & Chico, D. E. (2013). A needs assessment for mobile technology use in medical education. International Journal of Medical Education, 4, 230-235. https://doi.org/10.5116/ijme.5259.4a88

Ali, N. S., Hodson-Carlton, K., Ryan, M., Flowers, J., Rose, M. A., & Wayda, V. (2005). Online education: Needs assessment for faculty development. The Journal of Continuing Education in Nursing, 36 (1). https://edtechbooks.org/-GypM

Altschuld, J.W., & Kumar, D.D. (2010). Needs assessment: An overview. SAGE.

Babcock, A., Lehan, T., & Hussey, H. D. (2019). Mind the gaps: An online learning center's needs assessment. Learning Assistance Review , 24 (1), 27-58.

Bolliger, D. U., & Wasilik, O. (2009). Factors influencing faculty satisfaction with online teaching and learning in higher education. Distance education , 30 (1), 103-116.

Cavanagh, S., & Chadwick, K. (2005). Health needs assessment: A practice guide. Health Development Agency.

Kaufman, R. & Guerra-Lopez, I. (2013). Needs assessment for organizational success. Alexandria, VA: ASTD Press.

Lewis, K. O., Baker, R. C., & Britigan, D. H. (2011). Current practices and needs assessment of instructors in an online masters degree in education for healthcare professionals: A first step to the development of quality standards. Journal of Interactive Online Learning , 10 (1), 49-61.

Stefaniak, J. (2021). Determining environmental and contextual needs. In J.K. McDonald & R.E. West (Eds.), Design for learning: principles, processes, and praxis. EdTech Books. https://edtechbooks.org/-KjB

Stefaniak, J. (2021). Needs assessment for learning and performance: Theory, process, and practice. Routledge.

Stefaniak, J., & Sentz, J. (2020). The role of needs assessment to validate contextual factors related to user experience design practices. In M. Schmidt, A.A. Tawfik, I. Jahnke, & Y. Earnshaw (Eds.), Learner and User Experience Research: An Introduction for the Field of Learning Design & Technology. EdTech Books. https://edtechbooks.org/-IZHa

Svihla, V. (2020). Problem framing. In J.K. McDonald & R.E. West (Eds.), Design for learning: principles, processes, and praxis. EdTech Books. https://edtechbooks.org/-VTiX

Vafa, S., & Chico, D. E. (2013). A needs assessment for mobile technology use in medical education. International Journal of Medical Education , 4 , 230-235. https://doi.org/ 10.5116/ijme.5259.4a88

This content is provided to you freely by EdTech Books.

Access it online or download it at https://edtechbooks.org/id_highered/conducting_needs_ass .

My English Language

English language resources for efl students and teachers.

Needs Analysis

Conducting a needs analysis in tefl.

Conducting a needs analysis is a great way to find out more about the needs of your students.

EFL teachers may find it useful to devise a needs analysis questionnaire , before designing a teaching programme, to make sure that their lessons address the students’ particular needs and individual learning styles.

Performing a needs analysis can be an excellent way for EFL teachers to find out more about their students and make devising lessons for them much easier in the long run.

Why perform a needs analysis?

It is always helpful to find out about students’ motivation , their prior learning experiences, the situations they are likely to use English in and which skills/language items they need to extra practice with.

Armed with this information, the teacher can select and create the most appropriate and useful learning materials and activities.

The needs analysis questionnaire

When creating a needs analysis questionnaire, it is best to use open question forms such as What…? Why…? How…? When… ? rather than closed questions which are likely to result in only ‘yes’ and ‘no’ answers.

It is also be a good idea to ask for a piece of English writing . The more students express themselves, the easier it is to deduce their capabilities and learning requirements.

What questions to ask in your needs analysis

A needs analysis questionnaire is often a good way of finding out about your students’ English language experience, their current level of English and their English language requirements.

For example, it is useful to know a little about their job, their company and their responsibilities at work .

If the student is not at work, you need to know where they use English, whether that is at university , at college, at home or socially.

You should include questions which allow you to get to know more about them and their interests, so you can make lessons more personally relevant and stimulating.

Example needs analysis questionnaire

Suggested questions for a needs analysis questionnaire:

• What experience do you have learning English?
• When do you normally use English?
• Who do you communicate in English with?
• Do you use English at work? What for?
• Do you use or need to use English in these situations:
• social situations
• meetings and discussions
• negotiations
• telephone calls
• report writing
• essay writing
• letter writing
• How advanced are you using English generally, on a scale of 1-5? (1= beginner; 2= basic; 3= intermediate; 4= advanced; 5 = very advanced)
• How confident are you using English in these situations?
• Introducing yourself
• Ordering food in a restaurant
• Asking for directions
• Talking about your job
• Making general conversation
• Writing a postcard
• Writing a letter of complaint
• Using the telephone
• Disagreeing with someone
• What experience do you have of learning other languages?
• What are your main 3 reasons for learning English?
• What do you find most difficult when learning English? (e.g. speaking, writing, reading, listening)

Using the needs analysis to measure knowledge gaps 

By studying the answers to needs analysis questionnaire, the teacher can see exactly where the student requires the most help relevant to their lifestyle and job.

Teachers can also assess the general competency level of the student from their examples of writing and their contributions to any classroom discussion.

Once you know a student’s needs and their current ability level, it is possible to identify their knowledge gaps and set targets for their progress .

The needs analysis can be used as you formulate the lessons so that each session moves the student a step closer to their target level in each language learning skill ( reading, writing , speaking and listening ).

The lessons should also address the individual goals of the student and consider if they need help with specific vocabulary to do their job more effectively.

Using the needs analysis to set targets

There are many different ways to teach each point, using books, discussion, grammar exercises and multimedia.

There are also various ways to measure progress. For example: tests, comprehension checks , writing exercises, gap-fill exercises and conversations

At the end of each month or term, teachers and students can re-visit the needs analysis as a benchmark to compare the starting point against the student’s progress. You can then see how close they are to their target competency level.

It is also important to conduct new needs analyses occasionally as student needs and goals can change. Perhaps they have a new job which requires them to talk to customers or use specific vocabulary, for example related to healthcare , education, finance , beauty or sport.

Measuring the needs analysis

When measuring the needs of students, it can be useful to give an area of knowledge a ‘measurement of need’ using a scale of 1 to 5   from least important to most important.

This is especially useful if you are teaching to a curriculum and you want to analyse the competency level of each student within the set framework.

For example, considering the need of writing skills you could consider essay writing , business writing, report writing, letter writing , and social writing for emails and letters to friends. How important are these areas for the individual student?

If a student is working in an office where they need to answer the telephone in English, but their needs analysis questionnaire also states that they aren’t confident speaking on the telephone, their need to improve speaking skills would be ranked as 5 (i.e. very important).

The teacher should also make a note of their need for telephone English practice and incorporate this into future lesson plans .

Another example would be a student who has to write essays at university . Their need would be high (ranked as 5), for essay writing skills. Their lessons should focus strongly on improving writing skills within an academic context .

If a student often needs to write essays at university, their EFL lessons could include a discussion of English essay writing practice and essay structure .

Learning words and phrases associated with expressing an opinion can also help the student formulate the arguments in their essays .

Needs analysis for lesson structure

In many cases, the needs analysis does not need to be measured in any formal sense against a set scale. It can simply be used as a general guide for creating lesson plans.

This is especially useful in private lessons where the teacher can structure a lesson specifically to the needs of the individual student.

For example, if a needs analysis questionnaire revealed the student is a nurse and is also lacking confidence in speaking skills, the teacher knows that medical vocabulary is important and lessons could incorporate role-play in hospital settings.

Share your ideas about the needs analysis for TEFL

Do you think that it is always necessary to perform an in-depth needs analysis with a new student?

Are there any other questions you feel should be included in a needs analysis questionnaire for TEFL?

Do you have any tips or advice about lesson preparation?

What are the most common student goals in your experience?

Share your thoughts in the comments box below!

22 thoughts on “ Needs Analysis ”

very good and useful resource.

very good and useful guidance to enhance our English Language.

How do you measure the needs analysis?

Hi Rebekah Thanks for the interesting question. We have recently added a section that discusses using the needs analysis to measure student ability levels, set targets and structure lessons. It can be useful to measure the importance of language areas and student ability in those areas on a scale of 1 to 5 if working to a set curriculum. However, it can often be just as helpful to use the needs analysis as a basic guide to lesson planning if working as a private tutor with the freedom to set your own lessons. What do other teachers think?

Great guidance. It is very practical in terms of private lessons if you wanna be less informal

I’m glad you found the page useful, Cesar – thanks for stopping by! You might also enjoy our new page on task-based language learning . The language problems thrown up in a TBL lesson could be an interesting way to develop your needs analysis.

Anyone here who can maybe help me with needs analysis for corporate classes? I’m torn between formality and fun for this first lesson. I want to be able to identify their needs without boring them or overwhelming them. Currently, the idea I’m going to use is the role play. Also, another problem is that in one office (i.e. HR), there are different levels of English proficiency. I’ve got 3 staff to teach in HR and all of them are in different English levels based on CEFR exam. Please help. Thank you in advance!

Hello Rah, Role play is a good idea to keep a lesson fun, perhaps focused around a situation they are likely to encounter at work. If they have the space to show their language skills in a relaxed role play scenario, you should be able to assess their level reasonably. A short questionnaire could also be an option for additional input if you don’t find that too formal. For a class with different ability levels, having a multi-purpose lesson plan is useful, so the lower level learner will understand and be able to fully take part in the main session, but the more advanced students can take the exercise further with some additional tasks. Do any teachers have more ideas on teaching multi-level classes?

I am doing my Business English assignment, and this page is really helpful. Thanks so much for such an amazing share 🙂

Thanks for your kind comment, Arooj! Glad you’re finding the page useful for your assignment. You might also like to check out the teaching business English page for more ideas.

Thanks for sharing this article. The explanation was clear and I’ve got a better understanding about Needs Analysis.

That’s great, Enrique – I’m glad the article helped. Thanks for taking the time to leave a comment.

This is great! I’m about to start teaching on Business English course, and your guidance has helped!

Hi Meips, thanks for your comment! I’m so glad the page has helped you prepare for your course. You might also find a few useful ideas in our Teaching Business English page. Good luck!

This article helped me a lot to conduct a needs assessment.

Really helpful, comprehensive, structured article. Perfect for getting you thinking not just about the assessment itself, but how to then use that to plan lessons and spot gaps. Thank you

How do you do a needs analysis with someone who speaks practically no English and you don’t speak their language very well either? Thank you

Hi Louise, I don’t think a needs analysis is particularly useful at the very beginning stage of language learning because the student needs to learn the basics of the language first before a needs analysis can be meaningful. The basics, such as introductions, the alphabet, days of the week etc. will be the same regardless of their longer-term needs for work, study or travel. Once they have enough language to communicate in a basic way, a needs analysis can be undertaken using simple vocabulary.

You have taken the phobia of needs analysis off my shoulders, thanks a million.

You’re very welcome, Emma – glad it helped!

Hi Catherine, Only just come back to this. Thank you. You’ve reassured me that I’m doing the right thing!

very good website. my subjects more material available in website.

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Learning needs assessment: assessing the need

Learning needs assessment has a fundamental role in education and training, but care is needed to prevent it becoming a straitjacket

It might seem self evident that the need to learn should underpin any educational system. Indeed, the literature suggests that, at least in relation to continuing professional development, learning is more likely to lead to change in practice when needs assessment has been conducted, the education is linked to practice, personal incentive drives the educational effort, and there is some reinforcement of the learning. 1 Learning needs assessment is thus crucial in the educational process, but perhaps more of this already occurs in medical education than we suspect. The key lesson might be for those who design new systems of education and training: for example, the postgraduate education allowance system in general practice was felt to fail the profession because it did not include needs assessment and so led to ad hoc education to fulfil the time requirements of the system rather than the needs of individual doctors or the profession as a whole. On the other hand, basing learning in a profession entirely on the assessment of needs is a dangerous and limiting tactic. So a balance must be struck.

Summary points

• Learning needs assessment is a crucial stage in the educational process that leads to changes in practice, and has become part of government policy for continuing professional development
• Learning needs assessment can be undertaken for many reasons, so its purpose should be defined and should determine the method used and the use made of findings
• Exclusive reliance on formal needs assessment could render education an instrumental and narrow process rather than a creative, professional one
• Different learning methods tend to suit different doctors and different identified learning needs
• Doctors already use a wide range of formal and informal ways of identifying their own learning needs as part of their ordinary practice
• These should be the starting point in designing formalised educational systems for professional improvement

Learning needs assessment in medicine

In 1998 both individual and organisational needs assessment became part of government policy in relation to the continuing professional development and personal development plans of all healthcare professionals. 2 Thus, it has a role in the clinical governance of the service 3 and is therefore much more than an educational undertaking. This integration of needs assessment, education, and quality assurance of the service was first made explicit in 1989 in relation to clinical audit, which would identify practices in need of improvement and ensure that educational and organisational interventions were made to address these needs. 4 Accordingly, audit was described as “essentially educational” and the educational process surrounding it described. 5

Long before these recent developments, needs assessment outside medicine was presented as an important part of managed education and learning contracts, which are the predecessors of the personal development plans to be developed for all NHS healthcare professionals. 6 In his descriptions of adult learning Knowles assumed (he did not claim to have research evidence) that learners needed to feel a necessity to learn and that identifying one's own learning needs was an essential part of self directed learning. 7 In medicine a doctor's motivation to learn would therefore derive from needs identified during his or her experience of clinical practice. So the pedigree and practice of learning needs assessment, if not the evidence, are well established.

The definition of need

As in most areas of education, for many years there has been intense debate about the definition, purpose, validity, and methods of learning needs assessment. 8 It might be to help curriculum planning, diagnose individual problems, assess student learning, demonstrate accountability, improve practice and safety, or offer individual feedback and educational intervention. Published classifications include felt needs (what people say they need), expressed needs (expressed in action) normative needs (defined by experts), and comparative needs (group comparison). 9 Other distinctions include individual versus organisational or group needs, clinical versus administrative needs, and subjective versus objectively measured needs. 10 The defined purpose of the needs assessment should determine the method used and the use made of findings.

Furthermore, even though the concept of educational needs assessment is enshrined in practice, policy, and the educational canon, several factors indicate the need for careful planning and research in this subject (see boxes ​ boxesB1 B1 and ​ andB2). B2 ). Exclusive reliance on formal needs assessment in educational planning could render education an instrumental and narrow process rather than a creative, professional one. This is especially so in a profession where there is inherent unpredictability and uncertainty. Members of any profession require wide knowledge and depth of experience—the relevance of some of which might not have been obvious at the time of learning. Certainly, learning needs can and should be identified on the basis of what has been experienced and of what more experienced members of the profession know to be relevant, but this must not deter other, more general or even speculative, learning that, at the time, seems to answer no specific need. Possibly no specific learning needs assessment would ever send a person to a large international conference on a generic subject (such as endocrinology, medical education, or management). It is, nevertheless, important that doctors attend such meetings and return with the unexpected and expected benefits that they accrue.

: Need for careful planning in needs assessment

• There is little evidence that needs assessment alone enhances educational effectiveness and outcomes, so it must be placed within the wider process of planned learning, relevance to practice, and reinforcement of learning in the appropriate context
• Formal needs assessment can identify only a narrow range of needs and might miss needs not looked for, so breadth and flexibility of needs assessment methods should be embraced
• In professional education it is not necessarily defensible to focus all learning on identified needs—wider professional learning not related to a specific need is also of fundamental value where practice is not predictable
• Individual and group learning needs are different—group learning needs may produce an average picture that fails to address important needs and interests of individual members of the group—so a balance is required. Each approach has its uses and effects, but each must be used for the right purpose
• Identifying individual learning needs, often not shared by others, may lead to an unimpressive cost-benefit analysis in terms of individually targeted use of educational resources if used inappropriately. Individual learning needs assessment is best used in the context of learning that occurs on an individual basis—such as in the relationship between general practitioner registrar and trainer

: Need for research into needs assessment in medical education

• What are the effects of and responses to needs assessment alone for students, trainees, and senior doctors at different stages of medical education?
• What is the relative validity, reliability, or utility of different formal and informal methods of learning needs assessment in medical education at any level?
• To what extent do needs assessment methods identify all important learning needs?
• What are the relative effects and efficacy of identifying group and individual learning needs?
• What methods of planning effective learning experiences are most effective on the basis of needs identified?

Methods of needs assessment

Although the literature generally reports only on the more formal methods of needs assessment, doctors use a wide range of informal ways of identifying learning needs as part of their ordinary practice. These should not be undervalued simply because they do not resemble research. Questionnaires and structured interviews seem to be the most commonly reported methods of needs assessment, but such methods are also used for evaluation, assessment, management, education, and now appraisal and revalidation. 11 Together, these formal and informal methods might make an effective battery where there is clarity of purpose. The Good CPD Guide details 46 formal and informal methods of self assessment (see box ​ boxB3 B3 ). 12

: Good CPD Guide 's classification of sources of needs assessment 12

The methods listed are both formal and informal, planned and opportunistic, showing that day to day work and encounters have the potential to generate needs as much as do formal methods. Formal needs assessment methods include critical incident techniques, gap analysis, objective knowledge and skills tests, observation, revalidation, self assessment, video assessment, and peer review. Such methods are often used to identify group needs. 14 , 15 Formal identification of needs can also arise from audit, morbidity patterns, adverse events, patient satisfaction surveys, and risk assessment. Most of these tools use quantitative methods that can generate computerised data and cover wider population ranges, but these are often unable to probe into the personal agendas and opinions of individuals.

Types of needs assessment

Methods of needs assessment can be classified into seven main types, each of which can take many different forms in practice.

Gap or discrepancy analysis

This formal method involves comparing performance with stated intended competencies—by self assessment, peer assessment, or objective testing—and planning education accordingly. 9 , 16 , 17

Reflection on action and reflection in action

Reflection on action is an aspect of experiential learning and involves thinking back to some performance, with or without triggers (such as videotape or audiotape), and identifying what was done well and what could have been done better. 18 , 19 The latter category indicates learning needs.

Reflection in action involves thinking about actual performance at the time that it occurs and requires some means of recording identified strengths and weaknesses at the time. The Canadian MOCOMP programme uses formalised reflection as its basic process. 20 Similarly, PUNs and DENs (see box ​ boxB3) B3 ) are well known in British general practice.

Self assessment by diaries, journals, log books, weekly reviews

This is an extension of reflection that involves keeping a diary or other account of experiences. 21 However, practice might show that such documents tend to be written nearer the time of their review than the time of the activity being recorded.

Peer review

This is rapidly becoming a favourite method. It involves doctors assessing each other's practice and giving feedback and perhaps advice about possible education, training, or organisational strategies to improve performance. The Good CPD Guide describes five types of peer review—internal, external, informal, multidisciplinary, and physician assessment. 11 The last of these is the most formal, involving rating forms completed by nominated colleagues, and shows encouraging levels of validity, reliability, and acceptability. 22 , 23

Observation

In more formal settings doctors can be observed performing specific tasks that can be rated by an observer, either according to known criteria or more informally. The results are discussed, and learning needs are identified. The observer can be a peer, a senior, or a disinterested person if the ratings are sufficiently objective or overlap with the observer's area of expertise (such as communication skills or management).

Critical incident review and significant event auditing

Although this technique is usually used to identify the competencies of a profession or for quality assurance, it can also be used on an individual basis to identify learning needs. 24 The method involves individuals identifying and recording, say, one incident each week in which they feel they should have performed better, analysing the incident by its setting, exactly what occurred, and the outcome and why it was ineffective.

Practice review

A routine review of notes, charts, prescribing, letters, requests, etc, can identify learning needs, especially if the format of looking at what is satisfactory and what leaves room for improvement is followed.

The difference between needs assessment and assessment

Needs assessment is not the same as assessment in the sense of examination of learning. Assessment systems that lead to academic or professional awards should show certain minimum characteristics, including measurement of performance against external criteria and standards, a decision on adequacy by an assessor, and standardised data gathering. 25 Needs assessment might sometimes have these characteristics, but it also might be based on practice, reflection, professional judgment, discussion, and informal data. Needs assessment methods that are limited by the standards of assessment will fall into the trap of assessing only a narrow range of needs.

Learning for needs

The main purpose of needs assessment must be to help educational planning, but this must not lead to too narrow a vision of learning. Learning in a profession is unlike any other kind of learning. Doctors live in a rich learning environment, constantly involved in and surrounded by professional interaction and conversation, educational events, information, and feedback. The search for the one best or “right” way of learning is a hopeless task, 1 especially if this is combined with attempting to “measure” observable learning. Research papers show, at best, the complexity of the process.

Multiple interventions targeted at specific behaviour result in positive change in that behaviour. 26 Exactly what those interventions are is less important than their multiplicity and targeted nature. On the other hand, different doctors use different learning methods to meet their individual needs. For example, in a study of 366 primary care doctors who identified recent clinical problems for which they needed more knowledge or skill to solve, 55 different learning methods were selected. 27 The type of problem turned out to be the major determinant of the learning method chosen, so there may not be one educational solution to identified needs.

Much of doctors' learning is integrated with their practice and arises from it. The style of integrated practice and learning (“situated learning”) develops during the successive stages of medical education. 28 The components of apprenticeship learning in postgraduate training are made up of many activities that may be regarded as part of practice (see box ​ boxB4 B4 ). 29 Senior doctors might also recognise much of their learning in some of these elements and could certainly add more—such as conversations with colleagues.

: Components of apprenticeship learning in postgraduate training 29

• Learning by doing
• Experience of seeing patients
• Building up personal knowledge and experience
• Discussing patients
• Managing patients
• Having errors corrected
• Making teaching points during service
• Listening to experts' explanations
• “Picking things up”
• Charismatic influences
• Learning clinical methods from practice
• Being questioned about thought and actions about patients
• Teaching by doing
• Using knowledge and skill
• Bite-size learning from “bits and pieces”
• Retrieving and applying knowledge stored in memory
• Learning from supervision
• Receiving feedback
• Presentation and summarising
• Observing experts working
• Learning from role models
• Learning from team interactions
• Hearing consultants thinking aloud
• Thinking about practice and patients

Thus, educational planning on the basis of identified needs faces real challenges in making learning appropriate to and integrated with professional style and practice. The first step in all of this is to recognise the needs assessment and learning that are a part of daily professional life in medicine and to formalise, highlight, and use these as the basis of future recorded needs assessment and subsequent planning and action, as well as integrating them with more formal methods of needs assessment to form a routine part of training, learning, and improving practice.

Editorial by Goldbeck-Wood and Peile

  Competing interests: None declared.

How to Conduct a Training Needs Analysis (with examples)

A training needs analysis is a key tool for HR professionals. It helps you establish what areas of L&D you need to focus on in order to improve the skills, knowledge, and abilities of your employees. With the data you acquire, you can build a solid foundation for developing successful training programs that help your company grow and develop. And these programs are more important than ever in our current climate. Training and reskilling your employees has become an essential tool that can help companies emerge stronger from the COVID-19 crisis.

What is a “TNA” (Training Needs Analysis)

Why do a training needs analysis, how do you conduct a training needs analysis best practices, training needs analysis template: an example of the tna process.

• Software for Performance Reviews ✅

In this article, we will discuss how to do a training needs analysis, and why training needs analysis is necessary for companies to succeed. We will also break down the various steps involved in a typical TNA process to help you implement a program that addresses the true needs of your organization.

A training needs analysis (TNA), also known as a training needs assessment, is a process that organizations use to determine the gap between the current and desired knowledge, skills, and abilities of employees.

The information you gather during a training needs analysis helps you get a bird’s eye view of your company and determine which areas of learning and development you need to focus on in order to improve overall performance. In other words, the process enables you to identify the knowledge, skills, and abilities your employees are currently lacking in relation to your goals as a company. You can then use this information to design an effective development plan for employees .

An effective TNA addresses questions such as:

• Which employees need training?
• What kind of training do they require?
• How can you design an effective training program for them?
• What will be the impact of training be on employee performance?
• What level of investment and resources will be required to implement an effective training program?

Now that we’ve addressed the question “what is organizational analysis in training need assessment?”, let’s look at some of the benefits of implementing a process for analyzing your current and future training needs:

• Identify gaps : A training needs analysis can help you determine if your company has any organizational issues that are caused by a lack of skills, knowledge and abilities. Plus, focusing on both training and analysis can help you identify these issues before they become a problem and have a negative impact on your business
• Plan . Conducting a training needs assessment can help you plan your employee training programs for the year in advance so that you can align them with business activities and budgets.
• Get creative . TNA process in HRM can help you think outside the box and highlight training areas you may not have considered before.
• Target the right people . TNA in HRM can also help you target the right people for each training session, helping you design personalized L&D programs and workplace mentorships that keep employees engaged and motivated to learn.

Before we share an example of the TNA process to help you create your own, let’s take a look at a few tips and best practices to keep in mind.

• Use workplace profiles to map out what knowledge and skills workers needed to fulfill the responsibilities of their specific roles.
• Search for performance gaps between current performance and where you would like to be.
• Ask employees for feedback and suggestions. What are their own personal desired learning objectives? What skills would help them perform better? What’s preventing them from performing better now?
• Don’t forget to consider compliance needs during your TNA, especially in terms of training materials. Make sure any training you offer is in compliance with federal, state, and local laws.
• Don’t just consider where you are now. Make sure you take into account your company’s goals for the next year, too.
• The best TNA doesn’t just address skill gaps in your workforce. It should also focus on enhancing existing skills in order to improve performance levels.
• Focus on majority goals. This includes prioritizing new skills that will benefit the whole teams rather than specialized skills that focus on one or two employees. This is especially true if you have a limited budget. These skills will probably have a bigger impact on your business as a whole and your success during the year ahead.

Let’s finish by looking at a training needs analysis example.

For your training needs analysis to be effective, you need to break your training needs analysis process model down into four key stages.

The best way to ensure you cover all bases is to use a training needs analysis template (also known as a training needs assessment template). This will serve as a handy checklist that helps you stay organized so that you can get the most from your L&D initiatives.

Take a look at the following example of what you should be including in each of the four key stages.

Define Your Organizational Goals

The first step, before you conduct your employee needs analysis, is defining your organizational goals. What do you hope to get from the process? You should obviously focus on measurable outcomes like financial performance, revenue, profit, and share price. However, you should also consider softer outcomes like customer satisfaction and organizational culture .

A great place to start is by asking yourself the following questions:

What is your organization trying to achieve in terms of overall objectives? Which of your organizational goals require the biggest change in employee behavior? Are any of your departments lagging considerably behind others in terms of goal progress? What about individual performance goals – are there any areas of concern stopping you from achieving your organizational goals?

Identify Specific Issues

The next step is matching your organizational goals with specific issues in your company. This involves observation and assessment. The best way to do this is to get your departmental managers involved. Get them to hold interviews and conduct employee surveys to help them identify areas of concern in terms of L&D. A training needs assessment questionnaire can be a great tool. It can help you find out what areas your employees feel they need more training, support, and resources.

You should also evaluate as much data as you can to establish if there are any common issues that training can address. Your HR records are probably full of valuable information. Look at your exit interviews and performance evaluations to see if you can spot any patterns or trends.

Define the Required Knowledge & Skills

The third step in the process is defining the specific skills you need to get where you want to be. The more specific you can be here, the more effective your training programs will be. And with the right training, you’ll nurture the behavior you want to see and hit your goals in the future.

Remember that not everyone will need the same training. Your finance department will obviously need a very different set of skills, knowledge, and abilities than your sales team. Make sure you identify specific needs for each individual in your company, or at least at a departmental level.

Set Training Timelines and Priorities

The final stage is to develop your training program. Aside from training content, you also need to set training timelines and establish your priorities in line with your budget.

What are your goals and how quickly do you need to get there? What format will you use to provide training? And how will you monitor the effectiveness of your L&D programs to ensure the training you provide is helping you reach your organizational goals?

There are a number of techniques you can use to keep track of the progress of your employees. You can use more traditional organizational surveys and interviews, or more advanced analytical techniques such as data mining.

If you’re just starting out, then the best tip here is to keep it simple. Use an Excel spreadsheet such as Factorial’s free skills matrix template to see how your team members have developed, assess their level of interest in learning particular skillsets, and compare learned competencies with overall objectives. This is the best way to monitor how effective your training is and whether your training needs analysis is helping you reach your goals.

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Needs analysis: templates and examples for effective training

Continuous employee training is crucial for staying competitive, but it doesn’t come without a cost — employers worldwide spend thousands on employee learning and development. However, it’s not that simple and always effective.

With so much focus and investment going into training programs, how can employers help ensure that their efforts to improve job performance are a good use of their resources? In this article, we will explain how needs analysis helps companies make smarter decisions around this, plus a monday.com needs analysis template for any size team.

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What is needs analysis?

Needs analysis describes the structured, systemic process of evaluating employees or teams regarding their skills training. Also referred to as “gaps,” the term “needs” within this context refers to an individual or group’s training and upskilling requirements to reach their peak performance.

Download Excel template

At your place of work, you might call a needs analysis a “needs assessment” or “gap analysis.” Either way, this evaluation process serves the purpose of identifying flaws and finding solutions to grasp company goals. It ultimately serves to bridge performance gaps and issue more effective training in the long run.

Why use needs analysis?

Needs analysis serves to highlight problem areas and take actionable steps toward improvement. However, the benefits of performing a needs analysis extend beyond just insight. Your company can use a needs analysis as a tool for instructional design that enhances job performance from root to tip. It can also help you identify training methods that bring the best out of your employees.

Here are a few more major reasons to implement needs analysis for your teams.

Helps identify opportunities for growth and learning

Identification of a problem is the first step toward growth. If an employee is silently struggling with a certain skill set, a needs analysis will kickstart the necessary awareness to make a change.

Positions teams to reach individual and company-wide goals

Sometimes, all it takes to reach big goals is a reshuffling of tools, skills, and responsibilities. A needs analysis can give teams and individuals a fresher, more productive structure to work with. Ensuring specialized individual training will help teams function better, contributing to company success. For example, if a team leader takes a public speaking course, their ability to present information to their team improves, allowing for more effective communication and delegation of tasks.

Prioritizes the most important and impactful training

Being aware of company weaknesses or improvement areas is essential for moving forward. A needs analysis can help companies bolster weak spots and make the most out of peak performance areas.

There are multiple benefits to running a needs analysis for any team with big dreams. Once the analysis has been executed, it becomes easier to organize information and prioritize the needs of the business. In this way, managers and supervisors can issue a training program that truly meets the needs of employees, without wasting time or budget on lower-priority activities

When might you use needs analysis?

Performing regular assessments within your company is crucial for staying afloat. This is especially true now, as teams from around the world struggle to adapt to the many changes that have been flung our way by the pandemic.

To deepen your understanding of the importance of needs analysis, let’s cycle through three examples of when needs analysis is required.

1. Adapting to a digital workplace

Even though digital workspaces have become significantly more popular over the past two years, many people are still struggling to adapt. A report from the digital workplace Beezy found that 61% of employees are not satisfied with their company’s tools and technologies.

A training or learning needs analysis like the one below can be used to provide employees with the education and support they need to reduce digital performance problems.

( Image Source )

2. Implementing effective time management

Time management is a common area for improvement within teams, especially as communication and time tracking methods have had to change dramatically in the past two years. Digital communication within teams has skyrocketed, and time tracking has become a common requirement of remote jobs.

A needs analysis report will shed light on how much your employees are struggling to manage time. The following needs analysis questions will provide you with a clear picture of where to invest in training.

3. Maintaining employee and team morale

According to Gallup’s State of the Global Workplace Report, a staggering 67% of employees are “not engaged” in the workplace, and it shows. Global stress, anxiety, and depression levels have inevitably leaked into the business sector, making it hard for employees to emit high job performance.

You can use a needs analysis to create a training program to tackle these issues within the workplace and help employees regain a sense of pride and joy in their work or to understand what resources you might want to provide, like mental health support or team bonding activities.

monday.com’s needs analysis template

The process of identifying a strong needs analysis design doesn’t need to be complicated. monday.com has developed a needs analysis template that can be used to help companies from all over the world identify training gaps. Other benefits include:

Transforming your needs analysis into actionable tasks

Once you have concrete data on the state of your employees’ performance, assigning actionable steps to those in charge becomes much easier. Quickly assign tasks to your teammates, whether that’s to watch a training video or sign up for a microlearning course. Use statuses and automations to make it a breeze to understand where things stand at a glance — and from one central location.

Creating a training program based on your needs analysis

Your team deserves a training needs analysis that meets their strengths and weaknesses. monday.com’s template can be seamlessly applied to any employee, team, or industry for more succinct results.

For example, the template includes an overview of company goals ranked by priority. This allows your team to easily visualize what needs to be done to meet those goals and makes it easier to delegate training and tasks based on the skills of your team members.

Tracking your team’s progress

Progress tracking is one of the most valuable tools a company can use to maintain momentum. And monday.com’s needs analysis template reflects employee data in a clear, concise way. With our Performance Insights View, you can easily analyze your team’s overall performance to see how your training program is impacting overall productivity.

Engaging with employees

Employee engagement is one of the most important tools in the proverbial business box right now. You can use monday.com’s template as the starting point for an engagement and morale turnaround that pushes everyone into the next tier of productivity. Send a message to any team member with an @mention, and make sure they get the message with instant notifications.

Related templates

Each of these templates can provide companies with a unique approach to training their teams in the most efficient way possible.

1. Employee engagement survey template

Our Employee Engagement Survey Template enables you to send surveys and record responses from one centralized location. It can be used to quickly assess engagement levels, thus allowing for more effective responses to employees’ emotional and mental needs. Their feedback will be added directly to the workspace so that it’s easily visible and can be implemented immediately.

2. HR services template

The Human Resources (HR) Services Template that monday.com offers provides team leaders or managers with insights into employee onboarding, new requests, recently opened positions, and more.

This template is also beneficial in the sense that it is centralized and therefore accessible in one place, permitting easy tracking of employee dates, streamlining HR requests, and keeping up to date with any onboarding processes currently in effect. An important part of new hire onboarding could even include a mini needs analysis to ensure a thorough start.

3. Training program template

A Training Plan Template is designed to guide team leaders in planning and developing a strong training program for employees. Each team is different, which is why a flexible template like this one is perfect for applying to groups of all shapes and sizes. Here is an example of another training plan.

4. Performance improvement plan template

Employees struggling to meet a certain standard of performance might need the push and structure that a Performance Improvement Plan Template can facilitate. This template works by helping employees set small daily performance goals that compound over time to reach long-term goals. Below you can see a basic layout.

FAQs about needs analysis

What does a needs analysis example include.

A needs analysis typically includes several different stages of assessment:

• Needs identification
• Data collection and analysis
• Data application

This structure can be applied to teams of just about any size and can be adapted to help configure the right steps and protocols for achieving company-specific goals.

What are the 4 steps in the needs analysis process?

The four steps in the needs analysis process are:

• Understanding long and short-term business goals
• Identifying the desired performance outcomes
• Examining the current performance efforts
• Establishing an appropriate solution

These four steps are essentially there to help support and guide business teams who are unsure of how to reach their projected goals.

How do you conduct a needs analysis?

The easiest way to conduct a needs analysis is by following the steps and guidelines provided by a template. monday.com offers a plethora of professional business templates, including a detailed template to help you conduct a thorough needs analysis. monday.com also makes it easy to communicate the process to employees from a shared workspace.

What are the types of needs analysis?

There are many different types of needs analysis prerogatives. Some of the most common ones include:

• Person analysis : Dealing with experience, learning style, and temperament of employees
• Performance analysis : Focusing on productivity levels and potential performance gaps
• Organizational analysis : Pertaining to whether or not an organization is utilizing the right strategies, goals, and objectives
• Training suitability analysis : Assessment of which training offers the desired solutions

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• How to conduct a learning needs analysis: a step-by-step guide

At the heart of the learning needs analysis is a pretty straightforward concept, understanding which skills need to be developed to get your company and people closer to your goals.

It’s an assessment of the skills needed to perform current or upcoming roles better, and the tools for understanding the gap between where you are now and where your organisation need to be. The obvious benefit is that you’re able to effectively close the gap through more strategic learning and development, but there are multiple benefits. We’ll cover these before jumping into the steps of conducting a learning needs analysis and your guide for success.

Jump to your step-by-step learning needs guide

Are training and learning needs analyses different?

The two terms are often used interchangeably, but arguably they’re two different approaches or, at the very least, a change of mindset. The term training needs analysis implies an assessment of what training should be delivered to reach company goals. A learning needs analysis ensures your learners are the focus and that you’ll ask which people can we develop to reach our shared goals?

How can a learning needs analysis benefit you?

Close the skill gap, use your L&D budget better

It makes sense to start with understanding the skills gap in your team because this also allows you to identify the greatest areas of need and focus your training budget on those pressing skills. The proactive nature could also allow you to upskill staff before the skill gap has a detrimental effect on your business. In a learning needs nutshell, you’ll get a better ROI on your L&D spend and ensure that it’s directed where it will have a high impact.

Develop your people and culture

If you’re able to provide a better learning and development strategy , one that progresses people towards new skills and goals, you’ll create a culture where people feel they can thrive and grow. It also creates an environment in which progression towards personal and business goals happens in tandem, meaning people can see their contribution more tangibly.

Key questions it will help you answer

Before we dive into the steps and template for your learning needs analysis, it’s important to understand the questions the process will encourage you to answer.

• Who needs a learning pathway?
• What is it that they need to learn to help achieve company goals?
• How do those relate to their personal learning and development objectives.
• How are you going to create effective learning courses for them?
• What impact is it going to have on your business and their development?
• Where does this fit into your learning and development budget?

Free Guide! Your Checklist For A Winning Learning Needs Analysis

Your learning needs analysis: step-by-step process

Think of this as your learning needs analysis framework, the step-by-step guide that’ll help you establish and close your skills gap.

Which skills are needed to progress?

Consider your company or team goals and what you’re lacking in order to achieve them – think of this as your initial needs assessment. It’s also important to speak with your employees at this point, to understand their perceptions on what might be lacking and anything they’re hoping to improve.

You can also gain insights from current job descriptions, by analysing the skills listed to determine core competencies and in-demand traits across relevant markets and roles. Trawling through job boards and listings would be a big ask, so let HowNow handle that for you! We’ll analyse 500,000 live job roles to give you insights and, more importantly, those hours back to invest in your needs analysis and upskilling.

What are the current skill levels?

Conversations with employees are key at this point, both directly and through their peers. You can combine their feedback with your view of their skill and proficiency in certain areas. Your learning system or platform can be extremely useful at this point if you’ve chosen it wisely. In HowNow, your employees can grade themselves for the skills related to their role, and you can give your own assessment on this one-to-five scale. Your learning platform analytics will also be invaluable for understanding recently developed skills at this point.

Identify the skill gap

No pressure, but this will be a reflection of how well you’ve conducted the first two stages of your learning needs analysis. Determine the current gap between the skills your person, role or team has now and the levels needed to reach your goals.

At the same time, consider the individual learning and development needs of people in your teams, if you can understand how those align with companies, you’ll be more effective at winning people over.  There’s a similar situation when it comes to your stakeholders. Their teams will have targets to hit and hurdles to hop over, they’ll have their own objectives to conquer, and assessing those as part of the learning needs journey will also pull everyone in the same direction.

How can that gap be closed through learning?

Start by establishing the subject matter experts in the business and assessing your existing learning materials. There will be a gap (yes, another gap) between those and the resources you’ll need to develop the necessary skills. Creating all of those resources for yourself would be another daunting task, so it’s important to use or consider platforms that curate learning content from high-quality third parties in order to cater to all your learning needs.

On the subject of learning platforms, you’ll also need to determine how you’ll deliver your content and what format will make it most effective—whether that’s webinars, guides, podcasts or a mix.

Implement a learning development strategy and evaluate

Are your L&D practices or opportunities and personal development pathways developing the necessary skills? What qualifies as success in this aspect and how will you measure it? Again, this can be influenced by the learning platform you choose. If you pick one that seamlessly lets you monitor, measure and assess how your learners’ interact with resources, it’ll be a lot easier. Have a think, you know where to find us…

What happens next?

Well, if you’ve yet to settle upon a learning system or platform, we can help with that! Contact our team today and we’ll discuss your learning needs. Or maybe you need a little more training inspiration before you decide on your strategy?

Free Guide: 37 Lessons For A Winning L&D Strategy

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• What is learning content? A 2020 analysis of how we got here
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