Needs Analysis--Understanding the First Steps

Choose Your Solution

Taking everything into account you've found up to this point, choose the consultant or company that can best meet your needs. Keep in mind, however, that the company or consultant you choose may identify issues, gaps, or existing solutions you could not see — it's often best to perform a preliminary needs assessment, then allow an experienced training professional to review your analysis and offer helpful additions or suggestions. After all, training is their specialty, so their suggestions can help your company better prepare for change and growth, but understanding your company's idiosyncrasies will help them decide what is best to advise.

Some questions to think about while your organization is choosing a consultant:

Did the needs analysis address already-established issues?
What other gaps did the needs analysis uncover, and are they relevant to your organizational culture?
Will the consultant be able to provide timely solutions and multiple options?
Does the consultant seem to "get" your corporate culture, enough to advise you properly?

Plan for the Future

You can conduct a training needs analysis for a single project, a class of employees, or even your entire company. In our case studies section, we show how we developed a Change Management Plan for the Nebraska Public Power District.

If you would like help with a training needs assessment, please contact one of our training experts.