How To Change The Means You Method Wants Evaluation [eBook]

An insightful history of needs analysis in the modern corporate world

Organizations need to be able to reflect on their weaknesses and create personalized online training solutions for their team. Otherwise, there is a risk of skills stagnation, high employee turnover and low customer satisfaction. But how do you approach the needs assessment from a creative point of view to get the answers you want? This eBook examines the entire needs assessment process from a practical point of view. You will get to know a whole range of characters who take on new challenges and discover innovative L&D strategies.

eBook release

How to Change Your Approach to Needs Assessment: A Story About the 7 Essential Elements

How does the fictional company AshCom adapt to changes and develop innovative L&D solutions? Discover the seven crucial components of a successful needs analysis.

Why every organization should approach a holistic needs analysis

Every organization has unique goals and opportunities for improvement. However, it is important to take a step back and look at the entire company before delving into your L&D strategy. Here are just a few reasons any business should consider a holistic needs assessment approach to fill in gaps and build employee engagement:

Identify the root cause of performance gaps

It is sometimes difficult to trace gaps back to the source, especially if you are solely focused on your employee development plan. For example, low customer satisfaction statistics indicate that there may be a deeper problem with your sales and / or customer service policies. Likewise, you may need to take a closer look at your certification paths associated with those specific skills. A holistic approach to needs analysis gives you the opportunity to expand the scope of research. You can step outside of the L&D frame of reference and examine business reports, feedback results, and other data sources to see the big picture.

Actively involve employees in the process

You shouldn’t expect employees to sit on the sidelines while you secretly conduct a needs assessment and then show your results in one grand reveal. The key is to get them involved early on so they can provide valuable insights. For example, they can tell you firsthand what it’s like to actually work for your company and interact with customers. For this reason, employees should be one of your first contacts when determining needs. Conduct surveys, host live feedback events, and encourage them to share their personal stories to uncover hidden loopholes.

Expose pain points on the horizon

Tunnel vision is one of the most common culprits for business failure. You are so focused on the current problems that you cannot see the pain points that are emerging. Because of this, you need a holistic analysis to identify areas for improvement that are just emerging. For example, symptoms of low employee motivation or negative performance behavior can occur. It is important to conduct frequent needs assessments to identify these challenges as quickly as possible before they become widespread problems in your organization. Issues that affect customer service, sales, and employee retention.

Custom resources for tailoring training

Another big reason for taking a broader needs assessment approach is to personalize the online training experience for your team. In addition, you can use the needs analysis to reassess your corporate culture as a whole in order to better align it with your goals and objectives. For example, you can create custom resources that resonate with you and reflect your values and mission statement. It’s a total package rather than a fragmented L&D experience that barely touches the surface of your workplace challenges.

Highlight missed L&D approaches

Are you using the best L&D solution, or is there a more effective way to provide information and improve performance? The needs assessment can help you deal with overlooked approaches and methodologies that you have not yet considered. Your current JIT support library might be missing critical information, or there might be a better way to address different learning styles. The process allows you to get a high-level view of the current strategy and then delve deeper into the weaknesses.

Prioritize business growth initiatives

Whether you’re dealing with post-merger barriers or trying to enter new markets, there is likely a lot on your organizational to-do list. The right approach to needs assessment can help you prioritize initiatives and tie the L&D points together. For example, your company can be global and you need to localize your online training strategy. This should be your top priority so that employees in each region know what to expect and what is expected of them. A needs analysis sheds light on this aspect of business growth and all the associated hurdles so that you can optimize your action plan.

About this eBook

This out-of-the-box guide includes relatable characters and corporate battles. The AshCom team will show you how to evaluate learner expectations, define your learning experience and much more. Here’s a quick look at what you’re doing in How to Change Your Approach to Needs Assessment: A Story Around the 7 Essential Elements:

Curriculum mapping and training design. Can you see the big picture?
Know, do, believe What are your goals?
Define target group: Who are your learners?
Designing a Brand: What is the Learning Experience?
Designing the ROI: What is being achieved and how do you know that?
Building the team: who do you need?
Scope of the project
The seven basics of needs analysis

A unique approach to needs analysis

Would you like a real-world perspective to walk you through the needs assessment and change management steps? Download the eBook How to Change Your Approach to Needs Analysis: A Story of the 7 Essential Elements to Pursue as the fictional company AshCom re-evaluates its current strategy and develops results-oriented L&D solutions.