Training needs analysis case study

Final Paper-TNA Analysis Of Fabrics, Inc.

Running Head: TNA-FABRICS, INC.

TNA-FABRICS, INC.

Training Needs Analysis: Fabrics, Inc.

Megan McCabe

Florida Institute of Technology

June 17, 2018

This paper is to evaluate the training process of the organization of Fabrics, Inc. With this paper, I will also explore the phases of the Training Process Model, from needs analysis to evaluations, to determine how Fabric’s, Inc. performed in each of these phases. A Training Needs Analysis (TNA) is the process of data gathering and casual analysis related to a performance gap, the results of an effective TNA identify training needs and non-training needs related to eliminating the performance gap (Blanchard & Thacker, 2013). In order to more effectively perform a specific job, an organization needs to have a training program available for trainees with the proper knowledge, skills and attitude (KSAs). This will also help employees achieve the organizations goals and objectives. Every organization usually has the same goal, and that is to succeed in a competitive market. In order for them to achieve success, they need to start by designing a training program using all phases of the Training Process Models.

Background of Fabrics, Inc.

When the organization first started, Fabrics Inc. was small and then experienced an incredible growth in a little over two years. Fabrics Inc. went from having only 40 employees who the owner was the supervisor of to a firm who now employs over 200 employees. With this fast growth at Fabrics, Inc., it has made it possible for the owner to promote supervisor positions from employees within the company without any specific training needed, which was a good thing for most. With the fast growth of the company in a short period of time, the owner of the company was starting to notice issues with the employees that he just promoted to supervisors. He was noticing that they were causing arguments between the coworkers they were in charge of and he was also receiving multiple complaints from customers about the current supervisor’s poor customer service. With these situations happening, the owner knew he had to address these issues as soon as possible so he hired a consultant. He discussed with the consultant about a training program he wanted to develop in his organization that would provide his current supervisors with the knowledge, skills, and attitude (KSA’s) needed to effectively deal with the problematic situations of customers service and relationships between the employees. The Fabrics Inc. owner wanted an easy fix without having to think of the other factors to consider or the issues at hand. Based on all the information that the owner of Fabrics Inc. had provided to his hired consultant, they had decided that there was training needed, but the first step would have to be to conduct a training needs analysis to determine the exact issue needed to correct with training.

Needs Analysis

In the following case study of Fabrics Inc., there was not clearly stated training needs analysis in the firm which is why the consultant suggested that the owner develop one. The importance of a training needs analysis is to gather the data and create an analysis related to the company’s performance gap. The results of an effective training needs analysis identify training needs and nontraining needs related to eliminating the performance gap (Blanchard & Thacker, 2013). To start this analysis process, the consultant started by interviewing the Fabrics Inc. owner first so they would allow them to ask specific questions on which way the organization is headed for analysis purposes. The consultant had asked to owner a variety of questions about the companies HR system and what their process is to select, transfer and promote individuals. The consultant also asked the owner questions about the company’s job design, what the reward system is to increase job satisfaction, the performance expectation, and also the methods and practices used to complete the daily activities within the organization. The organizational analysis, which is an examination of the organizations strategy, the goals/objectives, and the system and practices that are in place (Blanchard & Thacker, 2013), that was conducted for Fabrics Inc. was very effective due to the fact that it revealed that the organization did not have a specific mission, along with no organization goals or objectives were established. The consultant asked questions that lead them to the determination that there were multiple internal factors that needed to be addressed and fixed so that a proper training program could be developed. Without any clear stated organizational objectives or policies and procedures or even set rules, it will be difficult to develop an effective training program.

The consultant also decided to perform and operational analysis, which is an examination of specific jobs to determine the requirements in terms of what tasks are required to get them done and the KSAs needed to do them to get the job done (Blanchard & Thacker, 2013), and asked the current nine supervisors questions to help them understand about the no set structure within the organization. All of the nine supervisors where doing their own things their own way as best as they could. The following below are some of the questions that the consultant should have asked the supervisors to conduct a proper operational analysis:

· How are daily workplace problems resolved?

· Who addresses problems when they arise?

· How are decisions being made?

· Who makes the final decision, and why?

· In your opinion, what is the company’s goals and objectives?

· Who trains newly hired employees?

· When you are not sure how to address a situation, who do you go to for assistance?

· What criteria is used to evaluate employee's performance.

· Do you know what your roles and responsibilities are?

Training Design

After the consultant conducted a thorough training needs analysis, they noticed that there were a number of areas where supervisors needed training with the main area being effective feedback. To have effective feedback, it requires sufficient training to ensure that the feedback being provided by the employees is detail oriented and has accurate information provided. By planning their effective feedback, managers will be able to identify the specific job performance or behavior issue they want to redirect or reinforce and the effects that it has on others within the organization (Miller & Poertner, 1996). The feedback being provided needs to be useful and make sure that the focus points are geared towards to future of the organization, not the past. The purpose of this is to give employees encouragement towards reinforcement and redirection. The following below are a few learning objectives to receive effective feedback:

· Before the training session, the supervisor will give themselves a self-assessment so they can evaluate their own job skills and performance. Once they are done with the training session, they will give themselves another self-assessment with all the new knowledge they acquired and see how the responses differ.

· The supervisors will learn the proper techniques on how to give an effective feedback evaluation to their employees

· The supervisors will also learn the different types of ways to deliver a proper feedback evaluation and how to determine if it is the appropriate time and situation to deliver

Being able to develop learning objectives is critical as it allows the trainer of a session to determine and identify the outcomes and conditions of them that are expected to occur and if it is achievable. By the end of the training program, the supervisors should be able to apply an effective feedback assessment and only expect to make improvements from there.

The design phase is important, since this is the training phase that is the creation of the objectives of the training program, what will be included in the training program, along with how they will implement it. They specify the employee and organizational outcomes that should be achieved as a result of training and become inputs to the developmental and evaluation phases of the training model (Blanchard & Thacker, 2013). This is all important as it allows the trainer to not only provide the trainees in the program the proper knowledge, skills, and attitudes (KSAs), but also find ways to motivate the trainees who want to learn about the applied KSAs in order to implement these properly in their daily duties. If there is no motivation from the trainees, more than likely no learning will happen in the group.

Development and Implementation

The development phase is the process of using guidelines from the design phase to formulate and instructional strategy that will meet the training objectives (Blanchard, 2013). The consultant that was hired by owner of Fabrics Inc. had developed an instructional material module along with an instructor’s manual for the organization. Another module that would be useful to the organization would be a trainee’s manual. This can be a useful tool because they can provide the employees with an overview of what to expect from the training session. In order to keep the attention of the trainees and have them stay involved, provide notation for them to follow of the key information that will be presented. The manual will have an overview of all the areas included in the training such as:

· Effective listening

· Communication

· Conflict resolution

· Effective feedback

· Measuring employee performance

· Employee Motivation

The trainee’s manual will also serve as a tool that many trainees will be able to turn to following their training sessions. Included in this manual will be a self-assessment that the trainees will be asked to take at the start of the training session and also again once the session is completed. If the trainees also wanted to give more effective feedback, they could address all the situations covered in the session to help improvement of future training sessions from the trainee’s perspective.

Evaluation of Training

The evaluation portion of the training involves the collection of all the information from all the other training modules, and give a thorough analysis in order to facilitate optimal training effectiveness in the future. The two specific types of training evaluation used in the Fabrics Inc. case study was process and outcome. The process evaluation will consist of the trainer, during training, documenting what the trainer covered in each module and the time spent on it (Blanchard &Thacker, 2013). As far as the outcome evaluation, the organization will use a reaction questionnaire for the trainer along with the trainees. With that, the trainees were also given an old school pen and paper type test to measure the knowledge that they learned from the session. In the situation of the case study of Fabrics Inc., the main focus of the training session was focused on the supervisors so they could gain the proper knowledge to deal with customers and employees in an effective way. The results of the evaluation of the training session should be used to measure the overall effectiveness of the program. The overall results with identify the knowledge the trainees received and see if an improvement needs to be made from those results. Also, this will identify the training benefits that are being brought to the organization in regards to the production, customer service skills, and employee satisfaction. The credibility will be identified and how it will impact the organizational goals, as well as determine the profitability of the training for the organization. To determine that, it would require both the internal and external factors to be measured.

Conclusion

With small businesses currently on the rise, it is very important to have an effective training program developed to allow them to feel they can keep up with the current competitive market. The Fabrics Inc. owner had realized the rapid growth that his company was experiencing that he felt he needed to provide his employees with the proper training to help their current skills and knowledge grow with the organization. Specifically, a training program helps the organization with preparing their employees with the knowledge to reach their organizational goals. This is implemented whenever there is a need for improvement or change within the company and is used to address the gaps in performance by providing employees with the proper knowledge, skills and attitude needed to perform their job in an effective manner. It is very important for a trainer to understand each phase of the training module process, and to have each of them linked together to enhance the effectiveness. Without having an effective training program, an organization will be wasting its valuable time and money.

References

Blanchard, P. N., & Thacker, J. W. (2013). Effective training: Systems, strategies, and practices. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.

Greenberg, C. (n.d.). How to Conduct a Training Needs Analysis | How To | Tools | XpertHR.com. Retrieved from https://www.xperthr.com/how-to/how-to-conduct-a-training-needs-analysis/6716/

Miller, K.M. & Poertner, S. (1996) The Art of Giving and Receiving Feedback. Retrieved on June 12, 2018, from http://www.trainingsolutions.com/pdf/feedback.pdf

Manuseto Ventures. (2018). Training and Development - Encyclopedia - Business Terms. Retrieved from https://www.inc.com/encyclopedia/training-and-development.html