Needs Assessment

Needs Assessment

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Term2.png NEED ASSESSMENT
Process of collecting information about an expressed or implied organizational need that could be met by conducting training. It is used to determine the difference between current and desired states, often related to the development of a training program. The need can be a desire to improve current performance or to correct a deficiency (performance that does not meet the current standards). Assessments can be formal or informal and may use many data-gathering techniques to discover needs expressed by management, the target audience, or subject-matter experts. The purpose of a need assessment is to answer questions such as why conduct the training, who is involved in the training, how to conduct a performance analysis, what is the best way to perform, and when will training take place. [1]


A process undertaken for the purpose of establishing priorities and making decisions about programme or project resource allocation or improvement.[2] It forms the basis for conceptualizing and implementing a programme or project by identifying the needs of the targeted beneficiaries.[3] Priorities come from identified needs which are measured discrepancies (gaps) between the current (what is) state of affairs of a group or an organization and the desired (what should be) state in regard to variables of interest. A prioritized need represents a problem or situation which needs to be rectified for the good of the organization and the clients it serves.


A needs assessment process involves:

  1. focus on an area of concern or interest for the assessment
  2. determining and prioritizing "what should be"
  3. identifying discrepancies between what is and what should be
  4. rank ordering discrepancies
  5. casually analyzing the greatest discrepancies
  6. selecting a solution strategy and;
  7. designing an action plan for implementation[4]



References

  1. ↑ Rapid Instructional Design, Learning ID Fast and Right. George M. Piskurich, 2006.
  2. ↑ Altschuld James W. & Kumar David D. in Mathison, Sandra. Encyclopaedia of Evaluation, pp 276, Ed. University of British Columbia. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, 2005.
  3. ↑ South African Social Security Agency. Glossary of key terms in monitoring and evaluation. Tools Series 2, pp 11, 2008.
  4. ↑ Altschuld James W. & Kumar David D. in Mathison, Sandra. Encyclopaedia of Evaluation, pp 276, Ed. University of British Columbia. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, 2005.
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