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Part I : Introduction

Training need identification is a tool utilized to identify what educational courses or activities should be provided to employees to improve their work productivity. Here the focus should be placed on needs as opposed to desires of the employees for a constructive outcome. Inorder to emphasize the importance of training need identification we can focus on the following areas: -

• To pinpoint if training will make a difference in productivity and the bottom line.

• To decide what specific training each employee needs and what will improve his or her job performance.

• To differentiate between the need for training and organizational issues and bring about a match between individual aspirations and organizational goals.

Identification of training needs (ITN), if done properly, provides the basis on which all other training activities can be considered. Also requiring careful thought and analysis, it is a process that needs to be carried out with sensitivity as people's learning is important to them, and the reputation of the organization is also at stake.

Identification of training needs is important from both the organisational point of view as well as from an individual's point of view. From an organisation's point of view it is important because an organisation has objectives that it wants to achieve for the benefit of all stakeholders or members, including owners, employees, customers, suppliers, and neighbours. These objectives can be achieved only through harnessing the abilities of its people, releasing potential and maximising opportunities for development. Therefore people must know what they need to learn in order to achieve organisational goals. Similarly if seen from an individual's point of view, people have aspirations, they want to develop and in order to learn and use new abilities, people need appropriate opportunities, resources, and conditions. Therefore, to meet people's aspirations, the organization must provide effective and attractive learning resources and conditions. And it is also important to see that there is a suitable match between achieving organizational goals and providing attractive learning opportunities.

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* Contributed by -
Mitali Bhattacharya,
MBA-Global,
Institute of Management Technology, Nagpur.