Creating a Skills Inventory, Research Paper Example

Introduction

In order to determine training needs within an organization you might adopt one of the following suggested two approaches:  (1) Conduct a Training Needs Assessment (TNA) or (2)  Conduct a skills inventory.

Training Needs Assessment

In essence there are three distinct elements of a Training Needs Assessment (TNA). These are classified as: (1) Organizational Analysis (2) Task Analysis and (3) Individual Analysis.  The summary of these components makes up the resulting TNA.   The Organizational analysis is concerned with the existing effectiveness and efficiencies of the organization, considering where the training is required and the manner in which this will be carried out.  Task Analysis examines information about a specific job or group of jobs, it considers such items as knowledge required, skills, attitudes, abilities etc.  This is approached from the basis of what is needed in order to achieve optimum performance.  Individual Analysis is concerned with individual performance criteria and how well the individual is performing in the job.  From this the level of training required can be determined.  ” The purpose of a training needs assessment is to identify performance requirements or needs within an organization in order to help direct resources to the areas of greatest need, those that closely relate to fulfilling the organizational goals and objectives, improving productivity and providing quality products and services.” (Janice A. Miller, 1996)

Conducting a skills inventory

A skills inventory is essentially a list of people and the skills that they possess in order to complete a required job description.  From this you can deduce a resultant gap analysis showing where they have strong skills and where they have weak skills.  The weak areas being where appropriate training would need to be applied.  There are many simple ways of carrying this out from that of a simple card catalogue to that of a PC spreadsheet like Excel.  There are two straightforward elements : (1) Resource Profile – describes the individual skills of a person and (2) Skill description – a proficiency rating for the skills on the job.  ”  the real value of a Skills Inventory lies in precision ”  (Bryce, 2005).

Another good technique to incorporate with this is the use of a SWOT Analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats).  This helps at looking at the dimensions of the training needs from a number of different perspectives.  It is useful when aligning the individual training needs to that of the organization. ” it’s helpful to run an employee SWOT analysis and look at the business’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats.”  (Lemoine, 2009).

Figure 1 Example SWOT layout

” This cannot be done effectively by just one person. It requires a team effort.  The methodology has the advantage of being used as a ‘quick and dirty’ tool or a comprehensive management tool, more importantly this is not a decision that has to be made in advanced as one can lead to the other”.  (Morrison, 2009).

Works Cited

Bryce, T. (2005, 7 3). Creating a Skills Inventory . Retrieved 12 22, 2009, from Toolboxes for IT: http://it.toolbox.com/blogs/irm-blog/creating-a-skills-inventory-3394

Janice A. Miller, S. a. (1996, 2). Training Needs Assessment. Retrieved 12 22, 2009, from ISPI.org: http://www.ispi.org/pdf/suggestedReading/Miller_Osinski.pdf

Lemoine, J. (2009). How to Perform a SWOT Analysis in Employee Training and Development. Retrieved 12 22, 2009, from eHow: http://www.ehow.com/how_4923488_perform-analysis-employee-training-development.html

Morrison, M. (2009). How to do a SWOT analysis. Retrieved 12 22, 2009, from RapidB1: http://rapidbi.com/created/SWOTanalysis.html