A training needs analysis refers to a continuous process through which the human resource management of an organization identifies the lacking competencies and skills required to augment not only the employees’ performance but also the organization’s (Brown, 2002). In a business environment that is constantly witnessing new trends and a stringent competitive environment, training needs analysis (TNA) has become a fundamental phenomenon as well as a managerial tool used by an organization’s human resource management through the identification of disparities in employee training in line with the organizational objectives and strategy. When an organization implements training programs without an inherent training needs analysis, it runs the risk of overtraining, undertraining or completely missing the objectives. In this regard, this paper is aimed at providing an articulated and subjective analysis regarding organization X proffering fundamental summaries regarding it.
Summary of Organization X
Organization X is an electronics company headquartered in Riverdale Bronx New York City. The organization is a consumer product company that deals in and manufactures electronics such as smartphones and computers. From its net income of 9.3 billion U.S. dollars, perhaps its most valued electronic product is the smartphone. The company also offers IT solutions through its cloud services that have in the recent past generated a lot of interest in organizations that deal with the public’s personal information and data. The company has a workforce of a hundred and twenty thousand employees as per the 2017 form 10k statistics. This is opposed to the ten employees it had when it was founded in 1983.
Delegate your assignment to our experts and they will do the rest.
Despite the success it has amassed for itself in the thirty-five years since it was founded, the organization still faces significant challenges posed by the constantly shifting technological trends, disruptive technology, and stiff competition from industry giants such as the Samsung Electronics Company and Apple Inc. The factors above substantially become a challenge and issue to the company because of the inadequacy in competencies and skills required for innovation and adaptation that would help it keep abreast with the technology curve as well as retain its competitive edge. Further problems arise from its flat management structure that does not fluidly allow for R&D or motivate the same from its engineers. Moreover, the flat management only encourages generalists rather than specialists with the competencies required to innovate and develop products that enhance market leaps thereby remaining competitive.
Individuals to Receive Training
A flat organizational structure elementarily means that the organization has fewer levels of management thus making it difficult for the employees to decide who to report to (Meehan, 2018). To this end, one of the target group identified by the person analysis under the TNA is the management. This is fundamental because the organizational analysis revealed the need to adopt a hierarchical organizational structure that encouraged R&D and specialization from the engineers. The above demographic population needs to be from within the United States and must have had five or more years of experience in the same positions in a different company. As such, the vacant managerial positions include the product line manager, operations manager, as well as the chief operating officer. All the positions above are localized in the Riverdale headquarters New York.
Due to the morphing landscape of technology that is as a result of disruptive technology that set up new trends as well as stiff competition, a second demographic population identified by the person analysis under the TNA are the engineers. There are two fundamental facets characterizing this population as per the organization’s needs. First, the organization is understaffed, and as such, requires more engineers and developers to meet its adaptation needs. Second, the current engineers are lacking in competencies and skills to keep up with the new digital trends and disruptive technology. The vacant positions are open to any individual across the globe, but once recruited and trained, they will be distributed across the five production lines in the U.S. However, some like the lead engineer will be localized in the headquarters at Riverdale. Therefore, other than the engineer and developer positions, a salient position is that of the lead engineer.
Identification of the Training Issue
As mentioned previously, Organization X is facing serious impediments in keeping up with the technological curve that is as a result of the disruptive technology. The organization’s strategic team has identified the gradual loss of competitiveness evidenced by the net revenue disparity between the organization and rival companies such as Samsung Electronics Company and Apple Inc. The issue here is that the organization is deficient of fundamental managerial positions in its overall strategy to adopt the hierarchical organizational structure. However, before training, the competencies required include technological adeptness, acumen, problem solving skills, interpersonal skills, teamwork, as well as leadership skills.
As per the HR records obtained from surveys, feedback and public opinion regarding the products of the organization, it was evident that the consumers desired more from the organization’s production team in terms of innovative products. In addition, from the organizational analysis, it was deduced that Organization X required adaptation to the current trends in a bid to keep up with the competition. A person analysis under the TNA identifies individuals to be trained as well as what kind of training the individuals should be subjected to (HR-Guide, 2018). In this regard, the person analysis identified that the organization’s production line lacked adaptability and innovation thereby requiring training and recruitment of engineers. The engineers, inclusive of the development and senior engineers, are responsible for advancing R&D in the organization as part of their job description. The required competencies and KSA’s include innovativeness, adeptness in technology, teamwork, interpersonal skills, five years’ work experience minimum, adaptability, as well as analytical skills.
How the Questionnaire will be Used
The TNA questionnaire was administered to all the employees of Organization X including senior management. As such, the results were summarized as follows, also see Figure1 in the Appendix section.
Out of all the employees, 63 percent preferred day-long workshop-style training, 20 percent preferred library training, and 17 percent preferred classroom training to acquire the necessary competencies and skills. 92 percent of the employee population believed that the current organizational structure was ineffective in promoting R&D and innovation. 95 percent preferred the hierarchical organizational structure, 4.5 percent preferred the flat organizational structure, and 0.5 preferred other/different structure. 96 percent confirmed that the organization was understaffed in terms of engineers while 2 percent had no clue, and the remaining 2 percent believed the organization was adequately staffed. On the same breath, out of the 98 percent, 95 percent believed that the organization should hire more work engineers to meet its innovation and adaptability needs. On the other hand, the remaining five percent recommended outsourcing the service to other organizations.
All the employees identified Samsung Electronics Company and Apple Inc. as organization X’s main competitors. However, only 75 percent recognized the need to adapt and innovate through recruiting new staff and R&D as strategies to stay ahead of the competition. 25 percent insisted on new and rigorous marketing strategies, and the remaining 5% insisted on the status quo. Approximately 91.7 percent agreed that the biggest impediments facing the organization are reduced innovation and poor management which translates to the poor organizational structure. As such, most employees agreed on restructuring the organization as well as hiring and promoting individuals to the new managerial positions.
From the results and statistics above, it is evident that a huge proportion of the employees are willing to go through the training regardless of the varying preferences. This positive attitude is indicative of the probable success the organization is going to achieve during its training translating to a successful TNA. The fact that the employees agree that the current organizational structure is inept at encouraging innovation is a reiteration of the organizational analysis outcomes. To this end, restructuring is key. The question regarding the adequacy of the number of employees to meet the organization’s innovation needs seeks to deduce employees’ opinion pertinent to whether recruitment is necessary. The question on competitors seeks to ascertain employees’ knowledge on competition and who the big players in the industry are. Querying employees’ thoughts regarding the toughest impediment faced by the organization seeks to determine the overall and specific gaps that training would address. The additional comments section seeks to retrieve additional information, suggestions, recommendation, and insights regarding the topics addressed by the questionnaire or other queries regarding the organization.
Conclusion
In a business environment that is constantly witnessing new trends and a stringent competitive environment, training needs analysis (TNA) has become a fundamental phenomenon as well as a managerial tool used by an organization’s human resource management through the identification of disparities in employee training in line with the organizational objectives and strategy. As it has been demonstrated in the discussion, Organization X faces gaps and needs related to the managerial structure and inadequate skills and competencies from the engineering team that is as a result of understaffing and incompetency culminating in diminished innovation. In preparation for the TNA, the organization's human resource management carried out a survey of its employees via the questionnaire method. Results indicated a general need for training given the structural and innovation gaps. Thus, the questionnaire not only exposed the specific gaps and needs but also a framework to avoid undertraining, overtraining, as well as selecting a suitable training method.
References
Brown, J. (2002). Training needs assessment: A must for developing an effective training program. Public personnel management, 31(4), 569-578. https://doi.org/10.1177/009102600203100412
HR-Guide. (2018). Needs Analysis: How to determine training needs. Retrieved from https://hr-guide.com/data/G510.htm
Meehan, C. (2018). Flat Vs. Hierarchical Organizational Structure. Hearst Newspapers. Retrieved from http://smallbusiness.chron.com/flat-vs-hierarchical-organizational-structure-724.html
