Training Needs Analysis No 2: Know Thy Change

With all training needs analysis it is often some change or reorganisation that prompts the analysis.   Could be a merging of departments or companies.  Could be a new piece of software or an upgrade.  Could be a new process or way of working.  Whatever it is:  Decide, Define and Deliver what that change means to your community.

How and what you communicate  is very important.  How you deliver the change to its end point is also important. The old-fashioned Features and Benefits has to figure in this equation.  Selling the change.  Making life better.

A consultation with users/community is a great way to get buy-in and understanding.  Although not always possible it does give you a better success rate statistically.  If change is delivered quickly  time doesn’t always permit such a luxury.

Discussion and visibility of the change can be managed through media which we all work with daily: Outlook, PowerPoint presentations, seminars or webinars, brown bag lunches!  The level and rate of communication is up to you knowing your Staff (No 1 tip!).

What will the change mean for the business build a strategy for business continuity with staff engagement and realistic timescales.  Has enough system testing been done?  Has the process been thoroughly explored?  Do we have enough bottle washers if we made folks redundant.  Only you can know because it is your Change.

Training Needs Analysis No 1: Know Thy Staff

How do you communicate with them (daily, face-to-face,  email, meetings, visits, communicator, webinars, and social media: LinkedIn/Twitter)

What do they like to do?
DO they read the paper, do they like presentations?  Do they like to connect together as a group  e.g. social evenings?  Are they playing  games on their Phone?

Do they have small children and would like to nip off 30  mins early and then would they read your communication at home for 30 mins?

Do you have regular training sessions?

Some people do not fill in training needs analysis  information and so observation of how they work is very important.

When you are making changes in your company you want to  engage with your staff as quickly as possible so that they buy-in to the  changes.   They understand the changes that are coming  and what it will mean to them.  They are
positive with the changes and you know it is for the best reasons.

They have been consulted at the start and can take some ownership  of the new system or the new processes.

Tip No 2 is coming along.