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Specifying Learning Needs
One of the outcomes of the Learning Needs Analysis is the articulation of the learning needs. It is really important that as the client you are happy with how these are articulated.
The learning needs must be articulated in the right level of detail to ensure that the intervention you require is focused and actually delivers against the business need. The caveat to this is that the learning outcomes will reflect the level and complexity of the initial analysis. So strategic level programmes, for example, will have learning outcomes that will be expressed at a high level and link to business objectives. They may for example reflect learning objectives for business areas or groups of personnel. At the operational level, a learning needs analysis, could be focused upon operating a specific piece of equipment, or for a specific role such as customer service advisor. The Learning Needs Analysis should be able to articulate which job roles operate the equipment, or carry out the role, the series of tasks undertaken, together with specific learning outcomes.
There are different ways of expressing the learning needs. Our approach includes the production of a task analysis that breaks down the tasks required to fulfill the business requirement, and again reflects the level of the task being analysed. There is also an option to produce job specifications, which in turn high specify key tasks, competencies and performance standards for the conduct of the task.
Once the series of tasks have been identified we look at assessing the gap between current performance and the level and standard of task required. This in effect represents a capability gap which is then translated in to learning outcomes.
