What is a “Needs Assessment”?
From Wikipedia: “A needs assessment is a systematic process for determining and addressing needs, or "gaps" between current conditions and desired conditions or "wants". The discrepancy between the current condition and wanted condition must be measured to appropriately identify the need.”
To us at our facility, this is the basis for project creation and more specifically the creation of training materials. When a department requests our assistance in the creation of a course, the very first thing we need to ascertain is the “Gap”. What is the performance gap? We define the “Performance Gap” as the portion between where we are as a unit, department or section and where we optimally would like to be. In a given setting there are a series of tasks that together comprise a job function. The inability to perform any of these tasks can be detrimental to the job function and cause a breakdown in the organization. In researching the reason a given task is not being performed, we look at personnel and training aspects. If a person can perform a task due to lack of knowledge, then the performance gap is a training issue. If the person can’t perform the task due to facility or building constraints, then we deem the breakdown a process issue.

Figure 1. Training Needs Assessment Flowchart
When conducting a needs analysis we are seeking to identify the “needs” as areas for improvement. These areas can then be addressed in a more specific way to uncover areas where training can be a solution to the specific need. The flowchart above helps determining how to deal with a performance gap in terms of a training need. Often times, the worker has already received training addressing the performance gap. If that is the case, then feedback and practice would be the indicated plan of action.
A Partnering Process
Many requests to develop