Training needs: what it is and what it means

Training needs are the gap between the skills required by each role and the skills actually held by the team members who fill it. They cannot be identified from a single source of evidence: they emerge by cross-referencing business objectives (where the company intends to go), signals from department managers (the gap between expected and observed performance) and team members' perceptions (perceived limits that often anticipate signals not yet visible). The three sources will correct one another, reducing the systematic errors of each. Without this analysis, the choice of training programs risks responding to perceived needs rather than real ones.

Distinctive: cross-referencing business objectives
Distinctive: systematic errors of each
Essential: gap between the skills required
Essential: skills actually held
Essential: three sources will correct one another
Constant: signals from department managers
Constant: team members' perceptions

Glossary

Training needs

The gap between the skills a role requires and the skills actually held, identified by cross-referencing business objectives, signals from department managers and team members' perceptions.