Engaging Training Needs AnalysisYour ability to Pinpoint and solve problems lies at the heart of your L&D success.

So get out there and started engaging now!

If I had an hour to solve a problem I'd spend 55minutes thinking about the problem and 5 minutes

thinking about solutions.- Einstein

Collecting quantitative data throughperformance metrics is relatively easy.Making sense of why these stats saywhat they do is more complex. So weoffer 6 ways of digging deeper toenhance your understanding and informyour decisions.

Translate the coffee machinechat into meaningful data .Keep your data continuously up to date. This means defining your strategyis a simple analysis process rather than a time consuming data gatheringexercise.

You can use in so many ways. For example:

As your post learning evaluation. Allows you to collate data acrossnumerous groups to inform how you can improve what you provide.

To define L&D priorities by asking people to rank issues that effecttheir performance or by asking what they want/need

To provide market research on how staff perceive your function andits learning provision.

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Focus GroupsGet out of your ivory tower

Ask questions like:

1. On a scale of 1 - 10 how well does L&Daddress your needs right now?

2. What makes it that for you?

3. What would need to change to move it 1point up the scale

4. What would need to change to move it upto a 10/10?

Ensure this doesn’t slide into a slangingmatch by challenging the idle chit chatand focusing on solutions.

Gather a few small groups with a fullcross section of your audience to helpyou shape up a positive offer for thefuture.

Avoid stickingplaster solutions

Start digging. Always be thinking “what’s drivingthat behaviour/comment/action” Never be afraidto ask them why. This is critical to inform youdecisions about what you need to prioritise in L&D.It helps you dig beyond basic assumptions andchallenge what is at the root cause of the issue.

When anyone says anything askyourself why are they saying that?

Drop - in clinic

Set up a room that’s visible and put a note outto all staff offering a drop in session for themto come and chat through any learning needsthey have.

You can make this more appealing byhamming up the ‘clinic’ theme and doing adesk drop saying “ if you see a problem thatneeds fixing come and see me. Your LearningDoctor is here to help!”

Drawing people in

Remember to feed back what you haveheard and what you are going to do about it.

If people don’t come to you; go out to them..Meet them at their desk and ask “whatwould I need to do to encourage you tocome and see me?”

Be brave and take the feedback - allopinions matter. This could be the start ofsomething brilliant!

Video it

Set up a small vox pop booth and have a keyquestion above it asking people to film theiranswers.

Video booths are now highly transportable andcosts have reduced. Take a look atwww.videoboothsystems.com for simple solutionsor if you want something even simpler ask peopleto record their friend’s answers on their phonesand email it/ Bluetooth over to you.

Maximise the selfie trend

Use virtualpost its™

By using www.padlet.com you can build avirtual wall for people to post on. This meansthey can do it anonymously but you engageand build ideas based on what they say. Youcan add your own comments and ask furtherquestions. This two way dialogue is quick andeasy to manage; building over time to informyour decisions.

Make a wall, pose a question and letthe ideas flow

Do something

Show your commitment to them by

Feeding back on what you have heard andhow you have translated meaning into it.

Telling them what you are going to do aboutit.

Do it.

Tell them you have done it.

Make sure that people’s commentsaren’t ignored

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This process is the key tobuilding long term engagementand turning cynics intochampions.

Action

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