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Running head: Needs Analysis

Assignment #5

Environmental Scanning – The Use of Needs Analysis in Training and Development

Training and Development-HRM 4123

Instructor Melissa Stock

Tuesday, May 21, 2019

Introduction

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Running head: Needs Analysis

Needs Analysis is the process of identifying gaps and deficiencies in individual, group and/or
organizational performance (Saks and Haccoun, 2016). It is often referred to as the most important step
in the training and development process, yet many organizations do not use a formal needs analysis
process prior to developing training programs (HR-Guide, 2018). There are several reasons for this: time,
budget, lack of resources, and lack of upper management buy-in; (Algonquin College, 2019). Thus,
despite the importance of needs analysis and the benefits associated with it, many organizations forgo
this formal process and instead, rely on the judgement of management to decipher training needs.

For this assignment, I interviewed two Directors of Learning and Development from two
different and very well-known brands: Amber Walters, from Marriott International and Bridget Leiber,
from Under Armour. The objectives of these interviews were to ask a series of questions relating to the
use of needs analysis within each of the organizations as well as their reasoning for using or not using
needs analysis.

Interview Questions

Both Directors were asked the same series of questions:

(1) Does your company use needs analysis to build effective training programs? Why or why not?
(2) How does using needs analysis benefit your organization?
(3) Are there any barriers to a needs analysis process within your organization?
(4) What assessment techniques does your organization use?
(5) How strategically aligned is training and development with your organization’s vision, mission
and values?

Interview Summary

Amber Walters

Amber Walters, the Director of Brand Learning and Development at Marriott International, is
very passionate about needs analysis, but claims that Marriott International does not use it as much as
they should (Walters, 2019). She explains that needs analysis is used on occasion, only for large projects
to understand where the opportunity gaps are (Walters, 2019). Walters uses rapid needs analysis for
smaller projects (Walters, 2019).

Walters (2019) shared that Marriott International outsources organizations, such as Deloitte, to
conduct needs analysis for larger projects. As mentioned above, Walters and her team will conduct
smaller research on their own using surveys, reports, focus groups and/or interviewing to build training
programs (Walters, 2019). Walter (2019) explains that surveys are the easiest research technique to use
as it can reach many employees, is time effective and easy to consolidate and sort data. Further,
interviews are a great way to gain insight and feedback on current trainings that are available, their
effectiveness, suggestions for improvement and to obtain recommendations on training needs, explains
Walters (2019).

Regarding needs analysis barriers within Marriott International, Walters shares that there are a
few. One of the barriers is that there is no “clean-cut” way that they conduct needs analysis. They use a
variety of different methods and not necessarily the same ones each time, which according to Walters
(2019), provides inconsistent data. Further, Marriott International has a Performance Advisory team that

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Running head: Needs Analysis

is slated to do needs analysis prior to getting the training department involved; posing a barrier because
the individuals that comprise that team do not have a training background and lack the ability to ask
proper questions and seek pertinent information (Walters, 2019). Another barrier that Walters mentions
is the fact that Marriott International is a large and global company making it difficult to ensure that they
are obtaining a full global perspective on training needs (Walters, 2019). She goes on to explain that
most of the research is conducted in North America, excluding important global perspectives. As a result,
Walters shared that trainings that they typically create are relatively effective in North American but
tend to fall flat in other regions (Walters, 2019).

Finally, Walters believes that there is a strong strategic alignment between training and
development and the organization’s mission and values (Walters, 2019). She says that she has never
worked for a company so focused on learning and development (Walters, 2019). She says that Marriott
International has a huge budget for training and development initiatives and always ensure that training
is part of the conversation for any large roll-out (Walters, 2019).

Bridget Leiber

Bridget Leiber, the Global Director of Talent Development at Under Armour, was not very
knowledgeable on the topic of needs analysis. She explained that much of the training that her and her
team build are in correspondence to senior leadership direction and priorities and that it is very rare that
they would consult external researchers to conduct an analysis of their needs and gaps (Leiber, 2019).
Further, Leiber (2019) explains that they rely a lot on conducting surveys to gain insight from field
leaders on how effective their trainings are and if there is any feedback or suggestions for improvement.

Leiber (2019) mentioned several barriers to needs analysis within the Under Armour
organization, the first being the knowledge gap that exists about needs analysis itself. As previously
mentioned, Leiber was not very knowledgeable about needs analysis and she feels this knowledge gap
extends throughout her team and into senior leadership (Leiber, 2019). Another barrier that Leiber
mentioned was budget constraints. Leiber shared that her training and development department do not
have access to as many resources and funds due to recent budget cuts (Leiber, 2019). The third barrier
Lebier mentions is time constraints. According to Leiber, Under Armour is growing exponentially fast,
especially globally, and the demand for trainings is extremely high that they do not have the time or the
manpower on her team to add in additional steps such as needs analysis (Leiber, 2019).

Finally, Leiber strongly believes that training and development is strategically aligned with the
organization’s mission, vision and values. She informed me that the mission and values are embedded
into all of the training programs that they roll-out and that training and development is an important
topic at all senior management meetings (Leiber, 2019).

Threats/Opportunities

The following threats/opportunities apply to needs analysis in each of these organizations:

(1) The underutilization of needs analysis. This reduces the development of effective training
programs as well as the ability to identify and close performance gaps;
(2) The lack of knowledge in understanding the purpose, benefits and how to conduct a needs
analysis;

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Running head: Needs Analysis

(3) The cost of a needs analysis process; many organizations will forgo this process due to the direct
cost and lack of immediate benefit;
(4) The budget and resources allocated to the training and development department to facilitate
needs analysis;
(5) Obtaining senior management buy-in and support in using needs analysis; and
(6) Being globally inclusive when conducting the analysis.

Recommendations

I would make the following recommendations to each organization:

Marriott International

(1) Standardize the internal needs analysis process using a checklist. The checklist would summarize
the type of information required for the analysis and could help determine the right kind of
assessment needed;
(2) Educating the Performance Advisory team on the types of questions to ask or have a
representative present from talent and development during needs analysis;
(3) Creating a needs analysis process that is inclusive of all/most global markets so you can build
more effective trainings.

Under Armour

(1) Increase the knowledge of needs analysis as well as the benefits that are associated with the
process company wide;
(2) Use rapid needs analysis if faced with budget constraints, specifically in the forms of surveys,
interviews with field management, observations, questionnaires, reporting, etc., to gain more
insight on potential needs; and
(3) Attempt to gain upper management support and buy-in in the needs analysis process by
providing upper management with the benefits and use of the process.

References

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Running head: Needs Analysis

HR-Guide. (2018). Needs Analysis: How to determine training needs. Retrieved from https://hr-
guide.com/data/G510.htm

Leiber, B. (2019, May 17). Skype Interview.

Saks, A and Haccoun, R. (2016). Managing Performance Through Training and Development. Toronto,
Ontario: Nelson.

Walters, A. (2019, May 15). Phone interview.

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