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A request for communication training can sound straightforward. Yet the missed deadlines behind it might come from unclear responsibilities or an approval process that nobody understands. Choosing a workshop before investigating the problem risks spending the learning budget on the wrong solution.
Training needs analysis is the structured investigation that connects a performance gap with the capabilities required to close it. At Biz Group, we connect workplace learning with organisational goals, which means first getting clear on the capabilities and behaviours that need to improve.
For UAE organisations, a useful training needs analysis process must account for different roles and working conditions. A shared course title does not establish a shared development need.
Start with a work outcome that matters. “Improve communication” leaves too much open to interpretation. “Reduce customer cases reopened because the receiving team lacks essential information” gives the investigation a clear focus.
Agree the scope with the manager responsible for that outcome. Specify which team is affected and the period being examined. Confirm how good performance is defined before assessing anyone against it.
Four questions help establish the starting point:
The CIPD recommends identifying current and future capability requirements, then interpreting gaps within organisational strategy.
Consider an illustrative UAE service operation with repeated problems during handovers. The analysis should establish whether staff can summarise the issue and agree responsibility with the receiving team. It should also check whether the handover process supports those behaviours.
Record the starting position using an agreed measure, such as incomplete handovers per 100 cases. Check that the underlying records are reliable before setting a target.
Include work that is about to change. If a new system will alter how advisers escalate cases, current performance alone will not reveal readiness. Compare the future task with existing capability and use a realistic scenario where there is no historical work data.
A performance gap is a reason to investigate. It does not establish that employees need training.
Someone may understand the required task but lack system access or authority to complete it. A manager may ask for collaboration while rewarding only individual output. Learning cannot resolve those conditions on its own.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) advises examining people and system causes when deciding whether training can address a gap.
A practical check is to observe the task under reasonable conditions. Can the employee complete it when expectations are clear and the necessary resources are available? Difficulty may indicate a development need. Successful demonstration followed by inconsistent workplace performance suggests further investigation of working conditions.
In the handover example, staff might demonstrate a clear verbal briefing while the system provides no field for recording ownership. The response should include a process change. Other employees may need practice in explaining an unresolved issue concisely.
Record these as separate actions with named owners. This prevents L&D from becoming responsible for fixing a workflow it does not control.
Managers can explain expected standards and recurring problems. Employees can describe what happens when those expectations meet daily work. Both perspectives matter, and neither should become the diagnosis without supporting evidence.
Ask for recent examples. “Which part of the handover was unclear?” produces more useful information than “Does the team need communication skills?” Explore what successful colleagues do differently and whether they have advantages others lack.
In a UAE workforce using several working languages, check understanding of the task separately from fluency in the assessment language. Use clear wording and suitable language support so the exercise measures the intended capability.
Test survey questions with a few intended respondents before wider distribution. Ask them to explain what each question means. Revise wording that encourages different interpretations or invites an answer about course preferences.
Use a small combination of methods that answers the investigation’s questions:
Our talent assessment solutions, including Podium Assessments, can provide insight into employee behaviours and development priorities. Choose tools that suit the question: a personality profile can inform understanding of behaviour, while task proficiency requires relevant performance evidence.
For large teams, begin with a short survey across the relevant population, then investigate selected groups in depth. Include different roles, sites and shifts. A sample drawn entirely from the most available employees can miss important conditions.
Check how the data was produced. One site may record every reopened case while another records only formal complaints. Align definitions before comparing results. Otherwise, differences in reporting can be mistaken for differences in capability, leading to training being assigned to the wrong group.
Existing HR or learning systems can help organise role information. A shared evidence register can link each proposed need to its source and the task affected. The tool should make the reasoning traceable.
For frontline teams, Axonify can provide ongoing insight into knowledge gaps through learning questions and assessments. Reviewing these findings alongside operational evidence can help managers identify where employees need further support.
Compare groups performing similar work and use consistent assessment criteria. Keep individual findings confidential and explain how the information will support development. Before finalising a priority, seek confirmation through a second method, especially when the initial finding comes from opinion.
The findings will usually exceed the available budget. Prioritisation should make the reasoning visible so the loudest request does not automatically win.
Discuss each confirmed gap against four considerations:
A frequent handover problem affecting customer resolution may deserve attention before a presentation skill is used occasionally. A serious safety-related gap may require immediate action even if the task is infrequent.
Avoid applying one programme to everyone because a problem appears in several departments. Experienced staff may need a job aid, while new starters require guided practice. Managers might need support in reinforcing the standard.
Keep a short decision log showing why each priority was accepted, deferred or assigned to a non-training owner. This makes the plan easier to explain when budgets change and prevents the same unsupported request returning at every planning meeting.
Check existing materials before commissioning new content. Our learning and development resources offer further perspectives for planning discussions. The organisation’s own procedures and examples remain essential inputs.
A useful TNA should produce a brief that gives an internal L&D team, facilitator or learning partner enough information to act. A list of course names leaves the most important design decisions unresolved.
Summarise the evidence and specify the behaviour the learning must develop. Include working conditions that might prevent application, together with the person responsible for addressing them.
The following illustrative brief shows how the handover investigation could translate into action. Its figures demonstrate the format and are not industry benchmarks.
| Brief Element | Illustrative Example |
| Performance problem | Customer cases are reopened after incomplete internal handovers |
| Audience | Service advisers who need support with complex handovers |
| Required behaviour | Explain the unresolved issue, agree ownership and record the next action |
| Starting position | 18 incomplete handovers in a reviewed sample of 100 cases |
| Learning approach | Facilitated practice using representative cases, followed by manager feedback |
| Supporting action | Operations adds a clear ownership field to the workflow |
| Review measure | Incomplete handovers per 100 comparable cases; agree a target after validating the baseline |
| Accountability | Service manager reviews application at agreed intervals |
Link each learning objective to an assessment. If employees must handle a complex handover, they should demonstrate it in practice. Recognising the correct answer in a quiz measures something different.
Our LearningJourneys provide a way to develop skills and behaviours over time. The analysis should determine the practice required and how managers will support application between sessions.
Agree the practical conditions for learning before approving the brief. Identify when employees can practise and whether supervisors have time to observe them. Where teams work across shifts, arrange equivalent opportunities to participate. If staff are expected to use a new method immediately, ensure the updated procedure is available before training begins. These details affect whether the proposed solution can operate in the workplace.
Course completion measures delivery. It says little about whether the original analysis identified the right need. Evaluate the investigation through a few practical indicators:
| Metric | How to Calculate or Review It |
| Workforce coverage | Employees contributing evidence ÷ in-scope employee population × 100; check representation across roles and shifts |
| Evidence confirmation | Priority gaps supported by at least two methods ÷ total priority gaps × 100 |
| Brief readiness | Priority needs with an agreed behaviour, baseline, owner and review date ÷ total priority needs × 100 |
| Diagnostic usefulness | Revisit initial findings after a pilot and document which were confirmed, revised or rejected |
These are suggested management measures, with no universal target. High coverage can still produce weak evidence if the questions are poorly designed. A finding supported by two sources also needs scrutiny if both repeat the same untested opinion.
Later, assess whether employees developed the capability and applied it at work. CDC guidance recommends evaluating both learning and learning transfer.
In the worked example, compare observed handover quality and incomplete-case rates with the starting position. Record the workflow change alongside the learning intervention. If results improve, both may have contributed; the figures alone cannot isolate training’s effect.
A useful analysis ends with a decision that people can act on. Review the diagnosis when work changes or new evidence challenges the original assumptions.
Once you’ve identified the capabilities and behaviours that need development, Biz Group can help turn those insights into action. Our assessment solutions, tailored LearningJourneys and learning technology can help you target development needs, build capability and measure learning application in the workplace.
Contact our team to discuss how assessment and a tailored learning journey could support the performance improvement required.
A training needs analysis identifies the capabilities employees need and compares them with current performance. It establishes where learning can help and provides evidence for deciding whom to support and how.
The terms overlap in practice. A useful distinction is that needs assessment establishes whether training is appropriate, while analysis examines the requirements that should shape its design. Agree the meaning within the project.
Combine a short workforce survey with operational data and targeted practical assessments. Investigate representative groups across relevant roles and locations. Check important findings through more than one method.
Review workforce representation, evidence quality and whether priority needs translate into actionable briefs. After a pilot, check which findings were confirmed. Evaluate later learning outcomes separately from the quality of the original diagnosis.
Review it when responsibilities, systems or performance expectations change. Revisit it if new evidence suggests the original cause was misunderstood. The review schedule should reflect how quickly the work is changing.
