Chapter One

Overview of Needs Assessment

PURPOSE

This chapter will enable you to accomplish the following:

• Describe what a needs assessment is.
• Identify the purposes and characteristics of a needs assessment.
• Define key terms.
• Learn how the definitions of needs assessment, sources of data, and data-collection and analysis strategies can be combined to create a needs assessment.
• Describe five approaches to needs assessment.

OVERVIEW

Most experts agree that human learning, training, and performance-improvement initiatives should begin with a needs assessment. This chapter sorts through the confusing collection of ideas about what a needs assessment really is and what the best ways to conduct one are. As you read the following examples of typical requests that should lead to needs assessments, think about their similarities and differences:

• “The vice president is ready to start his personal development program. How should he proceed?”
• “Team production is down! The engineers say the technician team is struggling with the new process. The team disagrees. Can you give them all training or something?”
• “We need to update the curriculum in our graduate program. What should the new curriculum include?”
• “Two major employers are moving out of our community. What actions should we take to keep employers here and to entice other employers to move to this community?
• “What issues are of greatest concern to the communities in this region?”
• “Which workforce development initiatives should we invest in to make our country more competitive in the global marketplace?”
• “Next year our plant will continue the projects in Six Sigma quality and culture change. We also will implement new manufacturing procedures, install new equipment, and introduce new product lines. If employees try to make all these changes at once, productivity will fall. Where do you recommend we start? How can these efforts be integrated?”

These requests probably sound familiar to most human resource development (HRD), human performance technology (HPT), instructional design (ID), community development, and international development professionals. Let’s consider the similarities in the requests first and then their differences. Along the way, we will discuss the characteristics of needs assessment and define some key terms.

SIMILARITIES AMONG NEEDS ASSESSMENT REQUESTS

First, did you identify dissatisfaction with the current situation and desire for change as similarities among the requests? Each request implies that a gap or discrepancy exists between what is and what could or should be. A learning or performance gap between the current condition and the desired condition is called a need (see Figure 1.1).

FIGURE 1.1 Definition of a Need

Needs assessment is a process for figuring out how to close a learning or performance gap. It involves determining what the important needs are and how to address them. The process includes comparing the current condition to the desired condition, defining the problem or problems, understanding the behaviors and mechanisms that contribute to the current condition, determining if and how specific behaviors and mechanisms can be changed to produce the desired condition, developing solution strategies, and building support for action.

Second, did you notice the similar aims for the requests? They all focus on addressing current issues or on specifying future learning or performance needs. Needs assessment requests are typically aimed at the following situations:

• Solving a current problem
• Avoiding a past or current problem
• Creating or taking advantage of a future opportunity
• Providing learning, development, or growth

Third, did you notice that the requests imply a solution that requires training, learning, performance improvement, community development, international development, or a combination of these? Needs assessment is a diagnostic process that relies on data collection and analysis, collaboration, and negotiation to identify and understand gaps in learning and performance and to determine future actions. Examples of actions that could be implemented as the result of a needs assessment include offering improved incentives, providing better information, engaging the appropriate people, enhancing the work design, supplying essential tools or technology, and implementing training or learning programs.

Fourth, did you also recognize that the requests are alike in including little evidence and few clues about whether taking the requested action will likely improve learning, development, or performance? Important details about the situation and the expected course of action are unknown to both those who request a needs assessment and those who receive such requests.

Similar to the sample requests at the beginning of this section, most requests that lead to needs assessments include fuzzy goals, incompatible beliefs, flawed assumptions, and large leaps in logic. In addition, they contain little diagnostic information about the specific behaviors or mechanisms that produced the current condition, about what particular changes could create the desired condition, or about what support may be required from other people or groups. Assessing needs in such situations before jumping in with solutions greatly increases the likelihood of success and avoids costly mistakes.

Finally, did you notice that all the sample requests include challenging questions? The right answers to these questions cannot be found in a book or on the Internet. Indeed, such questions do not have one right answer. Using quick, commonsense solutions or throwing resources at such situations seldom work well either.

Instead, the requests for learning, training, development, and performance improvement initiatives must be evaluated and the “merit, worth, or value” (Scriven, 1991, p. 139) of the various options must be analyzed. Thus, needs assessment is a type of evaluation.

The Systems Model of Evaluation (Preskill & Russ-Eft, 2003; Russ-Eft & Preskill, 2005, 2009) identifies various factors for one organization that affect the success and the outcomes of an evaluation, including a needs assessment (see Figure 1.2). Factors in the needs assessment or evaluation project itself (such as the approach to managing the project) are shown in the model’s inner circle; factors within the organization (such as the organization’s mission, vision, and strategic goals) are shown in the model’s outer circle; and factors that are outside the organization (such as customer expectations) are shown in the shapes that encircle the ring of organizational factors. Thus, many factors can influence how the challenging questions raised by a needs assessment are answered.

FIGURE 1.2 A Systems Model of Evaluation

Reprinted with permission from Sage, appearing in Russ-Eft, D., and Preskill, H. (2005). In search of the Holy Grail: ROI evaluation in HRD. Advances in Developing Human Resources, 7, 71–85.

We have considered the similarities among the requests that lead to needs assessments. Next, we consider their differences.

DIFFERENCES AMONG REQUESTS THAT LEAD TO NEEDS ASSESSMENT

First, did you notice that the requests represent different definitions of need? Stufflebeam (1985) identified four useful definitions of need: discrepancy, democratic, diagnostic, and analytic. To explore these definitions, let’s examine how needs could be determined for one example presented at the beginning of this chapter: “We need to update the curriculum in our undergraduate program. What should the new curriculum include?”

Discrepancy needs are based on the differences between the current and the ideal or the expected performance. Using a discrepancy definition of the needs, faculty members could compare their undergraduate curriculum with an ideal undergraduate curriculum, such as the one offered by a top-rated university program or endorsed by a professional association. The faculty members could also compare the number of outstanding alumni from their program and an ideal program using pre-determined criteria.

Democratic needs are based on what most people prefer or select and are determined by majority rule. Using a democratic definition of needs, faculty members could examine student choices. Because students vote with their feet, course enrollment in elective courses could serve as a measure of students’ preference. Data on student preferences for elective courses could also be collected by surveying or interviewing students about their favorite electives.

If the faculty members believed that students enrolled in courses based on the instructor rather than the course title, they could use a democratic assessment to measure the enrollments for each faculty member over a period of time. Similarly, if faculty members assume that students prefer to...