Questions and Answers
What does situational constraints refer to?
____________ ____________ refers to managers' and peers' willingness to provide feedback and reinforcement.
social support
If employees do not believe that rewards or incentives for performance are adequate, they will be unlikely to meet performance standards, even if they have the necessary knowledge, behaviors, skills, or attitudes.
True
____________ refer to accepted standards of behavior for work-group members.
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A ____________ is a specific position requiring the completion of certain tasks.
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A ____________ is the employee's work activity in a specific job.
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____________ includes facts or procedures.
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____________ indicates competency in performing a task.
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____________ includes the physical and mental capacities to perform a task.
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____________ refers to the conditions under which tasks are performed.
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Name the four steps in a task analysis.
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Traditionally, needs assessment has involved identifying KSAs and tasks. However, a current trend in training is for needs assessment to focus on competencies, especially for managerial positions.
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____________ are sets of KSAs and personal characteristics that enable employees to perform their jobs successfully.
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A ____________ ____________ identifies the competencies necessary for each job.
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____________ ____________s provide descriptions of competencies that are common for an entire occupation, organization, job family, or specific job.
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____________ ____________ refers to the process of developing a description of the tasks, duties, responsibilities, and specifications (KSAs) that an employee must have to perform it.
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What is the process used in developing a competency model?
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____________ ____________ ____________ refers to a needs assessment that is done quickly and accurately, but without sacrificing the quality of the process or the outcomes.
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What is a needs assessment?
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_____________ _____________ typically involves organizational analysis, person analysis, and task analysis.
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An organizational analysis considers the context in which _____________ will occur.
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What is organizational analysis?
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What is person analysis?
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What is task analysis?
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A needs assessment is important because a manager or client asking for training could really need something else.
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Needs assessment is the _____________ step in the instructional design process.
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All of these are possibilities if a _____________ _____________ isn't conducted properly: Training programs may have the wrong content, objectives, or methods.
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Needs assessment is irrelevant to most of the remaining steps in the training design process.
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Needs assessments help determine whether a company will _____________ its training or _____________ its training through internal processes.
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It is important that all stakeholders are included in the needs assessment.
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_____________ include persons in the organization who have an interest in training and development.
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Name the 2 ways to ensure stakeholders are involved in the needs assessment.
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_____________ _____________ view the needs assessment process from the broader company perspective.
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_____________-level managers are more concerned with how training may affect the attainment of financial goals.
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_____________ _____________ are usually involved in determining whether training meets the company's strategy.
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_____________-level managers are not usually involved in identifying which employees need training.
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What roles do Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) play?
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____________ ____________ ____________ are knowledgeable regarding training issues, including tasks to be performed and required KSAs.
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What are four important things needed from a SME?
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Who are job incumbents?
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It is important to get a sample of upper-level managers involved in the process because they tend to be the most knowledgeable about the job.
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What is an advantage of surveys in the needs assessment process?
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What is a disadvantage of surveys?
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What are focus groups?
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____________ (two words) refers to asking stakeholders to provide information for needs assessment.
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It is important to verify the results of interviews, surveys, and focus groups.
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____________ (two words) refers to using information about other companies' training practices for your own organization.
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There are ____________ # of elements in the needs assessment process.
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It's important to consider the information from all three types of analysis before deciding to devote time and money to training.
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In practice, organizational analysis, person analysis, and task analysis are conducted in a specific order.
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Organizational analysis is concerned with identifying whether training suits the company's strategic objectives.
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An initial task analysis may suggest that a company wants to spend less financial resources on training.
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____________ analysis includes the following: Person characteristics, Input, Output, Consequences, Feedback.
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____________ analysis includes the following: Strategic direction, Support for training activities, What resources are available.
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____________ analysis includes the following: Work activity, SKA, personal capability, conditions under which work activity is performed.
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What role does training play in a company?
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In companies where training aligns with business strategies, more money allocated to training is likely.
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The type of training is not influenced by the business strategy.
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The greater the strategic role for training, the more likely that the company uses corporate university models.
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A person analysis helps identify who needs training, this identification is called a ____________ analysis.
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What does gap analysis include?
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The need for training may result from pressure points including performance problems.
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What does readiness for training refer to?
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Readiness for training process includes evaluating person characteristics, input, output, consequences, and feedback.
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What are inputs in training?
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What do person characteristics refer to?
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What does output refer to in training?
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What are consequences in the context of training?
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What does feedback refer to?
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Person characteristics, input, output, consequences, and feedback influence the ____________ ____________ ____________.
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What is motivation to learn?
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Your motivation to learn may be influenced by personal characteristics and the environment.
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Your environment does not impact your learning.
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What are basic skills in relation to training?
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____________ skills include cognitive ability and reading and writing skills.
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Cognitive ability influences learning and job performance.
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____________ ability includes three dimensions: verbal comprehension, quantitative ability, and reasoning ability.
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____________ ____________ refers to a person's capacity to understand and use written and spoken language.
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____________ ____________ refers to how fast and accurately a person can solve math problems.
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____________ ____________ refers to a person's capacity to invent solutions to problems.
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Research shows that cognitive ability is related to successful performance in all jobs.
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The importance of reasoning ability for job success decreases as the job becomes more complex.
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Trainees with low levels of cognitive ability are less likely to fail to complete training.
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What does readability refer to?
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An inappropriate reading level can impede performance and learning in training programs.
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It's important for materials used in training to be evaluated to ensure their reading level does not exceed that required by the job.
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What is a readability assessment?
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There are ____________ # of options available if a trainee's reading level does not match the required level.
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What does self-efficacy mean?
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Employees' perceptions of situational constraints and social support determine performance and motivation to learn.
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What do situational constraints include?
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Study Notes
Needs Assessment Overview
- Needs assessment determines the necessity of training within an organization.
- It typically consists of organizational analysis, person analysis, and task analysis.
Organizational Analysis
- Assesses if training aligns with company strategy, available resources, and managerial support.
- Evaluates the training context focused on strategic direction and training resources.
Person Analysis
- Identifies performance deficiencies due to inadequate knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSA) or motivational/work-design issues.
- Helps to determine who requires training and their readiness for it.
Task Analysis
- Identifies essential tasks, KSA, and behaviors necessary for effective performance.
- Focuses on understanding work activities and the conditions under which tasks are performed.
Importance of Needs Assessment
- Essential to clarify actual training needs—may reveal obstacles such as workflow redesign rather than training.
- Conducted as the first step in the instructional design process, inputs guide subsequent stages.
- If done poorly, may lead to ineffective training solutions, inappropriate content, and wasted resources.
Involvement of Stakeholders
- Engages individuals who have a stake in the training process, including managers, employees, and trainers.
- Uses formal advisory groups, interviews, focus groups, and crowdsourcing to include all relevant stakeholders.
Company Leadership Roles
- Company leaders align training with overarching human resource practices, anticipating future business needs.
- Mid-level managers prioritize training based on specific financial goals and employee types needing development.
Subject Matter Experts (SMEs)
- SMEs play a key role in identifying who needs training and the necessary tasks involved.
- Must understand the company’s language, tools, and training content effectively.
Gathering Data for Needs Assessment
- Surveys allow broad data collection but may lack depth.
- Focus groups involve face-to-face stakeholder meetings to delve into training needs.
- Crowdsourcing gathers input from various stakeholders to inform training decisions.
Readiness for Training
- Involves assessing whether employees possess the necessary personal characteristics and whether the work environment supports learning.
- Factors influencing readiness include abilities, attitudes, motivation, feedback, and social support from management.
Basic Skills and Cognitive Ability
- Basic skills encompass necessary cognitive abilities needed to learn and perform tasks successfully.
- Cognitive ability includes verbal comprehension, quantitative ability, and reasoning ability, affecting job performance.
Non-Training Related Performance Issues
- Performance problems may arise from various pressure points: job changes, new technology implementation, or other organizational shifts.
- Identifying the root causes of performance gaps is essential for determining how training can be effective.
Task Analysis Steps
- Selecting specific jobs for analysis and gathering data through interviews or observations.
- Validating the defined task list and identifying critical KSAs that are difficult to master.
Assessment of Learning Environment
- Includes situational constraints that may inhibit performance and the extent of social support available for learning.
- Employer motivations and the adequacy of incentives significantly affect employee performance and engagement in training.
Importance of Norms and Feedback
- Workgroup norms establish expected behaviors that can influence training outcomes.
- Feedback, input availability, and clarity of output expectations are vital for effective training and learning environments.
Conclusion
- Addressing all aspects of a needs assessment—organizational, person, and task—ensures rigorous and appropriate training solutions aligned with business strategies and employee capabilities.### Competencies
- Competencies encompass sets of Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities (KSAs) along with personal characteristics essential for successful job performance.
Competency Model
- A competency model defines the specific competencies required for each job within an organization.
Competency Models Explained
- Competency models outline the essential competencies relevant across various domains such as occupations, organizations, job families, or specific positions.
Job Analysis
- Job analysis is a systematic process aimed at detailing the tasks, duties, responsibilities, and necessary KSAs that employees need to fulfill their roles effectively.
Development Process for Competency Models
- Initiating with identification of business strategies and goals.
- Identifying specific jobs, positions, or job families relevant to the organization.
- Conducting interviews and focus groups with exemplary top performers to gather insights.
- Developing the competencies along with the competency model based on collected data.
- Validating and reviewing the competency model to ensure its accuracy and relevance.
Rapid Needs Assessment
- Rapid needs assessment is a method of evaluating training or performance needs quickly and effectively without compromising on the quality of the assessment or its outcomes.
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Description
This quiz covers key concepts from Chapter 3 on needs assessment. It includes definitions and the processes involved in determining training requirements within an organization. Test your understanding of organizational, person, and task analysis.