Assignment 2: Needs Assessment

Instructions: Read the material at the sites listed in the Week 2 Lessons folder to help guide you in understanding needs with relation to your management problem. Complete a Needs Assessment by submitting a 2-4 page paper discussing the client’s needs with relation to the management problem you are studying.

Submission Instructions: Upload your paper to your Week 2 assignment folder.

Some questions you can explore to help you are:
•What is the problem?
•How is the desired performance related to the current performance?
•How does the desired performance relate to the mission statement?
•Is the problem organization-wide or isolated to one or a few individuals?
•Have organizational initiatives created the problem?
•Does the problem relate to individual performance issues?
•Is training adequate to support the desired outcome?
•Is the issue related to job design?
•What criteria are used to measure performance?
•Is performance criteria appropriate, i.e. attainable and measurable?

ANSWER

Needs Assessment

Needs assessments are usually carried out to collect information on organizational needs that require improvement. Such needs encompass correcting operational deficiencies and improving the organization’s current performance. In most cases, deficiencies relate to an organization’s and its personnel’s failure to meet the conventional standards of performance. By conducting a needs assessment, training can be done to improve the employees’ skills and knowledge in fixing the identified performance deficiencies. In this needs assessment, I will be discussing the client’s needs in relation to the management problem under study.

Problem Identification

The client in question is a private technology company that specializes in the supply of computers, printing machines, and other office automation machinery. It also provides network administration, machinery repair, and maintenance services. A perceived problem in expansion efforts has been identified. It seems to the company that significant risks exist if the current human resource strategies remain in…

Current Performance Vs Desired Performance

When facing such challenges in organizational development, it is important to compare the company’s current and desired performances. In so doing, the company can identify its strengths as well as the areas that need improvement (Kaufman & Guerra-Lopez, 2013). From the look of things, the company is experiencing some performance-related issues that need to be addressed. These issues relate to the quality and quantity of work performance. For instance, the sales team has been failing in matters timing …

Company’s Mission and Desired Performance

The company’s mission statement alludes to it becoming a market leader in the provision and supply of office equipment in the town where it operates. This mission relates to the desired performance of bringing in more customers and increasing its overall customer base. With a sufficient customer base, the company is guaranteed for long-term survival (McGoldric & Tobey, 2016). As mentioned before, the identified problems are isolated to just the human resource personnel and especially the sales representatives. Therefore…

Organizational Initiatives and Training

The organizational initiatives did not create the identified problems. Rather, they focused on responding to any risks surrounding the company’s goals and mission. These problems appertained to individual performance issues. This is because certain employees, to be specific the sales representatives, failed to use their knowledge and skills productively. Some of them demonstrated poor work ethics, while others showed poor customer relations.  Under such circumstances, the company runs the risk of losing some of its …

Performance Criteria

These problems could also be related to job design. Otherwise, the company could be satisfying all its requirements in terms of efficient and competent human resource personnel. Nonetheless, training would help solve the personnel’s shortfalls (McGoldric & Tobey, 2016). After assessing the company’s needs, performance criteria can be used to measure the company’s performance. The two most appropriate criteria would be measurability and achievability. With regards to measurability, the performance measures…

Therefore, with the help of our consultancy services and needs assessment training, the company will be able to bridge its performance-related gaps and reach its desired …

References

Kaufman, R., & Guerra-Lopez, I. (2013). Needs Assessment for Organizational Success. Alexandria: American Society for Training and Development.

McGoldric, B., & Tobey, D. (2016). Needs Assessment Basics. Alexandria: Association for Talent Development.