Training Needs Assessment Competences

Ability to identify competence gaps and training needs of apprentices

When we talk about the training needs of apprentices, an essential aspect to consider is the level of actual knowledge the student has, and the level of required knowledge that would be necessary to successfully benefit from the apprenticeship.

Many times, the apprentice is going to show a skill shortage that will require a specific training to solve the skill gap present. In this sense, in-company tutors need to be able to provide said training, facilitating a way for the apprentice to acquire the skills and potentially benefit from the WBL programme, which will in turn mean benefiting the company as well.

An interesting method to ensure the tutor knows exactly the skills gap of the apprentice is the use of a training needs analysis. Through it is possible to learn the concrete discrepancies between the current skills and the skills s/he aims at acquiring. The identification of needs usually consists of two steps:

1. Establishing the expectations from the training
2. Identifying the training possibilities

Once the identification has been accomplished, the in-company tutor can go further and develop the training needs analysis, which is usually based on three steps:

1. Establishing the gap between requirements and current skills: as previously explained, it is necessary to identify the training objectives, which usually result from the gap between the current skills and the skills the apprentice aims at acquiring.
2. Identifying the reasons behind the gap: the tutor should be able to understand the reason why the apprentice does not have said skills, in order to look for a way to solve the gap. For example, the apprentice may not possess a specific skill due to lack of training or lack of experience, in case the skill can only be learnt in a working environment. An interesting way of identifying said reasons could be having a talk with the apprentice, or with the sending organisation tutor.

In any way, identifying the specific cause will facilitate looking for a way to solve it. If the reason is purely academic, it will be useful to provide the apprentice with relevant sources to learn whatever is necessary; if the reason is a lack of previous experience, it can be solved during the apprenticeship itself. In any case, there are a wide variety of reasons that can cause the gaps, so it is important to have them clear.

3. Identify the topics of training and the potential solutions: once both the gap and the reasons behind it are clear, the in-company tutor can come up with solutions to fill the gap. Having a clear view of the situation, the tutor can propose activities that will be effective to encourage the learning of the apprentice taking into account the gaps, not only to solve said gaps, but also to avoid giving the trainee a workload that is not logical for the apprenticeship situation. (Trutkowski, 2016)

Exercise: How can we carry out a training needs analysis as in-company tutors?

In the following exercise, we will carry out a training needs analysis to evaluate the skills gap of a new apprentice in a company.

This exercise will be set in a food industry company that is currently looking to internationalise. The company, which will be named FOODCOM, has decided to participate in a WBL programme, and a new apprentice is going to join the management department, more concretely, the exports department. The in-company tutor in FOODCOM has done a first interview with the apprentice, and it may be possible that there is a certain skill gap between the apprentice skills and the requirements of the apprenticeship.

The student, who will be called Joe, has international studies, however, he does not have any previous experience working within the food industry, moreover his studies were related to the third sector and tourism and his knowledge about internationalization only concerns these fields; however, he is very interested in learning how FOODCOM works, and he has notions on internationalisation. He will need to use new concrete tools during the apprenticeship, that he did not have the opportunity to study during educational path.

For said case, please complete the following table with as much information as you can gather from the intel provided:

Once you have filled the template, comment with the rest of the group the results you have obtained. Did everyone come up with the same gaps? Did you all identify the same reasons behind them? Did you all come up with the same potential solutions?

*Important note: this exercise could be adapted to any real-life company or example. The template can be used for any other apprentice need analysis.

Discussion topic

Apart from discussing the results of the previous exercise, other interesting points of discussion in this skill could be the following:

Do you believe the skill shortage of the apprentice should be solved by the in-company tutor?

Do you feel qualified to elaborate a training that closes the existing skills gap of a potential apprentice?