Whether you are a Learning and Development (L&D) specialist or an operational manager, you play a key role in improving the performance of your organization. When team members have everything they need to do their job, targets are met and surpassed, and the organization runs smoothly.
To this end, you may be aware that a Training Needs Assessment (TNA) is a vital tool in ensuring your people get the support they need. But perhaps you are finding it difficult to get buy-in and need to prove a TNA’s value, or even the value of training as a whole, in a climate of economic uncertainty. In this article, we examine performance as an organizational imperative, and the key role a TNA plays in helping achieve multiple strategic goals. and, in times of significant uncertainty, it can be seen as discretionary.
Organizations often look at training as a cost rather than an investment. Knowledge and skills are prerequisites for people to do their job, or for the organization to comply with regulatory requirements and standards, as necessary. Training may not be viewed as a means of building knowledge over the long term, or as enabling people to innovate through better understanding, or as maintaining employees’ job satisfaction so they stay with the organization. In fact, leaders may fear that employees will leave and take their training to a competitor, despite that the 2025 Randstad Workmonitor revealed that 23% of employees globally had left their employer because they had not received enough training.
When a performance issue arises, such as a safety near-miss or a drop in customer satisfaction, the immediate impulse is to "fix it with a workshop", because quick solutions, that require minimal downtime, are favored. And this puts L&D teams in reactive mode, producing content before understanding if the problem is actually a skills gap or a different issue, such as equipment or morale. Additionally, without regular assessment, training may no longer reflect the reality of the workplace, and employees may experience “training fatigue”, with reduced attention and engagement during delivery, due to a lack of trust that the training will help them In organizations where learning and development does keep pace with workplace changes, employees may not be applying their training correctly because of their work environment. They may lack the appropriate resources. Perhaps the work culture, or issues with supervision, evoke an attitude of complacency or disinterest. To pinpoint exactly why performance is not up to expectations, it’s essential for the organization to take the time to properly analyze the situation.
It can be tempting to think of a performance gap as an individual lack of knowledge or skills. But performance issues are organizational issues, and not just on an operational cost level. They are strategic issues when they increase the risk of accidents, non-compliance, or service failures, tarnishing brand reputation.
A Training Needs Assessment targets organizational performance gaps, and proposes measurable improvement. It takes into account human factors and the system around a person’s job, and it aims to ensure that employees feel supported and capable. A TNA could show, for example, that existing training is not being applied because of a culture disconnect – an issue that probably affects the entire organization. Or it could show that there is in fact a skills (or knowledge) gap and it is widening. This may also affect the entire organization as skills gaps, according to the World Economic Forum, are considered “the biggest barrier to business transformation” by 63% of employers surveyed.
“Actually looking at performance from an organizational perspective, looking at it from an operational perspective, and looking at it from an individual perspective as well.”
Invariably, there will be some trigger that indicates we need to look more closely at people’s abilities to handle a situation. This could be an increase in complaints, from customers or from employees, that a process is not working. It could be an upcoming shift in the workplace, such as a departmental merger or a new regulation coming into effect, that will change how the organization does things. Or it might be the introduction of a strategic initiative, that sets new standards for how we work.
Over a recent 22-month period, fully 73% of total inquiries received by IATA Training related to strategic initiatives. These included introducing or expanding safety programs, such as IOSA / ISAGO / SSP and Safety Management Systems, positioning the business in new markets, and succession planning3. They requested to train trainers to build out internal programs, or whole departments of employees thus raising the quality bar.
The other 27% of inquiries were requests to acquire or refresh specific knowledge and skills, for individuals or small groups. They included how to build up ULDs, prepare shipments of lithium batteries, price tickets, or understand an existing Safety Management System.
| subject matter | % of total inquiries | % related to strategic commitment |
|---|---|---|
| Ground & Cargo Operations | 49% | 73% |
| Safety, Inc. IOSA & Audit Readiness and Safety Management Systems | 30% | 94% |
| Business Positioning & Development, Inc. Distribution & Technology | 24% | 69% |
| Dangerous Goods | 17% | 73% |
| Regulatory & Compliance | 10% | 100% |
| Leadership & Management | 7% | 100% |
| Training Capability Building | 5% | 96% |
| Total Inquiries | 100% | 73% |
There are six steps generally accepted as essential to a TNA:
It really is about identifying who those key stakeholders are and asking the right questions.
Organization-wide change
For an initiative such as IOSA, a large group of employees might need global understanding of the program, and the most effective way to provide this might be on site, through an external expert. This might be complemented by off-site training to certify internal auditors, and a train-the-trainer course so your in-house learning and development specialists can ensure your workforce acquires and maintains the skills they need on a day-to-day basis.
Growth and succession planning
In the video referenced above, IATA Instructor John Flett gives the example of an airline that had a very dynamic growth strategy, but was seeing high turnover of recent hires. The TNA highlighted a lack of ongoing development within the organization, in contrast to the expectations of a learning culture that these younger generations had.
Training was a clear solution to this problem. In this case, because of the age group concerned, the recommendation was to offer a portfolio mixing compulsory and elective courses, that enabled employees to explore other areas of the operation and learn more about the airline business as a whole. By formalizing a learning culture, the airline raised employee satisfaction and increased the chances of retaining their staff in a highly competitive environment, thus feeding their growth strategy.
IATA's experts provide an objective assessment of your internal findings and a tailored training action plan in just 90 minutes
IATA Training can give you the skills to proceed with a TNA, provide expert guidance, and find you the right training solutions for your organization.
| Get the skills to ask the right questions to the right people about the right problem | Get expert validation and training recommendations | Close performance gaps effectively and efficiently |
| Take the IATA Training Needs Assessment course | Commission IATA's Training Needs Analysis service | Have IATA courses delivered for 5+ people on your site or virtually |
