Determining Training Needs

Introduction:

The rush to improve quality frequently leads to poor decisions about what kind of training to provide. The mistakes suggest a more effective way of determining your company's training needs, a process anchored in the business management model.

Common mistakes:
The rush to improve quality frequently leads to poor decisions about what kind of training to provide. These are some of the most common mistakes:

• A customer telis you it expects a new skill from your company, so you begin training employees in that skill without knowing whether they are ready to learn it.
• You discover a competitor is implementing a certain quality technique, or you read about how such a technique turned a business around; you quickly organize your own training, before finding out whether the technique is a good idea for your company.
• You install new equipment, prepare to make a new product or offer a new service, or redesign a process, and you only consider training as an afterthought.
• You begin general training in broad quality concepts without knowing how each employee will apply those concepts in his or her daily work to improve quality.

The mistakes suggest a more effective way of determining your company's training needs, a process anchored in the business management model.

Northern Trust strives for a balance between corporate-level training and training determined by its business units. The company identifies training needs by:

1. Determining what skills its employees will need to achieve the com­pany's strategic quality initiative. its 24-hour training curriculum,"Training for Absolute Quality," includes skill building in the four key goals Northern has identified for achieving absolute quality

• Unrivaled client satisfaction.
• Continuous improvement of all processes,
• Inspired leadership.
• Active involvement of all Northern people.

2. Conducting periodic needs assessments to identify topics to be ad-dressed. As a result of recent assessments and other data, Northern is now focusing on bringing training to employees who need it when they need it, similar to Globe's philosophy.
3. Using an ongoing needs Identification process, which includes employ­ees' evaluations of courses they complete, and suggestions by Northern's business units and managers for new training.
4. Benchmarking other companies within the industry, to find out what they are doing and where their training programs are going.

Unrivaled Client Satisfaction

• Client needs drive improvement decisions.
• Ali areas need an ongoing process for establishing client and partner requirements.
• Prevention of defects is essential to meet or exceed client and partner requirements.

Continuous improvement of All Processes

• Everything is a process—and every process can be improved.
• Process measurements provide the facts that will guide decisions.
• To solve problems, look beyond symptoms so you can find and remove root causes.

Inspired Leadership

• Absolute quality management is achieved through attention to both process and results.
• We will deliver absolute quality to our clients and partners through cooperation and teamwork between areas.
• Managers can lead improvement by creating a climate of support and respect for all Northern people.