
Understanding your training needs
Introducing Training Needs Analysis (TNA) and Stakeholder Engagement.

Understanding your training needs
Introducing Training Needs Analysis (TNA) and Stakeholder Engagement.
Training Needs Analysis (TNA)
Training Needs Analysis is a formal, systematic process of identifying and evaluating training that should be done, or specific needs of an individual or group of employees, customers, suppliers, etc. Needs are often referred to as “gaps,” or the difference between what is currently done and what should be performed.
All too often a TNA will involve the collection of data around the number of users in specific job roles and mapping that to system roles. From that Users are allocated to training courses. This misses the point of a good TNA by a long way. Gathering an understanding of the types of users in the groups assembled in your TNA is critical to producing a meaningful and successful training programme. Examples of areas to be considering:
- The Learning Culture in the Organisation and the teams in question.
- The success or otherwise of previous training programmes both large and small scale.
- What systems are currently in use, how well accepted they are and what training is given to new users of them.
- Organisational and departmental experience of and attitude to assessed learning.
- Geographical distributions of staff and work time patterns.
- Likely time availability of trainees, both on block and over a period.
- A sense of how the team might fit into the learning bell curve.
Once you have the full picture of the teams, you can start to assemble a structured training programme to present in the next activity.
Stakeholder Engagement
For end-user training to achieve the desired effect, all levels of the organisation must be fully supportive of the approach. This is important not only to ensure a positive attitude to the training but also to ensure that a peer centred training approach has the full support of management in terms of time required and impact on their team.
This will rely on two factors; the suitability of the solution and the effectiveness with which it is communicated to the business. The first of these will come from the TNA above, especially the extended information regarding the nature of the users, training culture etc.
Once an outline proposal has been produced, it should be presented as a consultative document, giving management, team leaders and other influential parties an opportunity to raise any valid issues or questions. It is vital that any questions raised are addressed. This does not mean compromising the approach, but you should be prepared to accommodate reasonable requests and mitigate any obvious sticking points. Remember, one dissenting voice in a position of influence can seriously impact the effectiveness of the whole training programme. You should also note that those in a position to influence the organisation are not always in senior positions in the organisation. It is important to identify these individuals and cultivate their support as early as possible.
Once the engagement of the stakeholder is agreed upon, a communications strategy needs to be adopted.
Customer success stories with Fudgelearn
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What do our customers think of our training?
Fudgelearn focus on the quality of relationships with customers and look to work in Partnership to help achieve the desired outcomes. They’ve proven flexible in meeting our requirements and extremely responsive in managing the service they provide. For example, one of their Account Managers has come onsite on a regular basis to provide support and guidance for members of my department to ensure we’re getting the most from the service.
L.R.
John Lewis Partnership
We have had the pleasure of working with Fudgelearn on a series of training webinars to support the global rollout of Oracle Fusion. Not only has Fudgelearn been professional, committed and a valued partner in supporting the educational rollout of our material to the business but their instructor has also gone above and beyond to help us resolve unforeseen issues.
Thank you!
Global Head of Talent Acquisition & Change Management Lead
UDG Healthcare PLC
I found the Fudgelearn Account Manager to be very knowledgeable and was able to offer the correct package to meet my needs and wider career goals.
I left my one-to-one feeling enthused to undertake my tailored training plan.
Without Fudgelearn’s direction, I feel I would still be wandering around in the darkness!
Various
Home Office
Videos and documentation was good, and helpful for future reference.
Great training!
Very helpful training session lead by Melanie!
Good mix of demos and practical work - looking forward to the next session!
Various
FD Technologies
The trainer interacted and dealt with questions really well.
The course was very detailed and informative - thank you!
Enjoyed the guided learning & exercises after each section.
Dipping my toe into the new system was a great learning experience.
Various
Schroders
Michael is very knowledgeable, patient and friendly - he has had the answers to all the questions asked, so it is obvious he knows his stuff inside out.
Definetely an expert in his field, and very confident with his level of knowledge.
Michael was very knowledgeable, and will be a good resource to tap into when we start to write reports in earnest.
Did very well, with beginners to more experienced students attending.
Various
SMBC
Now I have a better knowledge of the workflow between the BANK and CASH MANAGEMENT which is great!
I can now navigate in Receivables, navigate in the schedule processes screen, create a receipt, apply a receipt, reverse a receipt, all great information!
Great to know how to create invoices, how AP works in Oscar and to manage payments and reporting.
I now have a further understanding of FA itself, how to navigate and perform FA required tasks.