Human resources planning - training needs analysis.

• Author: Freeman, Jean M.

How many times have we said it: "In the electric cooperative business, our most important asset is our people!" And when we have said it, we have meant it. But do our actions always reinforce this belief?

The health of any organization depends on the development of its people. If indeed our greatest asset is our people, then it is even more vital to the coop that we invest time and energy into this vital planning function.

The first step toward ensuring that critical health and vitality is the development of a long-range human resources (HR) plan. This process should be conducted in conjunction with cooperative strategic planning. As a part of that planning, the organization must structurally analyze its people, its jobs and its future goals. Ideally, the management of the organization can determine with such as analysis, what are its present needs, and what it will need in the future to accomplish strategic objectives.

Just as the strategic plan looks ahead over several years, the human resources plan should also look down the road, at least two or three years. What do we predict in growth? What services will we provide in the future? What will our leadership and management needs be like in a few years? Who should we be preparing for those roles?

We can consider the development of our employees on many levels. We can ask what they want; how we can help them reach their individual and professional goals; what we can help them achieve beyond promotions and salary increases; and how we can work as a unit toward common goals. This may involve looking beyond the office and into the community.

The complete human resources plan should address such issues as employee growth and development, hiring and promotion practices, legal considerations, as well as specific employee placement plans.

The training component should address immediate and long-range goals, behaviors and skills. However, just as a doctor can't treat a patient until she has determined what is wrong and what is needed, the cooperative management cannot begin to "fix" our training problems until it has conducted a needs assessment.

There are many ways to approach such a process. The following is a simplified set of suggested steps to take when conducting a training needs analysis. Of course, the cooperative management may want to use these suggestions as a foundation, building on these ideas by applying its own system philosophy and culture to the process.

Organizational Meeting. It...