A Technology‐Based Approach to Training Needs Analysis

SUMMARY

This paper is based on a project which was funded under the EU DELTA research initiative with participating partners from the UK, The Netherlands, Germany and Ireland. It describes the purpose, design and development of a knowledge‐based computer system that addresses Training Needs Analysis (TNA). The consortium of industrialists and academics designed and built an innovative software tool which gives accurate and consistent advice regarding training requirements for an organisation's personnel. To create this tool, knowledge engineers methodically interviewed and elicited knowledge from several experts in the domain of human training and development. The final system entailed representing the underlying knowledge structures and concepts of the training needs analysis process. The application was constructed to represent training needs analysis decision making and the system and interface were built using Visual Basic. The final application has been critically evaluated by end‐users at several test sites across Europe.