Here's how you can identify and address employee training needs using feedback and evaluation.

When you try to identify training needs, the obvious direction is to simply ask the business heads. They all have goals and will most likely recognize where their staff will have a need for learning new things, but what about skills gaps? I have often heard a training request because of other classes. Participants either attend a session, or see a session upcoming, and then reach out to ask, "Do we have something about...?" Lean into these questions and you will find a treasure trove of needs. This was how crafted a class on collaboration at my last company. At another time I found an entire office as craving help with communications, so we ran conducted DiSC training. Both were examples of being that safe harbor for their thoughts.

When you hear of a potential training, it is important to assess the audience before even agreeing to create something. The reality is that most training requests do not amount to a need for a new program. Setting up time for discovery is required. You need to ask or get answers to: How many people is this happening to? Is there a way to measure it? Do others see the same thing (reality vs. perception)? I saw a program created once for presentations (a common need) but the audience rarely engaged in presentations, and the impetus was mostly a perception (no data). The program never got past the pilot round and so failed. Reason being the discovery was not done to evaluate the need.

In my experience I have found that specific and measurable are the two that are most difficult to apply. This is why discovery with the business group is so important. The metrics we get, become the objectives for the training. If we do not get a metric from the business, then we have difficulty proving we met expectations. With the Time management example, a metric might be more meetings starting on time, or less deliverables being late. The bar does not need to be high (in fact I prefer the low bars) but having it there puts the training's effectiveness on display.