Training Needs Analysis Assignment: Case Analysis of Apple

Question

Task: Background
A key responsibility of the learning and development function is to create a culture of continuous learning with the intent of fostering capabilities of human capital for sustained competitive advantage. Organisations who strive for that competitive edge will need to understand how their individuals learn and put the individuals at the forefront of their organisational learning processes, whilst ensuring that organisational learning processes are aligned with the organisation’s strategic goals and objectives. To achieve this, a continuous, organised and systematic approach, through conducting a Training Needs Analysis (TNA), can help identify the development needs of the organisation, the skills or capabilities that need to be developed, and the people involved.

Summary
For thisTraining Needs Analysis Assignment, the task is to conduct a training needs analysis (TNA) in your organisation (or of an organisation you know well), to identify a training gap with a focus on how technology can be used in the development of employees. The written report should be 2,300 words (plus or minus 10%). The purpose of this assessment is to demonstrate your understanding of the training needs analysis (TNA) process to identify a training gap that is aligned with the strategic objectives of the organisation.

Referencing is Australian Harvard (AGPS) and outlined in the AIB Style Guide.
Task
Utilising content from Modules 1–3, your TNA needs to be inclusive of the first four steps discussed in Module 2 and how HR metrics will support your TNA:

Step 1: Identify the expected performance (or strategic change). The expected performance, or strategic change, needs to be clearly linked to your organisational learning strategy and its interconnectedness with the organisational strategy. If your organisation's learning strategy is too broad, you may choose one pillar or objective to focus your TNA on.

Step 2: Investigate the need for training. This step will require you to gather evidence (e.g. performance appraisals, organisational records, learning styles survey, focus groups, job description analysis) to investigate the difference (or ‘gap’) between the desired performance and the current performance.

Step 3: Investigate the competence gap. This step will require you to investigate why the performance gap exists in order to determine whether the gap represents a training need.

Step 4: Identify the training specifications. You need to consider learning outcomes (as guided by the organisation’s learning strategy), learners (as guided by a training and learner needs analysis), learning strategies, and other contextual variables that should be taken into account when designing a subsequent learning program.

Answer

Executive Summary
As per the investigation on training needs analysis assignment, training is a very important part of the human resource management. The employees of every organisation require the basic training to deliver the expected performance for the organisation. The organisations should every now and then conduct skill development, learning and development and training sessions for enhancing the quality of their human resource. The human capital is a very valuable resource for any organisation or country. However, lack of adequate training could lead the human capital to be stagnant. The employees will fail to upgrade themselves, adapt to the latest technologies and deliver quality performance if they are not provided sufficient scope for training and development. The training gap would reflect in the overall performance of the organisation. Thus, organisations need to take the training of their employees more seriously.

Training Needs Analysis (TNA) is a process in which the gap in the training of the employees and their related training requirements are identified. In this report, the TNA of Apple Inc. will be analysed. The report aims at identifying the expected performance or strategic change which would help the organisation to achieve its goals. The report further gathers the relevant evidence to find the gap between the current performance and the desired performance. The report investigates whether the performance gap is trainable and can be eliminated. Finally, the report creates a foundation for preparing a training or learning program for its employees to improve their performance levels.

1. Introduction
Human capital is an essential factor of production. The organisations, both big and small, need human resource to function. Even in this current situation where technology has improved and most of the work is automated, the human resource is highly valued. The humans are required to operate the machines as most of the organisations do not work with robotic technology and 100% automation. As this factor is such an important one, its development and enhancement of capacity is highly crucial for an organisation to grow. The learning and development programs need to provide scope to the human capital to improve their skills and knowledge (Kuzminov, Sorokin and Froumin, 2019). A better quality of human resource would help an organisation as well as a nation to prosper. For an organisation like Apple Inc. human resource is its backbone.

Apple Inc is a tech giant which has sustained in the industry for several years, facing all the ups and downs. The company operates in the global market and offers its customers various consumer electronic goods, online services and computer software. In terms of revenue, Apple Inc. is the leading technology company in the world. The company has a fine set of employees who are delivering the best performances to help the company grow. In the year 2021, January, Apple Inc. was announced to be the most valuable company (Kangyi, 2021). To maintain the standard and quality of its human resource, the company conducts Training Needs Analysis (TNA), to evaluate where the employees are lagging. In this report, the expected performance of Apple Inc. will be identified. Furthermore, the investigation will be made of the training needs of the employees of Apple Inc. The report will also highlight the competency gap and the specific training requirements.

2. Step 1– Identification of Expected Performance
Apple Inc is a leading multinational tech company. The company hires only the best. They need the best set of employees to enhance their organisational performance. The company needs the best techies so that they innovate and create something new and unique. The research and development of Apple Inc. is also a very significant part of the company’s growth. Thus, the human resource that the company maintains in the form of their workforce should consist of the cream talents. The main aim of Apple Inc. is to manufacture the best products available in the world. Their objective is to leave the world as a better place than it was found. The company looks for employees who can deliver the expected performance (Marke et al, 2020).

The performance of the employees at Apple Inc. needs to be aligned with the organisational goals of the company. The company expects their employees to be high achievers and risk takers. They need strong people skills in their employees. The employees who work at Apple Inc. are expected to have a knack for adaptation to change, innovation, creation and problem solving. The employees beyond their expertise at handling technology, innovating and marketing should also have the skills of maintaining their composure when faced with some challenge. The focus of the employees as expected by the company should be on the target customers (Larivière et al, 2017). The customer service executives to the designers and developers all are expected to think from the customers’ perspective and how they will be benefited by the products or services. From resolving technical issues to troubleshooting, the company expects their employees to display nothing but excellence. The frontline employees including the customer service executives should have the ability to adhere to the customer appointment schedules.

Apple Inc. has to maintain its market position in the highly competitive global market structure. As per Hemerling et al (2018), to cope with the increasing competition, economic recession across the world, advancements in technology and availability of cheaper substitutes, the company needs a strong workforce. The human resource department of Apple Inc. conducts its Training Needs Analysis (TNA). Through the TNA, the company aims at identifying the deficiencies and developing its human resource so that they perform at the ideal state.

The organisational strategy of Apple Inc. is to deliver the best so that the competitors cannot meet the standards of Apple Inc. in terms of their quality. The corporate strategy must be linked to the employees’ performances. To deliver the best products, the company needs the best and dedicated employees. Apple Inc.’s organisational strategy is a broad one. One aspect of the training that the company stresses on is innovation. They expect the employees to take a step forward, to take risk and innovate.

They encourage and expect new and unique inventions and creations. According to Duran(2020), the recruiters at Apple Inc. keep repeating one word that is passion. The company expects passion for work from its employees. The employees are expected to exhibit idealism in their actions. The employees are not expected to know everything about the products of Apple Inc. The management expects fearless feedback from its employees, as they value them as internal critics.

3. Step 2– Investigation of the Training Need
The TNA will facilitate identifying the training needs of the workforce at Apple Inc. Through the process of TNA, the company will be able to identify the areas where the company requires improving its employees’ performance. The job effectivity of the employees is affected by few limitations of the employees and company. Apple Inc. aims at eliminating these hurdles to achievement. At various levels of the organisation, Apple Inc. tries to conduct a complete training needs analysis (Hohman et al, 2020).

The company definitely needs training programs for its employees. Apple Inc. aims at improving the aspects like critical thinking and problem solving among its employees. The recruiting managers of Apple Inc. often find their employees lacking problem solving skills and critical thinking ability. They also need their employees to be better trained to pay attention to minute detailing. This soft skill is essential at Apple Inc. as detailing yields perfection. The other skills which the company looks for in its employees include leadership skills, communication skills, spirit of teamwork, etc (Wittich et al, 2018).

Apple Inc. evaluates the performance of its employees and categorises in three ways. These categories include exceeded expectations, needs improvement and met expectations. The performance appraisals are based on the performance delivered by the employees. The company does not wait for annual performance review for its workforce. They have a midpoint and formal check in with their employees while they are halfway through the review period. The annual performance review is conducted once a year but this early check-in with the employees helps in providing a better direction to their actions. The employees get to know how far they are on track and are able to meet the company’s expectations and which areas they need to improve (Sahooand Mishra, 2019).

The TNA identifies few areas which need improvement and further training. The training and learning programs are conducted to enhance these specific skills. The company could organise a problem-solving training session or a change management learning program. The closer analysis of the evaluation process of Apple Inc. suggests that there is a gap between the performance that the company expects from its employees and the performance that is finally delivered. The training programs for the employees at Apple Inc. need to focus on the weaker areas. The training needs include development of excellent skills of prioritisation. The other area is development of decision-making ability (Mamun, 2020). To bridge the gap between the expected and the delivered performance of the employees, the company needs to train their employees on enhancing their verbal as well as written communication skills.

The employees also lag in developing teamwork skills in many instances. Thus, training is required for performing successfully in team environments. The employees are expected to demonstrate shared responsibility which lacks. The employees’ accountability also needs to be improved. The employees need to learn to be flexible with their work schedules to fit in perfectly in the organisational environment of Apple Inc.

4. Step 3– Competence Gap Investigation
According to Tondeuret al (2017), competency gap refers to the gap which might exist between the desired performance of the employees and the actual performance delivered by them. This could be a training gap which is created when there originates a variance between the required or desired performance or behaviour and the actual performance or behaviour as the employee’s lack sufficient training in the required areas. The competency gap might exist within individuals in their performances, among the teams or across the organisation. This competency gap will lead the organisation to underperform, much below its actual potential.

At Apple Inc. the cream and the best talents are hired. They have the required degree and expertise. However, there is something that the company expects which is beyond meeting these basic criteria. The company expects its employees to put their mind, heart and soul into their work. They should not stop thinking of work when they are out of the office. They should show passion towards their work. The company never discourages its employees to take up challenging projects (Lockamy III, 2017). In fact, Apple Inc. is one of those companies who sponsor new and risky projects. The organisation craves for betterment and innovation. Their desire to make the world a better place will only be fulfilled if they can gift the world something beyond expectation of humankind.

The basic gap lies in training the employees to communicate well, think critically and take decisions. The availability of people is not a problem. The issue is regarding the lack of required skills such as the change management skill, the problem solving skill, the negotiation skill, leadership skills, etc. The skill gap can be resolved only through training and development sessions. The company needs various forms of training sessions to teach their employees leadership skills. They also need them to take decisions on their own. Their autonomy at work is encouraged at most of the instances (Manganelli et al, 2018). The work life is never free of problems, so training is required for instilling this skill among the employees. Moreover, the technology industry is changing constantly. Thus, the employees need change management skills to work.

5. Step 4 – Identification of Training Specifications
The training needs analysis (TNA) should follow certain specifications. The HR department will take the lead in conducting the TNA. The TNA will focus on the individual role of the employees so that their performance can meet the corporate goals of Apple Inc. The TNA will include the complexity of the organisation and the size and structure. The TNA should be streamlined so that the priority of the training is on the corporate objectives of Apple In. There could be many skills that are required to work in different organisations. However, specifically those skills which are required for the employees of Apple Inc. should be focused upon. The significance of the individual role cannot be denied but the individual’s performance must be aligned with the corporate needs. When a project is given to a team, the individual members’ role can be pinpointed through the TNA. To improve the accuracy level, the TNA of Apple Inc. should be extracted from the organisation as a whole (Al Dakhil and Bayoumi, 2020).

There is a need for selecting the process of analysis so that it could be employed in Apple Inc. The analysis could be organisational analysis, task analysis or person analysis. Organisational analysis finds the appropriateness of the training program considering the corporate strategy, organisational resources and support from management and peers. Task analysis mainly stresses on task, behaviours, skills and knowledge that are to be focused upon so that the employees can accomplish their tasks. As per Kour,El-DenandSriratanaviriyakul(2019), the person analysis investigates the performance deficiencies of the individuals.

The person analysis will be applied in case of Apple Inc.
As per Ayd?andTiryaki(2018), the person analysis will help the organisation to find out whether the competency gap is due to the training gap or motivational gap. It could also be issue with work design. Thus, the personal analysis based TNA will identify which employees need training, the preparedness of the employees for the training and which areas need training. The other aspect of the TNA which is very important is the size of the trainee audience. The level of the training also matters. The employees at Apple Inc. will be trained in different ways. For instance, they could be trained at seminars or group sessions. They could also be trained at personal interview-based interactions with experts or managers. The potential training pool has to be determined to plan the training program (Griffith,Baurand Buckley, 2019).

6. Conclusion
It can be concluded that Apple Inc. already holds a very prominent position in the technology industry. However, as an organisation it can grow through betterment of its employees. The company ensures that they recruit the best employees. The training of the employees should be prioritised. The employees, who join the company with their basic skills and knowledge, need to grow with time. They need to be trained for professional development. The training needs analysis (TNA) will be beneficial for Apple Inc. The employee skills will be enhanced, making them proactive in predicting the market trends, responding immediately to changing market conditions and act promptly to address the crisis. The workforce needs to be upgraded by training them to adapt to the new market environment. The company needs to understand the market dynamics. The employees who have the desired skills and expertise can foresee the future of the market. The competency gap between the desired and actual performance can also be bridged with the help of effective training of the employees. The overall organisational performance can be enhanced through employee training. To understand what is trainable and what needs attention, the TNA is highly crucial for Apple Inc. ?

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