3LDN Identifying Learning and Development Needs
Because of the changing environment, identifying Learning and Development requirements is vital. This is why CIPD included the unit to help students learn their roles in improving their skills and knowledge. HR practitioners identify learning needs to benefit individuals, teams, and organisations. Therefore, they need to ensure that they identify the learning and development needs to ensure the goals and objectives of individuals, teams, and organisations are met. As a result of the L&D practitioners, employees in an organisation can identify what they consider essential in their learning needs, which helps them enhance the learning experience.
Before identifying learning needs, it is necessary to identify why learning needs arise for different individuals. In order to ensure that the individuals receive the support they need from L&D practitioners, identifying the reasons they engage in the learning process is an essential step. Therefore, the students taking this unit are expected to relate to this and identify why, for example, they want to become part of the CIPD programs. This is important because it helps students understand why they want to pursue greater learning and then identify this as a need they need to satisfy to succeed.
Reasons why learning needs arise
Individuals who want to acquire a new skill set for a specific job function have individual learning needs. It is common for employees to be required to perform roles for which they lack the necessary skills or knowledge. There are times when employees are required to gain new skills and knowledge to perform their roles and consider taking a new training course. The employee’s growth and development as a professional are greatly affected.
Employees can, however, take part in continuous learning to advance their careers (Choy and Chua, 2019) to enhance their improvement. There are times when new positions in the workplace require entirely new skills, resulting in the development of learning requirements for the employees expected to perform these duties. Instead of learning for the sake of learning, employees should gain skills that will help them complete their tasks.
The purpose of group learning is to ensure that the group members get the knowledge and skills necessary to perform their tasks in the group. Efforts to assign tasks to determine each member’s learning needs facilitate the group’s performance to meet group objectives.
Additionally, groups engage in learning to improve performance. Through this course, students will learn how learning needs vary in different organisational settings and how they influence organisational success.
Benefits of learning
The unit provides information about the benefits that learning brings to individuals, groups, and an organisation. In the case of students who are taking the CIPD programme, they gain employability skills and would be considered for employment instead of students without the CIPD qualification.
In the process, learners master skills and knowledge that assist them in preparing for jobs and carrying out their responsibilities. By learning more, learners increase their competency levels, and as a result, they can strategise on how to improve their skills. Organisations benefit from a learning culture as their productivity and performance increase. During learning, learners also develop greater flexibility and responsibility. By learning new skills, employees gain professionalism as well as change their attitudes and approaches.
Information to be collected to carry out a learning needs analysis
L&D experts need to collect information about the current skills of learners to identify the learning gaps and, at the same time, determine what skills are lacking to enhance the completion of the required roles. As a result of this information, experts can identify the materials needed to facilitate the learning process and ensure that learners gain the required knowledge and skills.
Additionally, it is essential to know what the learners hope to accomplish and learn as individuals and in groups. In order to succeed in the unit, students should be able to collect information about their coworkers’ training needs and assess the skills needed to ensure that the learning process becomes a success.
Additionally, learners must ensure that data is used effectively to gain the most important benefits for themselves and other students enrolled in the course. Assessing the learning needs of other students is an efficient way for students to learn how to assess those needs and how to promote better learning within an organisation.
Results of learning
After completing the unit, students should;
- Understanding how individual and organisational learning needs arise and why they should be aware of these needs
- Establish a prioritised learning plan based on the career goals of the individual
- Gather the information necessary for carrying out an analysis of learning needs
Wrap Up
Learning needs vary from individual to individual, from group to group, and from organisation to organisation. In order to fulfil their roles, learners must improve their knowledge and skills. In this course, students become familiar with identifying and assessing their learning needs. These students are interested in advancing their careers in Human Resources. By identifying gaps in learning, they learn how to fill the gaps effectively to gain competence. It is highly beneficial for HR professionals taking this unit to be exposed to the information presented, resulting in improvements in how learning is promoted.
