Needs Assessment

• Needs Assessment is an important part of Training and Development. Review the course readings for this week, and create a SWOT and Needs Assessment for Summit Credit Union (page 153 in your text). See details of points in the Rubric.To do this, create a 3-4 page paper (not including cover page and reference page), following APA 6th guidelines, with the following headings:A. Company information: Brief introduction. Provide company information, background, and recent stock value trending in this section. (i.e. in the past year, has the stock gone up or down? Have there been recent significant changes in their industry? Basic orienting information goes here.) (5 points.)
• B. Gap analysis: What possible gaps do you see in the company (think opportunities, weaknesses, and threats) which haven’t already been addressed? Perhaps these have to do with new regulations forthcoming in the industry which may need addressing? Perhaps the company has just acquired a new company and is branching out into new territory? Discuss two or three of those gaps, with are employee related, and which could lend themselves to potential training needs. Explain why these gaps would be best filled with training, and not some other method. (25 points.)
• C. Needs Assessment: What two methods of needs assessment would you utilize at this company, if you were hired to do a TNA (training needs assessment) on the gaps you have identified in C above? Using Chapter 3 of your textbook (Noe, 2013) and the Lucier (2008) article, explain what methods you might use, and support your idea from the text and article, or some other research item you discover as a reference. (Cite your sources.) If you plan to use interviews, explain who you would interview and provide at least five sample questions. If you plan to use a questionnaire, explain who you would send it to and provide at least five sample questions. You can include the samples in an appendix to the document. If you plan to use company information, explain what information you will use (i.e. HR data, lawsuit information, new regulations, etc.) Give details about how this information will impact your needs assessment. (25 points.) NOTE: You can consider the responses your classmates have made to your SWOT about potential training needs when coming up with your Gap analysis and Needs Assessment. You don’t have to reinvent the wheel.
• E. Conclusion: Suggest training which you would recommend be done based on the assessment you have done so far. Explain any limitations to your assessment you feel may need to be revised based on feedback from your assessment methods (which you obviously don’t have.) (10 points.)

Summit Credit Union, located in Madison and Milwaukee, Wisconsin, is a small company with 366 employees. A merger in 2015 doubled the size of the company and made it necessary to build a new corporate culture. Summit’s mission is to improve credit members’ financial lives to help them achieve their dreams. For example, in 2013 Summit members saved over $13 million based on higher savings rates, lower loan rates, and lowerfees compared to for-profit banking institutions in Wisconsin. Summit has invested in creating a world-class learning function, which includes a team of seven professionals who are able to design and deliver instructor-led training as well as e-learning. Summit has shifted away from generic off-the-shelf training to develop online and face-to-face programs customized to employee needs and the company’s goals and initiatives. For example, the learning function is expected to play a key role in dealing with business issues such as efficiency, loan growth, and increased sales. All learning staff members are expected to contribute to new company initiatives, such as new products and services, systems, or regulations. Summit has recently identified a problem with its new lenders. They were starting to perform their jobs without the necessary skills, information, and knowledge that they needed. One potential reason for this is how the lending training curriculum is organized. New lenders attend a course on different types of loans and the lending system, start their jobs, and then later return for a course on lending guidelines, underwriting, and sales skills.