Identifying Future Training Needs/Skills Gaps

 

Being ‘competent’ requires the ability to:

§         perform work tasks to an acceptable skill level

§         organise work tasks

§         fulfill the role expected in the workplace

§         respond to the unexpected

§         transfer skills and knowledge to new situations or work contexts.  

 

Units of competency provide industry-agreed benchmarks for achieving competency in a job. As such, they provide an excellent foundation for identifying skills gaps which highlight future training needs. Training needs can be identified at any time, depending on the needs of the enterprise, for example:

§         in response to changes relating to the products or services of an enterprise

§         for new employees as part of an induction program

§         for existing employees who wish to pursue a particular career pathway

§         for existing employees who need to update their skills

§         for employees who have been identified as having skills gaps as part of a performance appraisal process.

  

Units of competency provide a structured and industry-based approach to addressing a learning need.  The enterprise can develop a profile of units of competency for either an existing or a new position, and then map the competencies of current or potential employees against that profile to identify any skills gaps.  Training programs can then be designed to achieve a particular learning outcome, ie, gaining competency in all the relevant units to undertake the full range of tasks outlined in the job profile.

The CPC08 Training Package can support the analysis of training and development requirements, as well as the design of support materials, and processes to evaluate the effectiveness of training and assessment outcomes.

A new   Skills Gap Analyser   is currently underdevelopment. The basic structure of the new tool will be: