A workplace needs analysis is a systematic way of identifying a workforce's basic skill needs. A needs analysis gathers information and input from all key stakeholders at the workplace through interviews, focus groups, surveys, work site observations, review of workplace documents and other activities. It is a vital step toward developing an effective workplace education program and a curriculum that addresses workers' basic skill needs.

A needs analysis does not involve assessing workers' specific skill levels in English, math, or reading. It's used to identify general areas of need and ideas for curriculum content. A needs analysis can tell you how many workers are native English speakers or not, whether native speakers need to focus on reading or math, or the range of speaking abilities among non-native speakers. But assessing specific skill levels, through standardized testing (BEST, TABE) or alternative assessments, happens after the needs analysis has helped you to determine basic areas of need.

Why Do a Needs Analysis?
A workplace needs analysis will give you important information about what general class types and schedules to offer, and where to start developing curriculum. A needs analysis can build a strong case and provide direction for an education program. You can also build support across the work site for a program by involving as broad a cross-section of the entire workforce and union (when the workplace is unionized) as you can.

But a needs analysis should not only identify workplace issues and problems that might be addressed by improving workers' language and literacy skills. When you are conducting a needs analysis, you should also examine workers' basic skills needs in the larger context of the workplace, and identify other workplace factors that affect workers and their jobs, and that may indicate whether or not the workplace is ready to support an education program. For example, you should ask about communication channels, on-the-job training offered, staffing levels, level of support for a program among front-line supervisors, and potential barriers to setting up a program.

How Do You Do a Needs Analysis?
Typically, the education provider and group of key stakeholders at the workplace (workplace and union leadership, managers, front-line supervisors and workers, union shop stewards, human resources) form a committee to plan, implement, and evaluate the needs analysis. The committee decides how information will be collected: through individual interviews, focus groups, questionnaires, and/or examination of workplace documents. Committee members also identify work site departments or areas that will participate in the needs analysis. They help to spread the word about the needs analysis (through department and union meetings, newsletters or flyers). The committee also helps to give you access to workers and the work site, and to evaluate needs analysis results.

As the education provider, your role is often to orient the group to the needs analysis; develop focus group or interview questions tailored to the work site and present them to the committee for feedback; conduct the interviews or focus groups; and summarize the information collected so that the committee can analyze the findings.

Your needs analysis plan and activities should take potential language and literacy barriers into account. For example, will you need to translate flyers into workers' native languages? Will you need to hire bilingual interviewers? You should keep all information collected during the needs analysis confidential and anonymous. Make sure that people know ahead of time that you will keep their input confidential; otherwise, some people may be reluctant to participate. Also, interview workers and their supervisors separately—both groups may hesitate to speak their minds if the other is present.

Participation in needs analysis activities should be voluntary. Needs analysis activities should happen during work time if possible, with workers, supervisors, and others receiving paid release time to participate.

Whom Should You Talk To?
The needs analysis should reach each at least ten percent of the workforce (except when the workforce is very large). It should include a representative cross section of the workforce, including workers (both thos e who might take classes and those who won't), frontline supervisors, upper level managers, union shop stewards, and union leadership (when the work site is unionized). Needs analysis participants should represent the range of ages, ethnicities, job types, shifts, and levels of seniority at the work site.

What Should You Ask?
The specific questions you ask will depend on the work site, but your questions should address worker's job duties and responsibilities; recent changes in technology or work processes; communication and how it could improve linguistic cultural diversity and its impact; reading, writing, communication, math, and computer skills workers use on the job and how they could improve; current on-the-job training and education opportunities; types of training and education workers might want; promotions or career ladders and skills needed to move up; potential barriers and supports for an education program; goals for the program; when, where, and how to hold classes (class space, release time possibilities).

When the work site is unionized, needs analysis questions should also address: reading, writing, math, communication, or computer skills needed to participate in union activities; how the union communicates with members; how well members understand their union contract, and possible literacy and language barriers among the membership to communicating with the union or understanding the contract. Ask the union leadership about the union's history at the work site. And be sure to ask both management and union leadership what the contract says about education, training, and upgrading for workers, and how an education program would fit into that.

What Should You Keep in Mind?
Improving workers' skills is not the only answer to making workplaces and jobs better. Many factors beyond workers' individual control affect their ability to perform their jobs better, for example work load or work design, poor management, lack of opportunity to use new skills, or health and safety issues. While a workplace education program can address some of the issues uncovered during a needs analysis, it's important to help the committee look realistically at what a program can and can't address. A basic skills program is not a "quick fix" for low worker morale, short staffing, poor management, ineffective workplace policies, or labor-management tensions. But it can be an effective step toward helping workers to improve their job-related and general basic skills, and access higher-skilled jobs.

Jenny Lee Utech works for the Massachusetts Worker Education Roundtable where she develops workshops and training for workplace educators and adminstrators. She can be reached at: jennyu@mindspring.com