Needs Assessment Working Group Session (Adapted from Petroleum Human Resources Council of Canada Increasing the Talent with permission.

Transcription

1 Needs Assessment Working Group Session (Adapted from Petroleum Human Resources Council of Canada Increasing the Talent with permission.) Introduction to the Tool A Needs Assessment session that captures the diverse views of company stakeholders is a rich source of information on company recruitment and retention strengths and challenges. This session has been designed to facilitate a needs assessment with the Recruitment and Retention working group to obtain their insights into these strengths and challenges, and possible solutions, using the Recruitment and Retention model as a guide. This document provides suggestions and tips for organizing and facilitating a needs assessment session. Approach A Needs Assessment performed by the working group will be successful to the extent that it captures all of the critical information about the company s human resource strengths and challenges with sufficient understanding and consensus to support further action planning. In keeping with the Recruitment and Retention model and approach, the Needs Assessment session is also designed to look outside the company to understand issues within the supply chain sector and/or the communities it operates in that impact recruitment and retention. It is important to remember that the working group has been assembled to ensure participation from informed stakeholders representing diverse perspectives. In addition, individuals often have multiple roles for example, one person might be a manager within the company responsible for hiring and retaining workers but also is an employee his/herself. Including such individuals in the session will bring additional information without adding to the size of the group. In advance, the working group can prepare for the session by considering the following questions: To what degree is the company having trouble recruiting and retaining people? How do you know? What is the evidence that demonstrates these challenges exist? What are the reasons the company is having difficulties recruiting and retaining staff? How do you know? What is the evidence that demonstrates these challenges exist? Are there things that the company is doing really well to recruit and retain employees? What would be the potential impact if these things were changed?

2 Session Objectives Typical objectives for a session are: Develop the participants awareness and common understanding of the CSCSC Recruitment and Retention model; Facilitate a discussion that uncovers the working group members views of the challenges and needs of the company as they relate to the attraction and retention of talent, and workforce development; Gather information on current initiatives that are related to the attraction and retention of talent; and Identify and agree to key priorities to be addressed by an implementation plan focused on improving recruitment and retention of talent for the company. Timing, Logistics and Agenda Typically, it will require at least one full day (8 hours) of meeting time to achieve the objectives listed above. The session can be scheduled for one day or for shorter meetings spread over three or four days. If the needs assessment is undertaken over multiple days, it will be possible for working group participants to collect additional information or validate their perspectives between subsequent segments. Usually it is the responsibility of the facilitator to ensure that a full set of notes is created from the session and distributed to participants shortly after the meeting. Post-it notes, flip charts, structured worksheets, etc. will be invaluable tools in this regard. The sample agenda that follows demonstrates how to set a solid foundation for the session and, in an expedient manner, collect as much information as possible about the recruitment and retention strengths and challenges of the company.

3 Sample Agenda Introduction and Welcome Share information about the purpose of the Recruitment and Retention initiative within the company, and why you have invited these members to participate in the Needs Assessment session. Discuss: Objectives of the initiative, and this meeting; Expected outcomes of the initiative, and this meeting; Participants expectations; and Meeting agenda. You may want to consider having a member of the company s leadership participate in the introduction and welcome to voice their support and commitment for this work. Introducing the Recruiting and Retention Model The purpose of this portion of the session is to familiarize the participants with the model and toolkit and to discuss in detail each module within the model framework. Collecting Insights on Recruitment and Retention Strengths and Challenges Faced by the Company The intent of this segment of the session is to discover the recruitment and retention needs of the company, using the Recruiting and Retention model as a guide. Use brainstorming techniques to capture thoughts quickly. Remind participants of brainstorming ground rules: one person speaks at a time; all ideas are good ideas and no debating of ideas. Collect this information by using a designated recorder who will write ideas on a flipchart. Allow everyone to see all the ideas that are captured. Highlight to participants that individual decisions regarding employment are made at certain points as indicated in the Recruitment and Retention model. Use the following questions to engage the participants in a discussion about recruitment and retention strengths and challenges. The table below suggests an amount of time to be spent on each question. This process establishes a foundation for identifying priorities for implementation of solutions. Take the time to ensure participants understand the process, the questions, and how this information will be used in the next phase of the planning process.

4 WHAT IS THE CURRENT SITUATION? A) Labour Pool (15 min.) 1) What do you know about the labour pool the company currently draws from? B) Influencing Industry Choice (30 min.) factors that influence people s decision to work in the supply chain? 2) Who is missing from this labour pool? 2) What are the factors that keep people away? C) Influencing the Decision to Join (recruitment) the Company (30 min.) organizational-based strengths that create strengths that create recruitment opportunities recruitment opportunities for for organizational-based recruitment challenges for recruitment challenges for D) Influencing the Decision to Stay with the Company (30 min.) organizational-based strengths that create strengths that create retention opportunities for retention opportunities for organizational-based retention challenges for retention challenges for HOW DO YOU KNOW?

5 Clarifying and Grouping Ideas Divide the participants into teams for each of the four category: 1. Labour Pool; 2. Influencing Industry Choice; Industry Attractiveness Workforce Development 3. Influencing the Decision to Join the Company; and Company Recruitment and Branding Community Attractiveness 4. Influencing the Decision to Stay with the Company. Workplace Experiences Community Experiences Ask each team to identify common themes they see emerging in the ideas, opportunities and challenges that were brought forward by the group during the brainstorming session. Confirming Themes Ask each team to present to the entire group the themes they identified. Give everyone an opportunity to question the theme, and whether a particular idea, issue or challenge fits into that theme. During this process, each working group member will be able to vote on the importance of these themes, and the specific ideas, issues and challenges. Identifying Important Issues: Boiling it Down - Round One Invite each member to indicate how important the ideas, opportunities and challenges are in each category of: 1. Labour Pool; 2. Influencing Industry Choice; Industry Attractiveness Workforce Development 3. Influencing the Decision to Join the Company; and Company Recruitment and Branding Community Attractiveness 4. Influencing the Decision to Stay with the Company. Workplace Experiences Community Experiences

6 Each member can be allotted up to six check marks within each category to place by the six issues they believe are most important. Note that the number of check marks can vary to reflect the number of issues identified. For example, if only 12 issues have been suggested then three or four votes would be sufficient. (A standard approach is: the number of votes allowed is 20%-30% of the number of options available.) Take 10 minutes to identify the top two to three issues identified by members. Clearly identify the most popular themes, and the most often selected ideas, opportunities and challenges. Take the time to note these on a new flipchart. Identifying Important Issues: Boiling it Down - Round Two To hone the focus on the issues that could be identified as a priority, give members the opportunity for a final vote. Before they begin that selection process, identify parameters to help narrow the choice of the two or three most important themes, or issues. Selection criteria will be specific to each application, and could include: Company and employees will see results. Significant impact if we could fix this issue (even in the medium- or long-term), there would be a significant improvement in our ability to recruit and/or retain employees Fills a gap the issue is not being fully addressed by another initiative. Within our control it is feasible to impact this issue. Access and utilize other company and external resources no need to reinvent the wheel. Other? Once the criteria have been confirmed, give each member an opportunity to vote for three choices within each category as the most important.

7 Review Priorities Review those themes identified as most important by the whole group. Ask each participant: Does this look and feel right to you? Were there any surprises? Do you have any questions? What are those issues that can be addressed by this initiative in the short-term? What are those issues that can be addressed in the medium- and long-term? Review of Next Steps Within a one-day meeting you will find it difficult to process all the information AND identify actions for the priorities. Therefore, the next step in the planning process will be to reconvene the working group for a session focused on identifying actions to address priorities. It is suggested that you follow up this session by documenting the information generated and circulate it to your working group. Allow the members an opportunity to reflect and comment prior to the action planning session. Evaluate the Session It is good practice to solicit participants feedback and comments at the end of a session. Questions that are appropriate following a needs assessment include: Overall, I was satisfied with this session. The session stimulated thought and interaction. The session increased my understanding of the Recruitment and Retention initiative. The session increased my understanding of the Recruitment and Retention model. The themes and key findings from the session accurately reflect the current situation in this region. As a result of this presentation, I gained insights into global demographic trends and skills shortages. Using the Recruitment and Retention framework helped to clarify our challenges and possible solutions. The pilot project will be helpful in addressing our local challenges. Note: Consider a 5-point rating scale, with 1=strongly disagree, 5=strongly agree