Quick Answer:
A training needs analysis is how you work out the gap between the skills your people have and the skills your organisation needs, then decide what training will close the gaps. It usually works across three levels, organisational, task and individual, and it turns a training budget into a plan that targets real gaps and mandatory training rather than guesswork.
In this guide
- What is a training needs analysis?
- Why do a training needs analysis?
- The three levels of a training needs analysis
- How to conduct a training needs analysis, step by step
- What a training needs analysis template should include
- When should you run a training needs analysis?
- Common mistakes to avoid
- How Sentrient helps you deliver the plan
- Frequently asked questions
Training budgets can get wasted when the training is pushed out to people before anyone checks what they actually need.
A training needs analysis helps you avoid this by identifying who needs training and what they need to learn. It connects learning to real skills gaps and legal training requirements.
This guide explains what a training needs analysis is, outlines its three levels and walks you through the process step by step.
What Is a Training Needs Analysis?
A training needs analysis, sometimes shortened to TNA, is the process of comparing the skills and knowledge your people have now with the skills and knowledge your organisation needs, then deciding what training will close the gap. It answers three questions.
- What capability does the organisation need?
- What can our people already do?
- Where is the gap that training should close?
Done well, a training needs analysis turns a vague sense that people need training into a clear, prioritised plan.
It is the difference between buying a course because it looks useful and assigning training because a real gap called for it.
Why Do a Training Needs Analysis?
There are two strong reasons.
The first is value: A training needs analysis stops you spending on training nobody needed while real gaps go unaddressed.
The second is compliance: Under the Work Health and Safety Act 2011, a business has a duty to provide the information, training and instruction its workers need to work safely. The WHS Regulations add detail. Training should be suitable and adequate for the nature of the work, the risks that come with it and the control measures in place, and it should be delivered in a way workers can readily understand. A training needs analysis is how you show you have worked out what that training is and who needs it. The same logic applies to other mandatory training such as bullying and harassment, privacy and equal employment opportunity.
Most states and territories have adopted the model WHS laws. Victoria works under its own Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004, which carries a similar training duty.
What the Australian Data Says About Training and Skills Gaps
Three recent figures show why a targeted plan matters.
Read together, the numbers make a simple case. Time for training is tight. Among people who faced barriers to work-related training, 44% told the ABS the main one was too much work or not enough time.
Skills are hard to hire in, with 127 occupations in shortage every year from 2021 to 2026. And the cost of a safety gap is measured in people, not dollars.
None of this proves that training alone fixes the problem. It does suggest that every training hour should be pointed at a gap that matters, which is what a training needs analysis is for.
The Three Levels of a Training Needs Analysis
A thorough training needs analysis works across three levels. Each level answers a different question, and together they stop you missing either the big picture or the individual.
| Level | Question it answers | Where the data comes from |
|---|---|---|
| Organisational | What must the organisation be able to do, including its compliance duties? | Business goals, regulations, audits, risk register |
| Task | What must each role be able to do? | Position descriptions, competencies, procedures |
| Individual | How does each person perform against that standard? | Performance reviews, surveys, assessments, incident data |
Work from the top down. The organisational level sets the direction, the task level sets the standard for each role, and the individual level shows who meets it today.
How to Conduct a Training Needs Analysis, Step by Step
These seven steps take a training needs analysis from business goals to a plan you can act on.
What a Training Needs Analysis Template Should Include
You do not need a complex tool to start. A simple training needs analysis template captures each of these in one place, so you can reassess it each year.
- The role or team
- The required skills and any mandatory training
- Current capability
- The gap
- Priority, based on risk and impact
- The proposed training and how it will be delivered
- The review date and the measure of success
A Worked Example for One Team
Here is how one row of the template might look for a warehouse team. The details are illustrative only.
| Template field | Example entry |
|---|---|
| Role or team | Warehouse team leaders, 6 people |
| Required skills and mandatory training | Manual handling, work health and safety for supervisors, incident reporting |
| Current capability | 4 of 6 completed manual handling in the past 12 months. None have been trained in incident reporting. |
| The gap | Incident reporting for all 6. Manual handling refresher for 2. |
| Priority | High. It is a safety gap, and near misses are going unreported. |
| Proposed training and delivery | Online incident reporting module, followed by a short toolbox talk on site |
| Review date and measure of success | Review in 12 months. All 6 complete the module, and near misses are logged within 24 hours. |
A plan on paper is only half the job. The gaps close when the training is assigned, completed and recorded. See how Sentrient helps you deliver the plan ↓
When Should You Run a Training Needs Analysis?
At least once a year is a sensible baseline. Run it again when something changes, including when:
- Roles change or new roles are created
- New regulations or duties apply to your business
- An incident, near miss or audit points to a gap
- New equipment, systems or processes are introduced
Compliance training in particular should be reviewed as the law and your risks change.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
- Choosing the training first: If the course is picked before the analysis, the analysis just justifies a decision already made.
- Skipping the organisational level: This is where compliance duties get missed.
- Relying only on manager opinion: Ask the people doing the work as well.
- Not setting a measure of success: Without one, you can never show the training worked.
- Treating it as a one off: Review it each year and after any incident or audit.
How Sentrient Helps You Deliver the Plan
A training needs analysis is the planning step. Sentrient can deliver training and show proof the training was completed.
Once you know the gaps, Sentrient lets you assign role-based training, including mandatory compliance courses, track who has completed what, and keep the records that show a regulator or auditor the right people were trained.
Sentrient does not run the analysis for you, but it makes the plan that comes out of it easy to deliver and easy to show evidence.
If you want a structured way to capture the individual level, capability management software can record capability assessments against each role.
Our guide to mandatory compliance training is a good place to see which courses commonly appear in a plan.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. What Is a Training Needs Analysis?
A training needs analysis is the process of working out the gap between the skills and knowledge your people have now and the skills and knowledge the organisation needs. It tells you who needs what training, and why, so your training budget is spent on real gaps rather than guesswork.
2. What Are the Three Levels of a Training Needs Analysis?
The three levels are organisational, task and individual. The organisational level looks at business goals and compliance obligations, the task level looks at what each role must be able to do, and the individual level looks at how each person performs against that standard.
3. Why Is a Training Needs Analysis Important?
It makes sure training money is spent where it changes something, and it helps you meet obligations such as the duty under the Work Health and Safety Act to provide the training people need to work safely. Without it, you risk paying for training nobody needed, while real gaps go unaddressed.
4. How Do You Conduct a Training Needs Analysis?
Start from the business goals and any legal training duties, list the skills each role needs, measure current capability through reviews, surveys and incident data, identify the gaps, prioritise them by risk and impact, choose how to deliver the training, and set a way to measure whether it worked.
5. What Is the Difference Between a Training Needs Analysis and a Skills Gap Analysis?
A skills gap analysis is usually one part of a training needs analysis. The gap analysis identifies where capability falls short, while the wider training needs analysis also decides which gaps matter most, how to close them, and how to measure success.
6. What Should a Training Needs Analysis Template Include?
A simple template lists the role or team, the required skills and any mandatory training, the current capability, the gap, the priority, the proposed training and the review date. Keeping it in one place makes it easy to reassess each year.
7. How Often Should You Run a Training Needs Analysis?
At least once a year is a sensible baseline, and again whenever roles change, new regulations apply, or an incident or audit points to a gap. Compliance training in particular should be reviewed as the law and your risks change.
8. Who Should Be Involved in a Training Needs Analysis?
Managers who know the roles, the people doing the work, and whoever owns compliance and WHS. Frontline input matters because the people doing the job often see the gaps first.
9. How Does a Training Needs Analysis Support Compliance?
It maps the mandatory training each role needs, such as work health and safety, bullying and harassment or privacy, against who has completed it. That mapping is what lets you show a regulator or auditor that the right people were trained.
10. How Do You Measure if Training Worked?
Set the measure before you deliver the training. Depending on the goal, that might be completion and assessment results, a change in on the job behaviour, fewer incidents, or a successful audit result.
Turn Your Training Needs Analysis Into Training People Complete
You have found the gaps. Now close them. Sentrient’s learning management system lets you assign role-based courses, track who has completed what and keep the records in one place, so the plan you built does not stall in a spreadsheet.
Sources
- Federal Register of Legislation, Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (Cth), section 19, duty to provide information, training and instruction
- Federal Register of Legislation, Work Health and Safety Regulations 2011 (Cth), regulation 39
- Australian Bureau of Statistics, Participation in work-related training or formal study falls, April 2026
- Jobs and Skills Australia, 2026 Occupation Shortage List Key Findings Report, October 2026
- Safe Work Australia, Key Work Health and Safety Statistics Australia 2026
- Three-level training needs analysis framework (organisational, task, individual), a widely used learning and development model.
Last reviewed: November 2026
Disclaimer: This article is general information, not legal advice. Training obligations vary by role, industry and jurisdiction. Check the Work Health and Safety regulator in your state or territory, or a qualified adviser, for your specific duties.
