The Construction Industry Training Board grant scheme (CITB Levy) has changed significantly, which means it’s even more important to identify future training requirements of your workers (construction and non-construction) and to fully assess the net cost so that you can maximise your CITB grants.
A simple tool which you can use to identify training that matches the specific needs of your workers and your business is a training needs analysis (TNA).
Training needs analysis is a method used by businesses to identify training requirements in a cost-efficient way. This process involves evaluating training needs and weighing up training priority areas at all levels within a business.
What are the stages of training needs analysis to maximise your CITB Levy Offset?
You may find the three main stages of training needs analysis useful.
You can start by identifying where your business is going – are you planning to grow or stay the same size, are you planning to take on different kinds of work – for example more commercial work, bigger projects, general construction work, understanding the skills and knowledge of your workers, and looking at the individual needs of each worker. These three steps are explained in more detail below:
Step 1: Business needs
This is where you look at future skills needs due to changes in building products, tools, technology, workers or in response to economic or political changes like Brexit. Changes in law or industry standards may also change the training needed for your business and enable you to claim more CITB levy offset.
Step 2: Task analysis
This is where you compare the job needs of your business with existing worker skills and knowledge. This will help you to identify the potential gaps. You will need to know how often each task is done, the level of skill and knowledge to perform these tasks and where and how these skills are best learned or “bought in”. Practical ways of carrying out this step is to work out what new skills you need – for example, GRP training for roofers.
Step 3: Individual needs
This is where you review the training needs of each worker. You may ask each worker about problems that may be getting in the way of doing their job.
Now, write down what training individual employees need over the next 6 or 12 months.
Next, fully assess the cost and available grants.
You may now be able to access additional funding to pay for training that will happen in the future.