Learning and capability
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5 min read
Key findings
Most training request forms record the course and the cost, and never the problem.
A need is a gap in results, so the intake starts from the result, not the course.
Training answers only a capability gap, one of six causes the form checks.
If people could do the task when required, the skill exists and training will not supply it.
Most training request forms capture the course, the cost, the dates and an approval.
A training request intake form records what a manager is asking for, what is happening in the business, and what result the training must change, before anything is designed.
This free form adds a test most intake forms leave out, which is whether training is the answer at all.
It checks six possible causes and recommends training, another action or a mix.
Download the Training Request Intake Form (Excel). It is free, needs no sign-up, and opens in Excel, Google Sheets or Numbers.
What The Form Contains
The workbook has three sheets.
Intake Form. Fifteen questions in four sections, with example answers to show the standard
Cause Check. Six causes rated on the evidence, with a recommendation that calculates itself
How To Use. The six steps below
The four sections follow the order of the conversation.
The request. Who asked, what for, for whom and by when
What is happening. The behaviour, the business figure affected and what changed recently
The test question. Whether the problem would go away if everyone had the skills tomorrow
The result agreed. A one-sentence need, the measure and the owner of any action that is not training
Why Most Intake Forms Fail
Most training request forms capture the course, the cost, the dates and an approval.
They record the solution the manager has already chosen and never ask what the problem is.
Kaufman and Guerra-Lopez define a need as a gap between current results and desired results, together with the consequences of that gap.
A form that starts from "which course" skips the gap and goes straight to the means.
The form below starts from the result and reaches the solution last.
Training answers only the first of the six.
The Six Causes To Check
Mager and Pipe ask whether a person could do the task if their job depended on it.
Where the answer is yes, the skill already exists, and training cannot supply it.
The Cause Check sheet rates the evidence for six causes from 0 to 2.
Capability gap. They could not do it even if required to
Performance gap. Doing it is ignored, or punished
Resourcing. They lack the people, the time or the tools
Structure. Reporting lines or handoffs get in the way
Role design. The decision is not clearly theirs to make
Leadership above. The leader above the team acts in a way that causes it
Training answers only the first of the six.
If the capability gap scores 0, the form recommends an action other than training, agreed with its owner.
If the other five score 1 or less in total, training is likely the main answer.
Anything in between is a mix, and the other causes are dealt with first so the training has a chance to work.
The Form In Six Steps
Book 30 minutes with the person making the request before agreeing to anything
Fill in sections 1 and 2 in their words, and ask for the business figure that is affected
Ask the two test questions in section 3 and record the answers as given
Rate the six causes on the Cause Check sheet with the evidence available
Read the recommendation, then agree the one-sentence need and the measure
Hand any action that is not training to its owner in the same meeting, with a date
What A Usable Answer Looks Like
Each answer on the form should be something another person could check.
The behaviour. "Managers escalate staffing decisions they are allowed to make" can be checked. "Managers lack confidence" cannot
The figure. "Overtime 18 per cent over budget at eight sites" can be tracked. "Costs are too high" cannot
The recent change. A dated event, such as a new system, a restructure or a new leader
The gap. Where it is widest and where it is absent, because the sites without the problem often show the cause
The result. One sentence with a number and a date, agreed by the person who asked
An answer that names a feeling or a trait usually means the conversation has not yet reached the behaviour.
Ask for one recent example, then write down what the person did.
Requests That Stand As Asked
Some requests are what they appear to be.
A new system, a new regulation or a new role creates a real capability gap, and the form will show it.
The capability gap scores 2, the other causes score little, and people could not do the task even if their job depended on it.
In that case the form has still done its work, because the agreed result becomes the measure the training is designed and judged against.
The measure also makes the evaluation simpler, because the figure to report was agreed before the training began.
A Worked Example
A regional operations director asks for a leadership programme for 40 site managers.
The figure behind the request is overtime, which runs 18 per cent over budget at the eight sites that escalate most.
Most of those managers could build a roster if required to, and they say they are blamed when overtime rises.
Rostering authority is also missing from their role descriptions.
The form returns a mix: a short practical session for the four new managers, and a written change to the role for the director to make.
The agreed result is overtime at budget by June, reported monthly by Finance.
How to run the conversation itself is set out in training needs analysis when the solution is chosen.
How to frame the problem before any cause is named is covered in root cause analysis in HR.
Where The Tools Sit
Trusted Talent Advisor covers this test in its Capability Architecture lens, which weights the six causes before any design begins.
The same system covers the conversation with the requester and the evidence that the result was reached.
Sources
1. Kaufman, R. and Guerra-Lopez, I. Needs Assessment for Organizational Success. ATD Press.
2. Mager, R. F. and Pipe, P. Analyzing Performance Problems. Pitman Management and Training, cited in Kaufman and Guerra-Lopez.
From the system
Trusted Talent Advisor sets out the full method: seven components, 51 tools, The Talent Template Pack and The Prompt Library.
See the system
Questions this answers
What should a training request form include?
Who is asking and for whom, what is happening, the business figure affected, what changed recently, whether people could do the task if required, the agreed result and its measure.
What is a training intake form?
A short form completed with the person requesting training, before design, that records the problem, the result it must change and whether training is the right answer.
How do you know if training is the right solution?
Ask whether people could do the task if their job depended on it. If they could, the cause lies in incentives, resources, structure, role design or leadership, and training will not fix it.
How do you push back on a training request?
Ask about the result before the course. Agree the business figure affected, check the six causes, and hand any action that is not training to its owner with a date.
Who should fill in a training request form?
The L&D or HR partner, in a 30-minute conversation with the person making the request, using their words for the problem and their figure for the result.
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