A task analysis is a process of identifying what skills and activities need to be taught. To generate a list of skills that employees need to learn you can conduct a job analysis. A job analysis is basically just an examination of a job and a listing of the "minimum" duties and skills that are required to successfully perform the job.
Example:
Job Title:
Secretary
Job Skills:
Typing 55-65 w.p.m.
10-key
Word processing
General computer skills
Operation of office machines
Phone skills
Spread sheet skills
Filing
As you can see, this list is very basic, and generalized to the skills required of just about any secretarial position. While the secretary that holds this position may perform many other tasks during the course of a week, these are the minimum skills that are needed to be able to "successfully" function in this position.
After identifying what tasks are involved in each job, the next step is to identify what tasks need training. If an employee already has an identified skill it is a waste of money to train them in that skill. If you identify a skill that does require additional training then you will need to formally identify it as a training objective in writing. This objective should identify (1) what the skill is, (2) how the trainee is to learn the skill, and (3) how proficient they need to be in the skill after the training process is completed. This documentation is needed to not only to let employees know what is expected of them, but also for personnel to maintain a common standard of training for all employees, and to protect you against lawsuits if you need to discipline or terminate an employee for not meeting the standards set out by the objectives.
Person Analysis
The final step in determining what training is needed is to conduct a person analysis. A person analysis is the identification of people in your company that need training. There are many ways that this identification process can be handled. First an examination of past and current performance appraisals can be made to identify employees that have areas that need improvements. Surveys can also be used to identify skills that the employees themselves think that they should have or that they need to have to perform their jobs more successfully. Interviewing employees can also be used to identify skills that are needed or desired by employees, as can skill and knowledge tests. The final way a person analysis can be conducted is to evaluate and review critical incident reports that have been filed in personnel. These incidents can pinpoint specific skills like customer service, assembly, etc. that specific employees or departments need to improve.