Needs Assessment - Conducting A Needs Chain Model

Conducting A Needs Chain Model

A needs chain model is a framework that allows organizations to consider the individuals needs within and organization as well as the organizations needs simultaneously in order to come to solutions to prioritizing resources and areas of improvement for the organization. Once the organization has completed the model, it gives them a better picture of the organization's priorities in a timely manner. One of the benefits of this model is that it can be used to help decision makers quickly come to solutions to priorities that may change over time.

In order to conduct a needs chain model, the organization must identify: Instrument needs, performance needs, conscious and unconscious needs on the organizational level and the individual level. The organizational level applies to behavior or outcomes, where as the individual level pertains to individual attitudes to things such as job performance or how they view the organization. The data about each of these levels comes from different data collection methods:

• Organizational level: Goals of the organization
• Individual level: Surveys or interviews

The most difficult data to collect in this model are the unconscious needs. In order to gather this information about the individual, careful methods must be used to allow for trust from the individual while discussing sensitive topics about their thoughts on the organization.