Performance Needs Assessment

There are many factors that affect the performance of healthcare workers. It is often hard to know why healthcare workers are not providing high quality services. A performance needs assessment (PNA) will identify performance gaps or problems and give you the information you need to determine what can be done to improve job performance. A PNA is part of a process called performance improvement that is used to solve performance problems by involving healthcare providers, their facilities, clients, and the community in improving services. 

The purpose of a PNA is to identify performance gaps or problems and determine the most appropriate interventions to improve worker performance. 

These are the steps in conducting a PNA: 

• Define desired performance. Ask, “What is the healthcare provider expected to do?” “How well is the provider expected to perform?” “Under what conditions?” “With what frequency?”
• Describe actual performance. Focus on the performance of an individual or a group. The difference between the desired performance and the actual performance is called the performance gap.
• Conduct a root cause analysis to find out why there is a performance gap. Gather information from as many people as possible who come in contact with the healthcare service (e.g., providers, supervisors, clients, community members).
• Select the appropriate intervention(s) to improve performance. If the cause of poor performance is deficient knowledge or skills, training is the appropriate intervention. 

The information collected in the PNA will be useful for all stages of training (see Figure 1). The training manager can use the information to guide the design, delivery, and evaluation of training. The training designer needs to know what knowledge and skills are required to improve performance on the job. The trainer will use the information to help learners achieve the course objectives. The training evaluator must understand the work environment to determine whether training has closed the performance gap.

Figure 1. Stages of Training 

Within each stage, there are essential tasks to be completed to progress through that stage. We give you information about why these tasks are important and how to ensure that they are being carried out. We do not tell you how to do these tasks—such information is beyond the scope of this handbook. Within each stage, there are “tips” to help put the tasks into action. Finally, at the end of the handbook we offer other ways the information can be used.