# Training

Training is an important part of work allocation. A person cannot be expected to undertake a role that is new to them without any training. Training, for all people, begins when they are very young. As a child, you learn what is needed to survive and grow in your world.

When you go to school, you begin the formal part of your education, and this can continue for the rest of your life as you learn new things. Part of this education will be workplace training.

If you start a new job, it is usually expected that you will bring some skills and knowledge to that position. Your manager will be looking to improve your skills in the job, and you may find yourself getting opportunities to undertake other work. Sometimes, if a new computer system is introduced, for example, you might need extra training.

As a manager, it is up to you to find out what the training needs of your staff members are.

If you have a project that needs to be done, here are some steps you should follow to make sure that you have looked for any training needs:

- Look at the organisation. You need to know quite a lot about the organisation, as this will be important for the type of training that is adopted. Smaller organisations may have different solutions to larger ones.
- Think about the jobs involved. Have a look at the job descriptions and person specifications to find out what people are supposed to do within the organisation.
- Look at where the jobs might be going. If you have a project to do, you will need to figure out how each job might fit in to that project.
- Think about the members of your team. What are their skills? What do they know how to do? What don't they know?
- Have a look at where you are now. This is an important part of the process. You need to know where you are so that you can measure any improvement.
- Identify the gaps. Find the places where people may have trouble doing the tasks involved to get what you want done. This will allow you to find the areas that can be helped by training.

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