Assignment 2: Identify Needs
Some of the following materials are adapted from the
Decision Process Guide, published by the U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Reclamation.
In this assignment you will identify the organization’s needs. Needs are demands on resources required to sustain values or standards.
Construct a needs statement
Constructing a clear needs statement can help frame the range of potential solutions and increase understanding of the repercussions for unmet or partially met needs. A needs statement also gives insight into who should be involved.
There are many ways to define a need. The best method is to determine issues and concerns in relation to the problem. Issues are conditions or situations perceived as a threat to values. Concerns are matters of importance to individuals or groups.
Defining issues and concerns will:
- Provide a context for the problem and solution;
- Promote participation in the decision-making process and commitment to the solution – participants may not commit to a solution if they perceive that concerns have not been heard or that the process does not respect their values; and
- Help conserve resources by concentrating on relevant issues and concerns.
How to do it:
Once this process is complete, a reshaping of the problem statement may be warranted in order to support identified issues and concerns. Look at the problem in relationship to the needs you have defined. Does the problem change when compared to the defined need? If so, redefine the problem according to the need.
Resources to use:
Remember that you can use the data that you have already collected in previous “Building a Recruitment and Retention Plan” chapter steps.
If you need organizational information on specific topics, rather than a general overview, use the data collected from:
- How to Determine your Retention, Turnover, and Vacancy Rates [2.1.1.a.2]. This resource includes calculation formulas to determine retention rates, turnover rates, voluntary turnover rates, average tenure of employees, average tenure of employees who have left, special characteristics of employees who have left, and vacancy rates.
- Interview Questions for Researching Prior Approaches to Recruit and Retain Staff[2.1.2.a.1]. These 12 questions solicit information from stakeholders and document their perceptions on past efforts in recruitment and retention.
- Employee Satisfaction Survey Review Worksheets [2.1.2.b.4]. These worksheets give percentages and averages of each question and question category on your employee satisfaction or exit survey worksheet.
Other resources are available at
Tools to Help with Making Decisions [2.1.3.b.1.].
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