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Alternate Models Of Needs Assessment: Selecting The Right One For Your Organization, Doug Leigh, Ryan Watkins, Roger Kaufman, William Platt

Doug Leigh

Needs assessment seems intuitively attractive to planners. Virtually all authors recommend that needs assessment be the first step in any organizational or human resource development intervention. Planners sensibly recognize the importance of building a foundation grounded in data-based needs, and see data produced by needs assessment as justifying organizational planning and accountability. They also see the usefulness of needs assessments for obtaining and allocating resources for projects. In their best use, needs assessments ensure that resources (Inputs) and methods (Processes) deliver useful results, that their value-added can be demonstrated. Unfortunately, the wide and varied usage of the term need often …