A Mock Needs Analysis for Men's Warehouse

A Mock Needs Analysis for the Men’s Warehouse

I like the way men look in a nicely, tailored suit.  The Men’s Warehouse guarantees men too will “like the way they look”.  (Men's Warehouse, 2014)  The Men’s Warehouse has been servicing men needs for tailored suits and casual clothing for over forty years.  Their guarantee is men will not only “like the way they look”, they will be “truly satisfied with [their] shopping experience”.  This guarantee is backed by their ironclad commitment to customer service.   (Men's Warehouse, 2014)  It is their commitment to customer service that has driven this business to be a leader in it’s field. 

If a needs assessment for the instructional design process for training were to be performed on this company, it should start with the organizational analysis. Noe said “organizational analysis involves determining the appropriateness of training”.  It is not uncommon for clients to believe training is the answer to all of their problems.  However, training is not always the answer.  No one wants to deliver unnecessary training.  Whereas “training is often necessary,…[it is] rarely sufficient”.  According to Stolovitch and Keeps, “training only works where there are skill and/or knowledge deficiencies”.  (Stolovitch & Keeps, 2004, pg. 11)  The stakeholders most instrumental at this point would be the upper-level management.  Their input would be necessary to determine if the training would be in alignment with the business strategies.  Upper-level management can provide the docutmentation on training budgets, sales projections, and anticipated profit projections.  Additionally, they can offer information on the talents needed in the organization to be leaders of products and services offered in their market. 

The person analysis would be the next key component of the needs assessment process.  The person analysis has three key features: (1) “determining [if] deficiencies result from lack of knowledge, skill, or ability”, (2) determine “who needs training” (3) determine “employee readiness for training”.  (Noe, 2013, pg. 114)  These questions could be best answered by mid-level management.  The Men’s Warehouse should include their fashion director and fashion stylist during this analysis.  They would be involved in activities such as budgets spent on training, who will be trained, and what training that would improve customer service and product.  The could also provide statistics on consumer satisfaction.  This could be done using customer surveys or questionnaires and inteviews.

The task analysis would be the final step in the process and here is where the master tailors could offer their talents.  They would be involved in the details of their craft.  They would know what knowledge, skills, and behavior that would make the training a success.  I would imagine they would not only focus on customer service but cut, fit, and styles of the suits as well.  They could provide historical data on the types and frequency of various alterations or avg number of customers served weekly.  

After all of the requirements are met for each component, the most appropriate action for training can be determine.    

References

Men's Warehouse. (2014). Retrieved Mar 13, 2014, from Men's Warehouse: http://www.menswearhouse.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ContentAttachmentView?contentName=MW4ABThome.html&catalogId=12004&top=&parent_category_rn=&categoryId=&langId=-1&storeId=12751

Noe, R. (2013). Employee Training and Development. New York: McGraw-Hill.

Stolovitch, H. &. (2004). Training Ain't Performance. Alexandria: ASTD Press.