Examples of Good Practice in Public Sector Business Continuity Management
Guidance for Conducting a Training Needs Analysis
Introduction
In order to deliver a Business Continuity Management (BCM) capability effectively it is essential that roles, responsibilities and procedures have been identified and that the people involved have the necessary competence. We can define competence as having the appropriate knowledge, skills, and attitudes (KSA). We then need to define what level of competence is needed and assess what level of competence the players responsible for delivering the capability currently have. This process is called a Training Needs Analysis. This paper outlines how to conduct a Training Needs Analysis.
The Stages involved in a Training Needs Analysis:
- Detail what is needed to deliver the BCM capability. Working through the BCM lifecycle (BS25999) helps identify what is needed as the business impact analysis (BIAs) will in form the BCM strategies.
- Identify who is responsible for delivering BCM for the organisation and their position/ role within it. This must involve all parts of the organisation. It may even involve working with external suppliers needed to deliver critical activities so that they ensure their personnel are resilient.
- Detail what competences (KSA) these different people need in order to deliver the different elements of the BCM programme including planning for, responding to and recovering from an interruption. This will range from general awareness through to specialist training. The revised BCI 10 competencies provide a useful starting point for developing a BCM team. However, the 6 stages of the BCM lifecycle as described in the 2007 Good Practice Guide [External website] is perhaps the most useful document on which to base your TNA.
- Assess current competences and current training provision (including exercising, guidance, literature etc. and training provider). Having completed stages 1 – 3 above you will have an idea of what competences are needed, by whom. This will enable you to design questions to assess current competence of the players involved. Current competences and current training provision can be identified through a number of methodologies such as:
- Questionnaire – sent to people involved in preparing for and delivering the BCM capability
- Focus groups (facilitated sessions using people from different levels and different parts of the organisation)
- Structured interviews (1 to 1) with Section managers and / or operational staff
- Unstructured interviews with experienced personnel to gather more thoughts / suggestions / clarification.
- Reviewing individual performances during exercises using results from the subsequent debrief.
The questionnaire (or alternative methodology) will also outline whether there are any other competences people need, and whether there are any other people involved in addition to those you have identified in stages 1 – 3. Like the BCM life cycle, the TNA is an iterative process. If you find that there are a large number of additional people / competences etc. needed to deliver your BCM capability you may need to alter your questionnaire and re-do this stage.
- Using the data you have gathered above you can prepare a TNA report. A suggested format is given below.
- Background (what you did, aims and objectives, research undertaken, etc.).
- Competences (KSA) needed to deliver your BCM programme in terms of planning for, responding to and recovering from an interruption, at the individual, team and multi-agency levels (specifying organisation and role).
- Current level of competence in the above.
- Current level of training provision for the above, including exercising, guidance, literature etc. and who this is provided by.
- Any constraints within which training can take place.
- Conclusion with recommendations or possible solutions which are supported by the main findings in the report.
Next Steps
With this information you can now make a business case to implement your training strategy so that all staff in the organisation have the appropriate BCM competence to enable them to respond effectively when faced by a significant business interruption.
