Training Needs Assessment Questionnaire: Free Excel Template
A free training needs assessment questionnaire in Excel, with a completed example, employee and manager questions, and a template that works out the gaps.
Training needs analysis compares what employees need to do with what they can currently do, then investigates whether training or another change will help.
- Look at the organisation's goals, the tasks required for each role and the support individual employees need.
- Knowledge is the information someone knows, skills are things they have learned to do, and abilities include capacities such as reasoning through a problem.
- Questionnaires collect employee and manager views. Check the answers against work records, observation or practical assessment.
- Finish with specific actions: who needs support, what they need to learn or change, who owns it and how you will check progress.
Train teams faster and more effectively with AI
A training needs assessment questionnaire asks employees and managers where people need help with their work. Their answers help you compare the skills a job requires with the skills people currently have, then decide what to investigate and what support to provide.
I'm an instructional designer at Coursebox, where we make employee training software, and I test every release of our product.
If someone asks me for customer-service training, I want to understand what is happening first. Are employees explaining the policy incorrectly, struggling with difficult conversations or waiting for a manager to approve every decision? A questionnaire is useful when it helps you get from a broad request to the work that needs attention.
You can download the template below, copy the employee and manager questions, and follow a completed example. The guide explains the underlying ideas as well as how to conduct the analysis.
Download the blank Excel questionnaire, a completed manufacturing example with four additional task lists, or the printable PDF. The preview shows part of the employee form; the workbook also includes manager questions, gap calculations and an action plan.
Open the employee-form preview at full size
What is training needs analysis?
Training needs analysis is the process of identifying what people need to learn to perform their work and deciding whether training will address the gap. You establish what the job requires, examine current performance, investigate the difference and recommend action.
The starting point can be a problem, such as incorrect customer refunds, or a change, such as introducing a new booking system. In either case, you need to know what people should be able to do. A course topic on its own does not give you that detail.
The questionnaire is one source of information for this process. Employees can describe where they get stuck; managers can explain what they have seen. Compare those views with work records, observation or practical assessment before deciding what the answers mean.
Knowledge, skills and abilities: what are you looking for?
These terms describe different parts of doing a job. Using a hotel refund as an example makes the differences easier to see:
| Term | Meaning | Example: handling a refund |
|---|---|---|
| Knowledge | The information someone needs to know. | Knowing which bookings qualify for a refund and when approval is needed. |
| Skill | Something someone has learned to do through practice. | Processing the refund correctly in the booking system. |
| Ability | The capacity to carry out an activity, such as reasoning through a problem. | Understanding the circumstances and explaining the appropriate next step to the guest. |
The U.S. Office of Personnel Management groups knowledge, skills, abilities and other characteristics within job competencies. For this questionnaire, use them to unpack a task rather than ask people to rate an abstract trait.
If the employee does not know the policy, an explanation and examples may help. If they know it but cannot use the system, they need practice with the process. If they can do both but lack approval to act, that is a management decision to address.
The three levels of training needs analysis
You can examine needs across an organisation, within a role or team, or for an individual. They connect, but each answers a different question:
| Level | Question it answers | Hotel example |
|---|---|---|
| Organisation | What must the business be able to do to meet its goals? | Apply a new refund policy consistently across all properties. |
| Role or team | What work must a particular group be able to perform? | Front-desk staff explain the policy; reservations staff amend bookings. |
| Individual | Which parts of that work does this person need help with? | One receptionist needs system practice; another needs help explaining exceptions. |
This follows the organisation, occupation and individual levels described in OPM's training needs guidance. The workbook covers one group at a time. For a wider review, use separate copies for roles with different tasks and standards, then bring their recommendations together.
View the three levels of training needs analysis infographic at full size
Needs assessment vs needs analysis
Needs assessment and needs analysis are often used interchangeably, and different guides use the terms differently.
Here we follow the CDC's approach: first assess the performance problem and whether training could help; if it could, analyse the learners, content and conditions needed to plan that training.
| Stage used in this guide | Main question | Useful output |
|---|---|---|
| Needs assessment | What is happening, why, and could training help? | An evidence-based recommendation for training, other changes or both. |
| Training needs analysis | What training is needed, for whom and under what conditions? | The tasks to teach, learner requirements and a brief for development. |
A rating records someone's judgement. To decide whether a person needs training, check examples of their work and the conditions in which they do it. Keep an unknown answer open until you have enough evidence.
How to conduct a training needs analysis
The six steps below take you from the reason for the review to a plan someone can act on. We will use one illustrative manufacturing example throughout: six maintenance technicians repair production equipment, but some repair records are incomplete.
Each repair is recorded in a work order. It should include a fault code identifying what went wrong. Without that information, the supervisor has less detail for reviewing recurring equipment problems. The aim is complete, useful repair records. The ratings and records in this example are constructed to demonstrate the method.
1. Define the problem and the result you need
Describe what you have observed and what should happen instead. For the maintenance team, that is missing fault codes in closed work orders, compared with complete records after every repair. Review some recent records to understand the starting position before choosing an improvement target.
Agree whose work you will review and who will use the findings. A focused problem may involve one role or shift. A new system may affect several teams in different ways. Keep the task list relevant to that scope.
2. Identify the tasks and required standard
Break the desired result into things people do. 'Better documentation' is broad. 'Close a work order with the correct fault code and cause' gives the technician and supervisor a recognisable task to discuss.
Use the applicable procedure and examples of acceptable work to agree the standard. In the workbook, record that as the level the job needs. The ability scale runs from needing help to working independently and, at the highest level, teaching others:
- Cannot do it yet.
- Can do it with help.
- Can do it alone on routine work.
- Can do it alone, including unusual cases.
- Can teach it to others.
The work-order task has a required level of 4 in the example. Level 5 is only appropriate when teaching others is part of the role. The supervisor also lists other maintenance tasks to check, using the same method.
3. Collect employee, manager and work evidence
Ask the technician and supervisor to rate the same tasks. The employee questions reveal difficulty and requests for support; the manager questions ask for examples of performance. The two forms are below, ready to copy.
Explain the purpose, deadline, who can see the answers and how you will discuss the results. Use the same name or agreed identifier on both forms so responses can be matched. An anonymous survey of team opinions would need to be analysed separately.
Paste into Microsoft Forms or Google Forms, or print the Employee form tab.
Use the same employee name or agreed identifier on both forms.
For each task, rate your current ability from 1 to 5.
1 = cannot do it yet; 2 = can do it with help; 3 = can do it alone on routine work; 4 = can do it alone, including unusual cases; 5 = can teach it to others.
Use N/A if the task is outside your role, or Not observed if you have not had a chance to do it.
[List the agreed tasks here.]
Which task takes you longer than it should, and why?
When something goes wrong, what gets in the way: skills, tools, time, information or something else?
Which task would you most like help with in the next three months?
What would help you practise it: someone showing you, access to equipment, written steps or something else?Ask the manager to rate each person on the same tasks, then answer these.
Use the same employee name or agreed identifier as the employee form. Complete a form for each person.
Rate each agreed task using the same scale.
1 = cannot do it yet; 2 = can do it with help; 3 = can do it alone on routine work; 4 = can do it alone, including unusual cases; 5 = can teach it to others.
Use N/A if the task is outside the person's role. Use Not observed if you do not have enough evidence to rate it.
[List the agreed tasks here.]
Which task causes the most rework or complaints?
What recent work supports your ratings? Include examples where your rating differs from the employee's.
Are tools, staffing, time or unclear instructions affecting the work?
What would you need to see after support to know the person can do the task to the required standard?N/A means the task is outside the person's role. Not observed means there is not enough evidence to rate it. Both stay out of the averages. An irrelevant task can be removed; an unobserved task may need a chance to be demonstrated.
Check the questions with a small number of intended respondents before distributing them to the full group. Ask what they think each task and rating means. If they interpret the wording differently, revise it before collecting answers you intend to compare.
4. Compare the answers and investigate the cause
The technicians rate their work-order ability at an average of 4.0; their supervisor rates it at 2.5. That difference identifies a conversation to have. Records in the example show five technicians have closed jobs with missing information, so the supervisor looks at how a job is closed.
The workflow allows a job to close without a fault code. That points to a process change to investigate alongside any individual support. It does not mean the supervisor's exact numerical rating has been proved correct.
Use the workbook's five questions to investigate the task and its conditions. Answer all five, including Unknown where you need more evidence. Several causes can apply together:
| Question to investigate | What to do with the answer |
|---|---|
| Have they shown they can do the task correctly under the required conditions? | If not, observe a task or practice attempt. An unknown answer needs evidence. |
| Have they had a chance to practise? | Arrange practice and support where needed. |
| Are tools, time and instructions available? | Record barriers even if a skills gap is also present. |
| Do they know the expected standard? | Clarify it using an example or procedure. |
| Do they receive useful feedback? | Agree how errors will be noticed and discussed. |
The conveyor task in the example concerns finding a fault in the equipment that drives the conveyor. The review selects training for that skill, while work-order records lead to a process change. This is why the questionnaire should lead to decisions task by task, rather than a course request for everyone.
5. Prioritise the gaps and choose the support
For work-order records, required level 4 minus manager average 2.5 gives a gap of 1.5. The workbook uses the manager's average when available and otherwise the employee's average as an initial estimate. Check the response counts and work evidence before accepting it.
A closer look at the calculated results
Example: Illustrative manufacturing example. The task names and required levels are shown in the table below.
- 1. Provisional current level: Manager average when available, otherwise employee average. Check it against the work.
- 2. Gap: Required level minus provisional current level, with a minimum of zero.
| Task | Required level | Provisional current level | Gap | Priority |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Isolate and lock out equipment | 4 | 4.5 | 0.0 | None |
| Close work order with fault code and cause | 4 | 2.5 | 1.5 | High |
Open the calculated-results preview at full size
Importance helps organise what to review first. In this template, 1 means a lower consequence if the task goes wrong, 2 a material effect on work or service, and 3 a serious effect on safety, compliance or essential operations. Agree those judgements locally.
The work-order task has importance 3. Multiplying that by gap 1.5 gives a score of 4.5, labelled High. The default thresholds are High at 3 or more, Medium from 1.5 to below 3, and Low above zero but below 1.5. A zero gap is None. These are adjustable planning rules on the How to use tab, not validated assessment cutoffs.
The equipment-isolation task has no average gap, but one error is recorded. That individual still needs a check. The workbook flags recorded errors and employee/manager averages that differ by at least one point. Review those alongside any missing responses; a low team score does not waive a required safety check.
The full example brings the tasks, ratings and proposed actions together. Notice that lower-priority calibration and drawing tasks still receive coaching or a job aid: priority and the choice of action are separate decisions.
| Task | Importance | Level needed | Employee average | Manager average | Gap | Priority | Action |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Isolate and lock out equipment before work | 3 | 4 | 4.7 | 4.5 | 0.0 | None | Check the observed error |
| Close a work order with fault code and cause | 3 | 4 | 4.0 | 2.5 | 1.5 | High | Fix the process or tools |
| Diagnose a conveyor drive fault | 2 | 4 | 3.5 | 2.8 | 1.2 | Medium | Train |
| Calibrate a pressure sensor | 2 | 4 | 3.0 | 3.3 | 0.7 | Low | Coach on the job |
| Hand over open jobs at shift change | 3 | 4 | 4.0 | 3.0 | 1.0 | High | Clarify the expectation |
| Read a piping and instrument drawing | 1 | 3 | 2.5 | 2.6 | 0.4 | Low | Job aid or checklist |
6. Agree actions and check the result
Record who will do what, by when, and what work you will review afterwards. The Action plan tab has fields for the owner, due date, review evidence, review date and result.
For the work-order problem, the maintenance supervisor could agree a closure-process change with the system administrator, then review a weekly sample of ten closed jobs for missing codes. Choose the dates and sample size for your workload. This is a proposed follow-up, not a reported result.
Where training is needed, turn the task into a clear learning outcome. For example, a technician might need to demonstrate how to find and record the cause of a conveyor fault using the local procedure. Plan practice, access to equipment and feedback as well as the lesson.
Review the same work after support. Repeating the questionnaire can help discuss progress, but higher ratings alone do not show improved performance.
Lloyds Metals: start with the procedure people need to follow
At Lloyds Metals & Energy, Mark Jones needed to turn plant procedures into training for operators who spoke English, Hindi and Marathi.
He used Coursebox to create courses from the procedures, adjusted the audience and level, and had colleagues check the content and translations. He also described assessment, coaching and mentoring as part of helping operators understand the work.
Use a defined task and learner needs to shape the course, then include assessment and support for applying it at work.
Sample task lists for other teams
In the 180 days to 14 October 2026, at least 23 people described their team's training needs or skills gaps in their first request to our AI course builder. About half arrived with the gap already identified. The most common teams were care and healthcare staff, plant and maintenance crews, and frontline service staff, so the samples follow them.
The example workbook contains four additional lists. They use the same employee and manager forms; adapt the tasks, required levels and evidence before sending them.
Newly promoted nurse managers
For a nurse moving into a first management role, include the work they are taking on: staffing, feedback and complaints. Use the answers to agree support for those responsibilities.
| Task | Importance | Level needed | How you will check it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lead a short shift meeting on risks and staffing | 3 | 4 | Observed by the director of nursing |
| Give feedback after a clinical incident | 3 | 4 | Feedback notes reviewed with the manager's manager |
| Build a roster within the budget | 2 | 4 | Compare planned staffing and actual costs with the budget |
| Handle a complaint from a patient's family | 2 | 3 | Complaint file review |
| Approve leave without leaving the ward short | 2 | 4 | Leave and staffing records |
Later, review the staffing records, feedback notes or observed conversations used to define the standard. That gives you a basis for discussing progress beyond changed confidence.
Care workers: planning refresher support
In residential aged care, use the questionnaire to identify extra support alongside required training. Select tasks from the procedures used in your service.
| Task | Importance | Level needed | How you will check it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Move a resident safely with a hoist | 3 | 4 | Competency observed by the clinical lead |
| Recognise and report signs of abuse | 3 | 4 | Scenario questions |
| Follow the infection control steps for each room | 3 | 4 | Observe the steps against the local procedure |
| Record care notes the same shift | 2 | 4 | Care notes audit |
| Respond to a resident who is distressed | 2 | 4 | Observed or talked through with the lead |
Adapt these examples to your applicable requirements. For a task such as using a hoist, assess the person following the local procedure; a questionnaire alone cannot establish safe practice.
Hotel front-desk staff
A policy change can create a specific learning need even for experienced staff. Ask about the new refund rules separately from wider guest-service skills.
| Task | Importance | Level needed | How you will check it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Check a guest in within five minutes | 2 | 4 | Check-in times from the property system |
| Resolve a guest complaint before the guest leaves | 3 | 4 | Guest feedback and duty manager notes |
| Explain the new booking and refund rules | 3 | 4 | Observe a practice call using the new rules |
| Upsell a room upgrade without pressure | 1 | 3 | Observe an offer and check the guest's response |
| Hand over guest issues at shift change | 2 | 4 | Handover book |
An annual review across departments
Keep a common format, but choose tasks for each role. The broad areas below are starting points to make more specific.
| Task | Importance | Level needed | How you will check it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Complete the role's daily work in its main system | 3 | 4 | Manager rating and system error reports |
| Carry out a required compliance procedure for the role | 3 | 4 | Observe the task against the applicable procedure |
| Coach and give feedback (people leaders) | 2 | 4 | Employee survey and manager rating |
| Plan and prioritise work | 2 | 4 | Manager rating |
| Pass on knowledge before someone leaves | 1 | 3 | Handover documents |
For a finance team, 'complete daily work in the main system' could become 'enter a supplier invoice and resolve a duplicate warning'. Review findings by role before bringing recommendations together. Scores for different tasks and standards are not a fair comparison of teams.
What should your training needs analysis produce?
Finish with a short explanation that a manager can use to agree the next steps. It should connect the original problem to the evidence and recommendation:
- The problem or change, the people affected and the result you need.
- The tasks and standards you reviewed, with the evidence you collected.
- The gaps and likely causes, including anything you still need to investigate.
- Training and other support proposed, with priorities, owners and dates.
- How and when you will check the work afterwards.
If a course is part of the plan, use those findings to brief it in Coursebox: identify the audience, the task they need to perform, the source procedure and how they will practise.
A training calendar helps schedule the support across the team.
For individual sessions, a training agenda helps allocate time for explanation, practice and feedback.
Plan the follow-up using how to evaluate a training programme. Return to the work that prompted the analysis to judge what has changed.
About the free template
The Excel files and printable PDF are version 1.1, updated 16 October 2026. The workbook is a planning aid, not a validated assessment. Its calculations have been tested in Excel on Windows. Google Sheets, LibreOffice and Excel for Mac have not been verified.
Frequently Asked Questions
The terms are often used interchangeably. This guide follows the CDC's approach: assess the performance problem and whether training could help, then analyse what training is needed, for whom and under what conditions. Other sources draw the boundary differently.
Include the tasks relevant to the role and the problem you are investigating, plus a few open questions. The examples use five or six tasks and four open questions. Add a task when its answer could change the support you provide.
The people in the role where you have seen the problem, and their managers. You do not need to survey everyone.
Use both as views to investigate. Employees report their perceived ability; managers rate what they have evidence to judge. This workbook flags a difference of one point or more for review. Check the work rather than automatically accepting either rating.
Carolina Martin
Carolina is a highly experienced learning designer with tech start-up experience. She is based in Sydney and previously designed courses alongside Coursebox founder Travis in a previous job. She is passionate about delivering engaging learning experiences and brings the same perspective to customer experience too. She manages our customer support documentation and product testing processes.
