Needs Assessment

The company I selected is from my Canadian roots – Mountain Equipment Co-Op (www.mec.ca). I learned about this organization when I was doing my Undergraduate Degree in Business. We studied this organization because they had become a large Not-for-Profit organization but had begun when four University friends realized there were no climbing equipment stores in Canada and they needed to cross to the United States in order to purchase such equipment. They decided they would run the organization as a consumer co-operative with an unlimited number of equal membership shares. This allowed each consumer to have a share and a say in the organization. Not only do they sell equipment but “we want MEC and our members to set examples that inspire other organizations and individuals towards environmental, social, and economic sustainability. In short, we want to leave the world better than we found it (http://www.mec.ca).” This organization truly cares about its people, the footprint it leaves behind and the social benefits that a co-operative can have when its not driven by profit but helping the world. Initially the organization was run by volunteers until the business grew and expanded. MEC has grown into a company that not only specializes in climbing equipment but also sells outdoor gear for camping, paddling, cycling, trekking, travelling and sports clothing. Currently, they have grown to 15 stores across Canada and MEC this year’s celebrate their fortieth year in business with 261 Million in annual sales and 3.3 Million members. There members still have a say in the cooperative and receiving annual

In order to conduct a needs assessment for MEC it would be the Board of Directors that would need to vote to allow this assessment to take place. The Board is made of elected volunteers that serve terms of a minimum of three years. During the organizational analysis I would ask managers of various stories what they feel the pressure points are in their store. I realize this means it is possible there are different issues in each but I would be looking for similarities in what their training needs are. The questions I would ask would be do you feel there are any outstanding issues with the employees and their consumers? What can be done better? Is there a need for additional training to sort out these issues? These questions would definitely lead to others to get to the bottom of any issues that were mentioned. I would ask to see their training documents for new hires and handling issues. I would be interested to find out how long their employees tend to work for them and what think about their training and any needs they have.

The techniques I would employ for my needs assessment would be questionnaires and interviews. I realize both of these are time consuming and can be difficult to get the results required however, in order to take a sampling from various stores across Canada this would be easiest. I believe questionnaires would give me the data needed to show me what the employees and management find the need to be (Noe, R. A, 2010). Based on these results I would then decide to interview additional sources in the organization for further details and information if required. This week I learned a lot about the needs assessment process and how important it is. It really sets the groundwork for your training plan and ensures you will help the organization as needed. I look forward to reviewing the information again in order to conduct a real needs analysis for a client or my organization.

References

Mountain Equipment Co-Op. Retrieved 2011 from http://www.mec.ca/AST/Navigation/MEC_Global/AboutMEC.jsp

Noe, R. A. (2010). Employee training and development (5th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw Hill.