Determining and Diagnosing Organizational Needs

When human resource development fails, it is frequently for causes that could have been prevented. The author discusses the implications of using quick-fix interventions without first formally linking them to organizational objectives and societal impact, presents a holistic frame of reference for determining and diagnosing organizational needs and smaller, derivative perspectives, and suggests differing roles and responsibilities for different organizational levels. Organizational efforts, organizational results, and societal impacts are linked by the "Organizational Elements Model" and two dimensions in an organi- zational analysis, "what is" and "what should be," are identified. Finally, steps for determining and diagnosing organizational needs are presented.