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Competency Needs

NEEDS

A need can be created for any training, competency, awareness, eLearning or other item of training that is required to be completed by a user. 

Training Need: A requirement that has been identified for an employee or subcontractor to undertake or obtain training or a competency.

Needs can be created in a variety of ways:

  1. Manually by an administrator via the People menu, one at a time

  2. Manually by an administrator via the Needs menu, one at a time or by bulk

  3. Automatically as part of a role. This occurs where a user is identified as requiring a role and they do not have a valid training record for that capability. More details on roles and their relationship to needs can be found in the Roles page in this User Guide.

The Needs menu contains a list of required training, competency or qualifications which are yet to be undertaken. 

In the Needs page, administrators can:

  • View current needs for all users

  • Use a wide variety of filters in isolation or combined to select needs to view

  • Export lists of needs to Excel in list format

  • Add needs by user or by bulk

  • Edit needs by user or by bulk

Adding a Training Need

To add a new need, from the Needs page:

  1. Click 'Add New'

     

  2. Complete the fields (see table 'Description of Fields' below)

    1. Note multiple users can be selected in order to add multiple needs in one entry, providing all other details (capability, due dates etc) are the same

      The details captured for each need may vary slightly between each system configuration. Fields marked with * are mandatory.

       

  3. Click 'Save' to create the need and return to the list or click 'Save and new' to create the need and continue entering another.

 

Description of Fields

Person

Name of user requiring the need

Capability

The title of the capability (this must already be created in the system)
If the required capability isn't listed, a new one needs to be created. Refer to instructions under 'Add a Capability'

Needs Classification

Depending on the requirements of the organisation, this field can be used to sort needs into categories. The needs classification can be set accordingly, such as mandatory or optional. The need classification can be used to distinguish (for example) between needs that are mandatory versus those that are of a professional development nature. The options that appear in this list are set through the Settings menu. 

A code can be added which will be reflected in some Needs reports.

Note this classification has no impact on end users and is purely used as a filtering and reporting option.

Date Identified

Date the need was identified or entered into the system

Due Date

When must this need be completed

Notes

Entered if additional notes relating to the need are required. This column is available in the Excel export report.

Status

Current means that the need has no corresponding record and that the need has yet to be completed. This is also known as pending training.
Closed means that the need has a corresponding record (further action is not required) and that the training is completed (i.e. the need has been fulfilled). Once a record is entered with the same capability, the need will automatically be closed

 

Editing a Training Need

Editing a need from the Needs menu is very similar to editing a need from the People menu. From the Needs page: 

  1. Use filters as required to locate the relevant need

  2. Click 'Edit' to the far right of the relevant need

  3. Adjust as required

  4. Click 'Save' to keep the changes

Editing Needs in Bulk

Needs can be edited or deleted in bulk using the bulk changes feature.

For more detail on how to use this feature, refer to the Bulk Changes user guide.

Deleting Needs

To delete a need from the Needs page:

  1. Use filters as required to locate the relevant record

  2. Click 'Actions' to the far right of the relevant record

  3. Click 'Delete'

  4. In the pop-up that appears, click 'Delete' to completely delete the record from Lucidity Competency

Automatic Creation of Training Needs

When a user is allocated a role, a need is automatically created for each capability associated with the role, unless that user has a current record for that capability. If the record then expires (or is lapsed) a new need is automatically created.

Needs that relate to a role can be identified from the list of needs by checking the roles column - where they need was created as a result of a role; the role title is listed in the column.

Refer to the Roles Competency Roles page within this user guide for more details.

Automatic Closure of Needs

When a valid (not expired) record is added for which there is a current need, the need status is set to closed. Existing closed needs are not affected.  Although it is possible to enter an expired record as a means of creating history, an expired record will have no effect on current needs.

If a record is added for a need where the status is current, any corresponding need (present at the time the record is added) is changed to closed. This occurs regardless of whether the record entered has an expiry date or not. The status can also be manually changed at any time by editing the need.

Filters may need to be used to view closed needs from the Needs page as they are often hidden by default.

Creating Training Records from the Needs Page

There is an option to 'Add Record' in line with each entry in the needs list, as illustrated below. This can be used to create a record for the user and capability specified by the need.

 

After selecting 'Add Record' from the needs page, the standard records edit screen opens.

Reporting from the Needs Page

Training needs can be exported as an Excel list from the Needs menu. The report will reflect filtered search results as displayed on the lower half of the Needs page. This report is also available from the Reports menu.

To export the needs as a list from the Needs page:

  1. Use filters as required to locate the relevant need(s)

  2. Click 'Excel Export'

  3. In the Excel report, sort and manipulate the data or merge the data with other reports as required

A sample report is below.

The following key explains the information that is displayed for each user and capability in the 'Due Date' column within the report:

Key

Meaning

Key

Meaning

"No Due Date"

The need does not have a specified date by which it should be fulfilled

Date

This is the date that has been identified by which the need should be fulfilled

Empty cell

There is no due date allocated to the need