Training needs assessments (TNA) are carried out in coordination with local in-country partners, Energy Group alumni and alumni organizations. Extensive interviewing and analysis of current available documentation and information is carried out prior to preparing an initial design of a training program. The initial design is shared with the client and recipient organizations in order to ensure that the training will address key objectives of each. The Energy Group draws upon existing resources and works with other on-going development programs in order not to overlap efforts and to maximize the impact of the final training effort. TNAs include suggestions for follow-up and monitoring to assess the impact of the training program.

Energy Group staff identify specific training needs by coordinating with USAID and local counterparts (host training institutions, senior managers, executives and government officials) and key persons associated with on-going related technical assistance (TA) activities to evaluate the current human resource capacity needs for the sector and reach agreement together as to how these can best be addressed. The Energy Group avoids undertaking costly, broad-scale needs assessments where possible, using instead targeted needs assessments that ensure that training is the appropriate solution to institutional performance problems. Such assessments identify what skills need to be obtained, and how, as well as whether, results are best achieved by hiring well-trained personnel, by subcontracting, or by bringing in outside training providers. Energy Group staff adapt the needs assessment process to the partner organization's needs, resources, and urgency. We have developed methods that address key questions without incurring undue cost of time and resources, using partial and very targeted needs assessments where possible. Because the Energy Group has conducted TNAs in many forms for a wide range of developing country needs, we are able to advise the sponsor on what aspects of a TNA are best-suited to a particular situation. IIE has the neutrality, perspective and judgement needed to balance the organization's opinion with the TNA results, within budget constraints.

In IIE's experience, the most successful training needs assessments are those conducted not by human resource professionals but by middle- to senior-level managers who have a blend of technical and training/human resources experience. This is particularly important in the energy sector, where the program manager conducting the TNA often interviews high-level energy officials in the public and private sectors.

The training needs assessment conducted for the Brazil-U.S. Energy Training Program provides an example of IIE's approach to conducting TNA. IIE made an in-country needs assessment to determine the training needs of Brazilian entities involved with private sector participation in the electricity sector, energy efficiency, and renewable energy, and to define a set of training activities that could be undertaken within the available resources. IIE's team conducted a series of face-to-face and telephone interviews with a wide range of institutional players to determine human resource capacity needs. The team sought to resolve overlapping and conflicting needs among institutions; develop a training plan that would enhance the impact of the training; maximize the potential for a broader audience reach; avoid duplication of other, related training programs; ensure the feasibility of implementing the program; and ensure the program's cost-effectiveness. The TNA indicated that much of the skills needed were managerial, rather than technical as originally indicated.