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A training needs analysis template is a structured worksheet that helps you identify the gap between the skills your team has and the skills your business needs — so you spend your training budget on what actually moves performance. This guide sets out how a training needs analysis (TNA) template is laid out and shows South African HR, L&D and operations leaders how to run a TNA with it — then turn the findings into the right training for your staff.
You can build the training needs analysis template in any spreadsheet as three linked sheets: a TNA worksheet, a skills-gap matrix and a priority-scoring sheet. The questions at the end add a short training needs analysis example and explain why the TNA comes before the Workplace Skills Plan. For the people who plan and deliver your training, BOTI’s train-the-trainer and ETDP courses cover facilitation, assessment and skills development planning.
Want help with your first TNA? Call 011-882-8853 or use the BOTI booking page. A consultant will talk it through with you, with no obligation to book.
The business problem: training budgets spent on guesswork
Most South African organisations decide their training one of three ways: last year’s plan, whatever a manager requested, or whatever a provider was selling. None start from evidence of what the business actually needs — and the result is predictable:
- Money goes to the wrong skills. A course gets booked because it was available, not because it closed a real gap.
- The genuine gaps stay open. The capability quietly costing you in errors, slow turnaround or lost sales never gets addressed.
- You cannot defend the spend. When finance asks why a programme was chosen, “the team wanted it” is not an answer that protects a budget.
A training needs analysis fixes this at the root. It asks — before you spend a rand — what does the business need people to be able to do, what can they do now, and where is the gap worth closing? A good template turns that question into a repeatable process any manager can run, so your training plan is built on evidence.
Who this template is for
This is a tool for South African organisations planning training for their own staff and teams — not for individuals choosing a course for themselves. It suits:
- HR and L&D managers building a credible annual training plan and Workplace Skills Plan from evidence, not requests.
- Business owners and MDs of SMEs who need every training rand tied to a business outcome.
- Department, operations and line managers identifying where their team’s skills gaps are hurting performance.
- Skills Development Facilitators (SDFs) who need a defensible methodology behind the WSP and B-BBEE scorecard.
No formal L&D qualification is required — the template is built for working managers, and a BOTI consultant can walk your team through it on a free call.
What a training needs analysis template covers
A useful TNA works at three levels, and the BOTI template prompts you through each:
| Level | Question it answers | What you capture |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Organisational | What capabilities does the business strategy demand? | Business goals, change drivers, compliance and growth needs |
| 2. Operational / team | Which roles and processes have the gaps? | Critical roles, key tasks, performance standards per function |
| 3. Individual | Who needs what, and at what level? | Current vs required skill per person, priority and urgency |
Working top-down keeps the analysis honest: you start from what the business is trying to achieve, drill into the roles that deliver it, and only then look at individuals — so the training you buy is connected to results. A practical template maps onto these three levels with a TNA worksheet (business drivers, roles and required competencies), a skills-gap matrix (current versus required skill per person or role) and a priority-scoring sheet (gaps ranked by business impact and urgency, so you train the highest-value gaps first).
How to run a TNA with the template: six steps
You do not need a consultant or a complex system — just a repeatable process:
- Define the business objective first. Start from what the organisation needs to achieve this year — growth, a new system, a compliance requirement, a quality or service target. Every gap you assess should trace back to one of these.
- List the critical roles and tasks. For each function in scope, record the key tasks and the standard “good” looks like. This becomes your required skill profile.
- Assess current skill. Rate where people are now against that standard, using manager observation, performance data and, where useful, a practical check.
- Identify and size the gaps. The difference between required and current is your training need. Note how many people share each gap and what it is costing in errors, delays, rework or lost revenue.
- Prioritise. Score each gap by business impact and urgency. A small gap on a critical, high-volume task usually beats a big gap on something marginal — this protects your budget.
- Turn it into a training plan. Match the top-priority gaps to specific, outcome-focused training — and brief a provider on the gap, not just a course title, so the programme is built to close it.
Done once, this becomes the backbone of your annual plan and WSP — and an evidence trail for every training decision.
Want help running your first TNA? Request a quote or a callback. Phone 011-882-8853 or use the BOTI booking page, and a consultant will help you size and prioritise your gaps and recommend the training that closes them.
From analysis to training: delivery formats and national reach
Once your TNA points to the gaps worth closing, BOTI delivers the training in the format that fits your team:
- In-house / on-site at your premises — usually the most cost-effective option for a group, and easily built around the exact gaps your TNA surfaced.
- Off-site at BOTI’s venue in Sunningdale, Johannesburg — for teams that prefer to train away from daily interruptions.
- Virtual / remote instructor-led — efficient for distributed and multi-branch teams, with no travel cost.
BOTI delivers in-house at your premises, at its venue in Sunningdale, Johannesburg, or live online nationwide — so head-office and branch teams reach the same standard against the same skills map.
Accreditation
BOTI is an accredited training provider — Services SETA 12582 and a QCTO-accredited Skills Development Provider. Where your TNA identifies a need for credit-bearing outcomes — unit standards, a qualification or a scarce-skill requirement — programmes can be aligned to the relevant SETA or QCTO, with appropriate assessment, so results count toward your Workplace Skills Plan. Note that the Services SETA unit-standard qualifications are migrating to the new QCTO system — the last date for enrolment differs per qualification, so please confirm the current accreditation route when you book. Where you need fast, targeted competence, a practical programme with a Certificate of Attendance is often the better fit. Either way, attendance and outcomes record cleanly into your Annual Training Report (ATR) as staff development. Tell us what your TNA found and we will recommend the right structure.
Funding: a TNA strengthens your Skills Development and B-BBEE case
A documented training needs analysis does more than direct your budget — it is the evidence your skills-development and compliance reporting needs. As general guidance only:
- Employers above the threshold pay the Skills Development Levy (SDL) at 1% of payroll[1]. A TNA feeds directly into your Workplace Skills Plan (WSP) and Annual Training Report (ATR), supporting your mandatory-grant claim and making the submission easier to defend.
- The B-BBEE skills-development target is measured against 6% of the leviable amount[2] — not 6% of payroll — so planned, gap-driven training also contributes to your transformation scorecard, especially when it develops black employees.
Where skills development supports tender readiness, note that the PPPFA 2022 regulations score “specific goals” — such as HDI ownership (race, gender and disability) and RDP objectives — rather than a generic B-BBEE level. The Public Procurement Act 28 of 2024 never came into force, and on 17 September 2026 the Constitutional Court declared the whole Act invalid[3], so public procurement still runs under the PFMA, the MFMA, the PPPFA and the Preferential Procurement Regulations, 2022. Parliament may pass a new procurement law. A clean training record supports both your scorecard and your bid positioning. This is general information, not financial or legal advice — confirm specifics with your SETA, SDF or B-BBEE verification professional.
Why BOTI
BOTI is an accredited South African corporate training provider with 450 courses and a client base that includes Sasol, Glencore and the City of Johannesburg. Because our range is broad, whatever gaps your TNA surfaces, there is a programme to close them — we start from the gap, not the catalogue. Most clients pair the template with:
- Skills development training — to structure your WSP, ATR and scorecard around the gaps your TNA identifies.
- Performance management training — so the skill gaps you find feed straight into goals, reviews and development plans.
- Management training — to equip line managers to run the TNA and reinforce the training afterwards.
- The full BOTI course range — management, sales, finance, HR, admin and technical training to match any gap.
- In-house and on-site training — group delivery built around your own scenarios, with clean attendance records.
Frequently asked questions
What is a training needs analysis template?
A training needs analysis template is a structured worksheet that guides you through identifying the gap between the skills your team currently has and the skills your business needs. It works at three levels — organisational, operational and individual — and produces a prioritised list of training needs you can build a plan and budget around. A practical template has three parts, a TNA worksheet, a skills-gap matrix and a priority-scoring sheet, which you can build in any spreadsheet.
How do I conduct a training needs analysis?
Start from the business objective, list the critical roles and the standard each task requires, then assess where people are now against that standard. The difference is your training need. Size each gap by how many people share it and what it is costing, prioritise by business impact and urgency, and match the top gaps to specific training. A BOTI consultant can run it with you on a free call.
Is there a training needs analysis template to download?
There is no file to download. The layout on this page, a TNA worksheet, a skills-gap matrix and a priority-scoring sheet, can be built in any spreadsheet. Call 011-882-8853 or use the booking page if you would like help. A consultant can also walk your team through a TNA at no charge.
How does a TNA help with our Workplace Skills Plan and B-BBEE points?
A documented TNA is the evidence base for your Workplace Skills Plan and Annual Training Report, which support your SDL mandatory-grant claim, and it directs spend toward the B-BBEE skills-development target measured against 6% of the leviable amount[2] (not 6% of payroll). It makes your skills-development reporting both stronger and easier to defend. This is general guidance — confirm specifics with your SETA, SDF or B-BBEE verification professional.
What happens after the TNA — can BOTI deliver the training?
Yes. Once your TNA identifies the priority gaps, BOTI delivers training to close them — in-house at your premises, at BOTI’s venue in Sunningdale, Johannesburg, or live online — from a range of 450 courses. Brief us on the gap rather than a course title and we will scope a programme built to close it. BOTI is an accredited training provider (Services SETA 12582 and a QCTO-accredited Skills Development Provider); where credit-bearing outcomes are needed, programmes can be aligned to the relevant SETA or QCTO. The Services SETA unit-standard qualifications are migrating to the new QCTO system, so please confirm the current accreditation route when you book.
Request a quote or a callback
Stop planning training on guesswork. Request a quote or book a callback and a BOTI consultant will help you prioritise your team’s skills gaps, and scope the training that closes them — around your group size, dates and delivery format. Call 011-882-8853 to get started.
More questions
Is the TNA process conducted before the WSP process?
Yes. The training needs analysis comes first: it identifies and prioritises the skills gaps, and the Workplace Skills Plan (WSP) then sets out the training that will close them. Employers submit the WSP, together with the Annual Training Report on training done in the previous year, to their SETA by 30 April each year[4], so run the TNA early enough to feed that submission.
What is an example of a training needs analysis?
Suppose the business objective is a service target. The team lists its critical roles, such as frontline service staff, and the standard for each key task. Managers then rate each person against that standard, using observation and performance data. Where several people fall short on a critical, high-volume task, that gap scores high for impact and urgency and goes to the top of the training plan.
What columns should a training needs analysis template have?
Use three linked sheets. The TNA worksheet records business drivers, roles and the competencies each role requires. The skills-gap matrix compares current with required skill per person or role, and notes how many people share each gap and what it costs in errors, delays, rework or lost revenue. The priority-scoring sheet ranks each gap by business impact and urgency, so the highest-value gaps are trained first.
Who should complete a training needs analysis?
Working managers can run it; no formal L&D qualification is needed. HR and L&D managers use it to build an evidence-based training plan and Workplace Skills Plan, line managers rate their own teams against the standard, and the Skills Development Facilitator, who prepares and submits the WSP and Annual Training Report, uses it as the method behind those submissions.
To build TNA and Workplace Skills Plan skills in your own team, BOTI’s Skills Development Facilitator (SDF) Training Course covers the SDF role, the Workplace Skills Plan, the Annual Training Report and SETA submissions. It runs in-house, at BOTI’s venue in Sunningdale, Johannesburg, or online. This course is not accredited. It is delivered as a professional skills programme, and delegates receive a BOTI certificate of attendance.
Sources
- Skills Development Levy – South African Revenue Service (SARS), 2026.
- Codes of Good Practice on B-BBEE: Code Series 300, Statement 300 – Skills Development (Government Gazette 42496) – Department of Trade and Industry, 31 May 2019.
- Godongwana notes Constitutional Court judgment on Public Procurement Act – SAnews (South African Government News Agency), 18 September 2026.
- Mandatory Grants – Health and Welfare SETA (HWSETA), 2026.