Improved socio-economic services for a more social microfinance

Monday, 27 June Programme for the session 1. Role-play activity 2. Brainstorming 3. Presentation of the methodology for conducting a needs assessment 4. Work in sub-groups 5. Feedback from the exercise 6. Summing-up

Monday, 27 June Needs assessment At the end of this session, participants will be able to: + Explain what a needs assessment is and the purpose it serves + Define a strategy for conducting a needs assessment + Identify sources of information (people and documentation) + Plan a needs assessment + Design tools to conduct the assessment + Analyse and present results

Monday, 27 June What is a needs assessment? A needs assessment is a systematic process of reflection, observation and collection of data (facts, opinions and attitudes) from a variety of sources for the purpose of identifying and documenting gaps (needs) between the current situation and the desired outcome.

Monday, 27 June Why conduct a needs assessment? + To identify training needs both of partners and staff + To identify internal strengths and weaknesses + To adapt training supply to demand To improve the quality and relevance of the trainings Thanks to this assessment, the identified gaps can be reduced or removed, at the right time, for the targeted individuals, as cost- effectively as possible.

Monday, 27 June What do we want to analyse? +Job analysis => The skills, knowledge and attitudes required to do a job are identified and compared with those of the people currently doing the job. + Methods: + Informal discussions with line managers + Observation + Interviews with employees (in group and/ or individually) + Analyses (through a satisfaction survey) + Evaluations of the staff + SWOT analysis

Monday, 27 June Organisational analysis => Changes and developments which will create training needs are identified. These might include: + New legislation + Specific needs according to a situation (natural disaster, epidemic) + New funding + New activities + New methodology + New area and new target group + New technology + Internal policy changes + Staff dismissals + Staff recruitment +... What do we want to analyse?

Monday, 27 June What steps do we follow in a needs assessment? + Clarify the objectives of your needs assessment, the sources of information and the deadlines + Plan your data collection + Design the tools + Train your staff for the data collection + Carry out the data collection + Encode the collected data + Analyse the results + Write a final report To determine changes and actions required 6 weeks

Monday, 27 June In detail... + Clarify the objectives of your needs assessment, the sources of information and the deadlines  Define the precise objectives of the needs assessment, the sources of information (covered areas and contexts, population concerned, documentation...), and the deadlines. Terms of reference, scheduling, team planning The sources of information have to be quantified, but think about the encoding and the analysis at this stage already => it can be time consuming to have too many interviewees!

Monday, 27 June In detail... + Plan the data collection  Define the methods you will use and the questions you will ask, all in relation to the stated objectives, the sources of information and the deadlines. Organise the human resources and the logistics of the meetings. Planning of the data collection (see example below) + Design the tools  Design the questionnaires, prepare documentation, design the database to encode the results. Questionnaire to individuals, focus group discussion questions and guidelines, SWOT analysis...and the database to encode data. Be careful: if the trainers make the interviews, some partners might be 100% satisfied…

Monday, 27 June Planning of the data collection - Example Objectives of your assessment Sources of information Methods to be used Questions to be askedDeadlines To establish the training needs of the partners PartnersFocus group What do you need to be able to run your business better? 15/12/2013 TrainersQuestionnaire Have partners made clear to you their expectations in terms of training? 30/11/2013 To assess the quality of existing trainings Partners Anonymous questionnaire Has the running of your business changed following 10 training sessions on business topics? 15/12/2013 TrainersQuestionnaire How many partners participate during training sessions? 30/11/2013 Group registers Statistical analysis Are there any non-attendance during training sessions? 25/11/2013 Socioeconomic Manager SWOT analysis What are the main weaknesses of the MFI's training process? 20/12/0213 ………… …

Monday, 27 June What steps do we follow in a needs assessment? To determine changes and actions required 7 weeks + Clarify the objectives of your needs assessment, the sources of information and the deadlines + Plan your data collection + Design the tools + Train your staff for the data collection + Carry out the data collection + Encode the collected data + Analyse the results + Write a final report

Monday, 27 June In detail... + Train your staff for the data collection  To guarantee the quality of the interviews and of the results. + Carry out the data collection  Meet the staff and the partners, read documents, discuss with experts... 2 hour-training session on the methodology with one exercise in sub-group and a debriefing (based on the developed questionnaire). Key information in the questionnaire can help the staff to better lead the interviews and indeed, the collection of data. To administer a questionnaire, one officer is enough. But for focus group discussions, 2 officers might be necessary: one to facilitate and one to write the answers.

Monday, 27 June In detail... + Encode the collected data  The data collection plan, drawn up in advance, can serve as a framework for the encoding. This is where answers are recorded. They can subsequently be ranked in order of importance. How do we compile the collected data?  For one open question: + Read the answer from A; + Write down the main idea as briefly as possible; + Take another completed questionnaire (B); + Read the answer from B. If the main idea is similar to A, just count it as such; If it is different, write it down as briefly as possible; + Continue the process.  For closed questions: normally using simple statistics (sum, percentage (%), average).

Monday, 27 June How do we compile the data collected? - Example Objectives of your assessment Questions askedAnswers To establish the training needs of the partners What do you need to be able to run your business better? How to better set the prices (12) How to save (3) Have partners made clear to you their expectations in terms of training? Yes (4) No (8) No answer (3) To assess the quality of existing trainings Has the running of your business changed following 10 training sessions on business topics? Yes (12) No (1) Not as I hoped (2) How many partners participate during training sessions? Ca. 20 persons or 86% of total registered partners Are there any non-attendance during training sessions? Yes, depending on the topic (10) Yes, but they often arrive late to the training (5) What are the main weaknesses of the MFI's training process? 1. Skills of the trainers 2. Learning assessment ………

Monday, 27 June Analyse and present the results + Analyse the results  This part can be difficult depending on the number of methods used, the number of questionnaires used and the number of interviewees. + Write a final report  A final report seeks to summarize and capitalize the analysis. This is useful for the MFI and its partners (fund providers and technical support). Include practical recommendations and set deadlines. - It is important to write down your first analysis that you do in order to make the comparison easier between the results of the different methods. - Moreover, it is important to discuss the first results with partners, staff, experts to make the analysis more precise. - Finally, the analysis can be general but it is good to understand if there are other items to consider: rural areas, historic of the groups…

Monday, 27 June When should a needs assessment be conducted? At best, a needs assessment is conducted in the last quarter of the year, in order to gather the information required for the preparation of the following year’s training plan.

Monday, 27 June Any questions ?

Improved socio-economic services for a more social microfinance