• What do you think will be the primary ethical challenges that you might face in conducting needs assessments?

The primary ethical challenge in conducting a needs assessment will be in staying within scope of the assessment. A needs assessment seeks to find the skills gap, which training will allow one to learn and meet those skills to complete tasks. However, during the assessment, an evaluation of communication skills, staff dynamics, and leadership, may show various areas of improvement for the productivity of the workplace. This is often outside of the scope of the   needs assessment. Is this an omission of vital information to the company? During this assessment there may come occasion to learning of negative perceptions of the staff or management during the interviews. If the needs assessment is part of assessing the culture, then a full disclosure is necessary, but if it is not, this is where the difficulty arises. My conclusion is to try to disclose the evidence and perspectives resulting from the assessments and give a well-rounded and systematic recommendations based on the evidence within the scope of the assessment. Trying to work within the system and allow the company to implement changes is the purpose of the needs assessment. The implementation shows the companies willingness and attempt to improve.

The most important lesson I have learned from this chapter on ethics, is we cannot always control others actions, but control our own actions.  I am left with a thought that complicity and loyalty may often align with each-other. We must tread with caution and influence in the ways we are able, as not to be complicit. In this topic of assessing needs, providing the evidence and recommendations allows you to influence any wrongdoing and change it for the positive.