How to Prioritise Training Needs Across a Team or Organisation

After performance reviews, most organisations don't struggle to identify training needs.

They struggle to choose between them.

One team needs leadership development.

Another needs communication skills.

Managers are asking for support with difficult conversations.

Employees want development opportunities.

Everyone has a valid case.

But most organisations don't have:

• Unlimited budget

• Unlimited time

• Unlimited capacity

Which means somebody has to decide what happens first.

And that's often where things stall.

Not because the needs aren't real.

Because there are simply too many competing priorities.

The organisations that get the most value from training aren't necessarily the ones investing the most.

They're the ones making better prioritisation decisions.

And perhaps most importantly, they're able to explain and justify those decisions.

Every manager believes their team's needs are important.

Every employee wants development opportunities.

And they're usually right.

The challenge isn't deciding whether development matters.

It's deciding where limited budget, time and resources will have the greatest impact.

That's what effective prioritisation is really about.

This guide will help you do exactly that.

A Common Mistake

After performance reviews, many organisations create a long list of development actions and then try to tackle all of them.

The result?

• Training becomes fragmented

• Budgets get stretched

• Development feels reactive

• Impact becomes difficult to measure

Prioritisation isn't about ignoring development needs.

It's about deciding what will create the biggest impact first.

If you're still at the stage of converting performance review comments into development actions, you may find it helpful to start with our guide on turning performance review feedback into effective development plans before prioritising wider training needs.

Step 1: Start With Themes, Not Individuals

If you've reviewed performance feedback, you'll already have a mix of:

• Individual development requests

• Manager observations

• General capability concerns

The first step is to look for patterns.

👉 Don't prioritise people. Prioritise themes.

Example

Instead of:

• 8 people need confidence training

• 5 people need influencing skills

• 6 people struggle with feedback conversations

Group them into:

• Confidence and personal impact

• Influencing and communication

• Difficult conversations

Why this matters

Training at a theme level:

• Scales better

• Has wider impact

• Creates consistency

• Is easier to justify commercially

Internal link to Blog 2: The Most Common Training Needs Identified in Performance Reviews

If you haven't already grouped feedback into common themes, our guide to the most common training needs identified in performance reviews can help you identify the recurring capability gaps emerging from performance feedback.

Step 2: Prioritise Business Risk Before Development Requests

Not all training needs have the same impact.

Some are valuable.

Others are critical.

Ask yourself:

👉 If we don't address this, what happens?

High-impact signals

The issue:

• Affects team performance

• Creates delays or inefficiency

• Impacts customers or stakeholders

• Causes conflict, errors or rework

• Prevents managers from managing effectively

Lower-impact signals

The issue is:

• Primarily a personal preference

• A general development interest

• Helpful, but not urgent

Example

Managers avoiding performance conversations?

👉 High impact.

Someone wanting to improve presentation style?

👉 Potentially useful, but often lower priority.

This isn't about deciding what's important to individuals.

It's about identifying what matters most to organisational performance.

Step 3: Look for Scale, Not Noise

Some development needs are loud.

Others are widespread.

The widespread issues are usually where the biggest opportunities sit.

Example

You might see:

• One strong request for negotiation training

• Multiple mentions of poor communication

• Repeated feedback around stakeholder management

👉 Communication and stakeholder management are likely to have greater organisational impact.

Why this matters

Training that addresses a recurring issue:

• Delivers better ROI

• Improves consistency

• Creates wider behavioural change

• Is easier to measure

When several teams are struggling with the same capability gap, that's usually a strong signal for action.

Step 4: Use a Simple Prioritisation Test

When several development needs appear equally important, a simple framework can help.

Ask three questions:

1. How many people does this affect?

• One individual

• A team

• Multiple departments

• Organisation-wide

2. What happens if we do nothing?

• Little impact

• Reduced performance

• Increased risk

• Direct business impact

3. Does it support a business priority?

• Nice to have

• Helpful

• Important

• Critical

The training needs that score highly across all three questions should usually move to the top of the list.

This approach won't remove every difficult decision, but it provides a more objective way to assess competing priorities.

Step 5: Consider Audience and Level

Not all training needs require the same solution.

Ask:

• Who is this for?

• What level are they operating at?

• What experience do they already have?

Example

Leadership training could mean very different things.

For a new manager:

• Delegation

• Giving feedback

• Managing performance

For a senior leader:

• Strategic leadership

• Organisational influence

• Leading change

Why this matters

Getting the level wrong often leads to:

• Disengaged learners

• Poor outcomes

• Wasted budget

The right topic delivered to the wrong audience rarely achieves the desired result.

Step 6: Balance Quick Wins With Longer-Term Development

A strong development plan usually includes both.

Quick wins

Typically:

• Easier to deliver

• Faster to implement

• More visible in the short term

Examples:

• Communication skills

• Influencing skills

• Presentation skills

• Difficult conversations

Longer-term capability building

Typically:

• More strategic

• More transformational

• Takes longer to embed

Examples:

• Leadership development

• Commercial awareness

• Culture change

• Organisational capability programmes

👉 The best development plans balance both.

Quick wins create momentum.

Longer-term development creates lasting impact.

Step 7: Align Training to Business Priorities

This is where training becomes more than just development.

👉 It becomes a business decision.

Ask:

• What are we trying to improve as an organisation?

• Where are the biggest pressure points?

• What outcomes matter most this year?

Example

If the organisation is:

Growing rapidly
→ Leadership capability becomes critical.

Struggling with delivery
→ Communication, project and stakeholder skills become important.

Experiencing high pressure
→ Resilience and wellbeing may become a priority.

Why this matters

When development supports business priorities, it's easier to:

• Gain buy-in

• Secure budget

• Demonstrate value

• Measure outcomes

Example in Practice

Imagine your performance review process identifies:

• 12 requests for presentation skills training

• 8 requests for resilience training

• 15 new managers struggling with performance conversations

• 20 employees manually producing reports every month

At first glance, all three look important.

Many organisations instinctively prioritise the most requested topic.

But the management capability gap may actually have the biggest organisational impact.

Why?

Because effective managers influence:

• Team performance

• Employee engagement

• Retention

• Productivity

• Workplace culture

This is where prioritisation becomes more than counting requests.

It's about assessing impact.

Putting It All Together

A simple prioritisation process looks like this:

1. Identify themes

Group feedback into common capability gaps.

2. Assess business impact

Focus on what affects performance most.

3. Look for scale

Prioritise recurring issues.

4. Apply the prioritisation test

Consider reach, risk and business relevance.

5. Define the audience

Match training to the right level and role.

6. Balance delivery

Combine quick wins with longer-term development.

7. Align to business priorities

Ensure training supports wider organisational goals.

A Practical Starting Point

If you're working through multiple training needs, our Training Needs Analysis Tool can help provide a useful starting point.

It helps you:

• Categorise challenges

• Identify likely training routes

• Narrow down options quickly

It's designed as a guide rather than a full solution, but it can help you sense-check your thinking and move faster.

Need Help Prioritising Your Training Needs?

Identifying training needs is one thing.

Deciding where to focus first is often the harder challenge.

If you're reviewing performance feedback and trying to build a practical development plan, we're happy to help.

👉 Tell us what you’re trying to improve and we’ll help you identify the right development solution
👉 Or explore our leadership and personal development courses

About the Author

Emma-Jane Haigh

Leadership and People Development Specialist, Executive Coach, and Facilitator. Emma-Jane designs and delivers training that helps managers and teams strengthen communication, build resilience, and lead with confidence. At Underscore, she runs leadership, management, and project management programmes focused on practical skills and real workplace impact.