Meaning & use
TNA
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Meanings
abbreviationbusiness
Training needs analysis: the process of working out what skills and knowledge employees still need to learn.
Grammar: Countable in business writing: 'a TNA', 'carry out a TNA'.
Patterns
- carry out a TNA
- conduct a TNA
- a TNA of something
Before booking any courses, the company carried out a TNA across all departments.
The TNA showed that most staff needed better spreadsheet skills.
abbreviationBritishmedical
Temporary nursing agency: a company that supplies nurses to hospitals for short periods.
Grammar: Used mainly in British job advertisements, often before a noun: 'TNA work'.
Patterns
- work for a TNA
- TNA shift
- TNA staff
She picked up a few TNA shifts while she finished her degree.
The ward was short-staffed, so the manager called a TNA.
Common combinations
- carry out a TNA
- Managers should carry out a TNA before choosing a training provider.
- TNA process
- The TNA process starts with interviews and questionnaires.
- TNA shift
- He earns extra money by working TNA shifts at weekends.
Synonyms and how they differ
- skills audit
- A skills audit checks what people can already do, while a TNA focuses on the gaps and the training needed to fill them.
Commonly confused: TNA or T&A?
TNA vs T&A
T&An is a different abbreviation for 'terms and conditions' in some contracts; TNA is about training needs or agency nursing.
Practice
An HR manager says: 'We need to find out which skills our staff are missing.' Which term describes this step?
Choose one answer.
A TNA (training needs analysis) identifies missing skills. A KPI is a performance measure, not a study of learning gaps.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “TNA”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.