Performance appraisals are used to identify individual training needs by assessing whether employees have the required knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform their work properly. A needs assessment identifies performance gaps between the required and actual performance levels. There are several techniques for analyzing the organization, jobs, and individuals to determine the sources of performance gaps and whether they result from a lack of knowledge, skills, or abilities that could be addressed through training. The output of a training needs assessment identifies both training needs to address performance gaps caused by deficiencies, as well as non-training needs caused by other issues like policies, processes, or motivation.