The traditional gap analysis report is used by companies to compare their current performance with the expected level of performance. The analysis helps to determine that the company is meeting its desired expectations using the available resources in an effective manner.
The four steps for preparing the gap analysis report are:
Constructing the organizational goals: The very first step is to redefine the organizational goals. These goals should be realistic, attainable, and moreover specific.
Benchmarking the current state: In this step, the current performance of the organization is measured using the historical data.
Analyze the gap data: In the third step, analysis of the data collected is done in order to understand why the current performance is low than the desired performance.
Compile a report: In the last step, a report is compiled which is based upon the quantitative data collected. Here qualitative reasons for not being able to achieve the desired results are given and corrective actions for the achievement of desired performance are mentioned.
It is certainly not possible for organizations that every time they make the best use of their resources and achieve the desired results as human error is inevitable. It is here when gap analysis proves to be helpful.
In the gap analysis as defined by the four steps, it is determined that what has caused to create a gap between the desired and the current performance. It opens room for improvement.