Well trained and educated workforce is critical to the company’s success. One of the important responsibilities of a human resource manager is to provide current and really needed training for various groups of employees. The author determines the main factors affecting training needs. Human resource staff and training consultants are recommended to use various information resources in the assessment of contemporary demands for training planning. The author offers to use the following methods of gathering necessary data: structured observation, interviews and content analysis of text documents. Detailed examples can make general recommendations the practical guide to assess training needs.