“The cutent issue and fl tex archive ofthis journal is avaiable at ‘woe wsemeraldinsight.comv2046-9012 hum Training needs analysis for bus depot managers at GSRTC Hardik Shah Adani Institute of Infrastructure Management, Ahmedabad, India, and Raj Gopal Indian Administrative Service (AS), Gujarat State Road Transport Corporation, Ahmedabad, India Abstract Purpose ~ With rapid industialization and population growth in the urban and rural area in India, the demand for pubic transport has risen sharply. In the fast changing scenario inthe public transit sector, the ole of a bus depot manager (DM) has also undergone substantial transformation. This paper aims to identify and gauge the organizational and indivicual training needs of DMs, necessary fo design and delivery of effective trsining, Design/methodology/approach ~ Primary data were collected by visting three bus depots, nine indepth interviews with the top management team, 15 in-depth interviews with DMs, peformance data of 15 DMs and a survey of 114 DMs using open ended questions. After primary analysis ranking order instrament was designed and administered to 114 DMs Findings ~ The results explored current an future traning requirements forthe role of bus DMs based on their prefrence and priority. Seven difrentating competencies and ten priority training areas wore denied asing “prio index", Further suggestions have been made for enbancine ‘raining effectiveness Practical implications - The paper provides practical insights into how to conduct traning needs analysis for bis DMs using differentiating competencies and preity index. Training managers may tase such tools to identify taining gaps in diferent roles while designing effective training strategies 1 provides insights into the role of bus DMs, current and future role requirements, seven iferentating competencies and training gaps in te role of « DM. Research limitations/implications ~ Tie ‘nds are yesented bs on une singe role in ve organization only, e DMs of Gujarat State Road Transport Corporation (GSRTO. Replication studies should examine diferent roles across different functions Originality/value - This paper investigates how to identify taining needs for depot managers ‘using differentiating competencies and priority index. It provides inferences om how t align business objectives, individual performance and taining needs The tools used are ready-to-use and replicable {or different roles in medium and large MNCS. Keywords Bus depot managers, Training nods analysis (TNA), Differentiating competencies, Prirty index, Transportation secor, Transporation, Read transport, Managers, Training needs Paper type Research paper ‘The authors wish to acknowledge the top management executives, heads of departments and all the bus depot managers for their whole-hearted participation in the research. The authors would also lke to thank Dr Bakul Dholakia, Director, AIIM, CK. Koshi, Director, ISPE, Shiv Jadeja, Manager-BD, ISPE, and Prof. Harismita Trivedi, Nirma University, for their continued support, ‘guidance and co-operation, ‘Training needs for bus DMs 527 Recsived 28 June 2011 Revised 23 November 2011 Accepted 21 February 2012 Emerald pan ra ct Taig and