What Does a Good Workplace Needs Assessment Report Include?

Putting it simply Workplace Needs Assessment (WNA) report will be a document that both individual and their employer can look at and know exactly what to do next. That means, it provides a clear, structured overview of what the employee needs to do their job effectively, without medical/academic jargon, unnecessary complexity or vague recommendations.

In this guide, we explain what to expect from your Workplace Needs Assessment report.

What Is the Purpose of the Report?

The WNA report is the tangible outcome of the assessment conversation. It captures:

• The challenges or barriers the employee is facing

• What’s working well already, including the individuals strengths

• What needs to change to support them in the workplace

• A tailored set of reasonable adjustment recommendations

The report provides the employer with a clear, implementable plan that enables them to meet their duties under the Equality Act 2010 and create a more inclusive, productive environment.

Legal and Ethical Considerations

A workplace needs assessment does not provide a diagnosis or any comment on medical diagnosis, it’s purpose is to focus on what challenges and barriers are faced in the workplace and adjustments that can be made to remove those barriers.

A report should use inclusive, respectful language that follows how the individual self-identifies their challenges and with a focus on needs rather than labels.

The report should keep sensitive personal and medical information to an absolute minimum, sharing only what the employer needs to know to provide the right support and what the individual is comfortable sharing.

The report should be written in a style that’s neurodivergent friendly, plain English, dyslexic friendly fonts and using bullet points to create lists rather than walls of text. This makes the report easy to read, scan and refer back to whenever needed.

It’s more than a report

The report should not be the end, it’s the beginning of a conversation and plan to implement the recommendations.

Following receipt of the report, the employee and line Manager should discuss it’s contents and agree a plan. It may be useful to implement recommendations in stages to avoid overwhelm and ensure there is time to learn new tools.

A review should be built into the plan, recommendations are made based on information known at the time, some tools suggested may appear perfect on paper but in reality not work for the individual. Changes to management style may take some time to embed. It’s important that the adjustments are reviewed after a few months and further changes made as needed.

When you get a report from Silk Helix you get template plans and forms to record feedback on recommendations plus a review meeting with us to adjust recommendations if needed. We don’t just write the report and forget, we want to see that it’s working and if not, we’ll go back to the drawing board and support with the next steps.

📥 Ready to Book?

Whether you’re supporting an employee or requesting support for yourself, you’ll get a report that is person-centred, legally compliant and providing practical adjustments you can really implement. Book a Free Consultation with Jenefer for more information or email jenefer@silkhelix.co.uk to book your assessment.

Article last updated: 21 July 2025