Kim McIntyre CUR/528 October 6, 2014 Martha Kennedy NEEDS ASSESSMENT CYCLE 2
Needs Assessment Cycle Step 1. Statement of needs assessment purpose: a) The purpose of the needs assessment The purpose of this needs assessment is to determine what kinds of performance, employee skills, knowledge, managing issues, are influencing the organizational workforce effectiveness. In addition, the assessment provides a means of identifying gaps within current empathy procedures, training, or measurement standards. The intention of this needs assessment is to provide data related to identifying areas of existing gaps and the possible steps to close and eliminate gaps in empathy understanding or procedures. This needs assessment involves identifying the skills required to successfully engage customers and provide an excellent interaction between all-fielding customer service representatives and customers. The assessment will involve the following areas of examination: Does the organization currently maintain the required labor force that allows the company to succeed in maintaining empathy goals in an efficacious manner? Is the organization hiring new employees with the prerequisite empathy skills? Is there a benefit to hiring new employees from staffing agencies that engage in pre- screening candidates to determine if those individuals meet empathy skill levels? Do inter-departmental issues occur and lend to problematic understanding of empathy procedures for new or current employees? Do current empathy training courses effectively build empathy skills to assist employees in successful application of the required skills, or frustrate employees to the point of disregarding procedural empathy practices? Are the organizational methods to assist with the development of future employee empathy needs, trained and implemented correctly by trainers? How is customer retention issues linked to current employee empathy training procedures effect financial or operational outcomes? What is the degree of difference between high performing employees meeting organizational empathy requirements and other employees? Are there implementable changes the organization can use to improve to meet employee empathy standards? b) The level of assessment is organizational wide. The assessment requires the organization to look at the issue of empathy procedures and determine if any areas of training development, active training, mentoring, direct management, or a gap in employees skills are causing required standards to remain unmet. Scheduling bi-weekly review meetings provides a method of acknowledging any significant unmet needs, and organizational acknowledgment and agreement for expanding the assessment parameters if warranted.
c) Information gathered from stakeholders includes existing customers, training department and staff (trainers and mentors), managerial staff, supervisors, and employees. NEEDS ASSESSMENT CYCLE 3
d) Time allotted for the project involves a three months. The time allotted should provide significant data required to view results regarding substantial data required to identify problematic areas for existing empathy procedural issues.
e) The budget costs regarding the assessment process consists of hiring one new individual for the completion of unbiased observational data gathering. The position involves a contractual basis, ending at the end of data completion and debriefing. The cost for contracting services is $5,000 during the one-month period allotted for significant observational data gathering, in the event that the one-month period is not sufficient. Additionally, the creation of surveys or rating instruments requires time but no significant increase of operational costs. The current organizational polling practice with customers provides employee skill data required for assessment purposes. If needed, an increase of hours for assessment staff will be requested.
Step 2. Specific information required for assessment The assessments goal is to determine why the company is not meeting empathy standards. Empathy practices currently in place will be examined and assessed for communicative issues. Assessment will provide information regarding other existing gap that creating or leading to the lack of understanding or application by employees. Specific information required for the empathy assessment includes customer-polling data, retrieved at the end of customer service calls fielded by employees. Observational data gathered through a contract unbiased source. Data retrieved from training curriculum information, and current skill building procedures. Data obtained from employees ratings for management procedures. Data obtained during observational procedures training classes and floor mentoring for new employees.
Step 3. Existing and obtainable data resources Other data gathering and research can be obtained within the organization. Existing polling data from includes empathy questions provided to current customers at the end of each service call. Surveys for employees can be accomplished, anonymously, at the end of training courses, and requesting that all current employees complete a rating standard involving that involves managing staff. Step 4. Identification of empathy measurements required for the needs assessment. Three levels of needs are utilized for the assessment and evaluation process (Miller, 2011). The first consists of organizational analysis. The organizational analysis allows the assessment to gage the effectiveness of current organizational standards. This allows if further training is needed for empathy development and the conditions involved with implementation of new NEEDS ASSESSMENT CYCLE 4
training. Organizational level will also include determining how the use of technology (through observational assessment) is possibly creating any related problems for empathy procedures to occur and meet organizational standards (i.e. slow computers increasing call times creating frustration with customers or employees). Finally, hiring practices can be assessed to determine if new employees meet the organizational standards to begin training. The second consists of task analysis. Areas involved with task analysis involve improving employee knowledge and skills related to empathy procedures with customers. Another area of task analysis provides assessment information related to training deficits that occur prior to employees taking the floor to field incoming customer calls. This allows assessment to determine how efficiently organizational standards are being achieved. The third and final area of assessment will consist of individual analysis. The individual analysis provides assessment information regarding skills, attitudes, abilities, and knowledge that transfer to achieving organizational standards for productively and compliance to meeting organizational empathy standards. Step 5. Methodology and Instrumentation of Web-based Employee Survey One area of development for methodology and instrumentation involves the use of a web-based employee survey. The survey provides assessment measurements for managerial staff from the employee perspective, while allowing complete anonymity for employees (Royse, Thyer, & Padgett, 2009). Web-based Employee Survey: October 6, 2014 Dear Employees:
Thank you for participating in the companys Employee Survey. This survey allows quality assurance to improve current workplace procedures that will provide paths for success! One of the factors currently being assessed is procedural empathy practices and understanding. The companys overall goal is creating a successful work environment that listens to how employees feel about the transfer of skills during and after training and mentoring has completed. Assessing this information allows the company to understand how we are meeting employee expectations, and understand employee feelings, thoughts, and interpretations of building valuable skills. This survey was designed with questions regarding management and training staff that provides employees with the opportunity to anonymously rate empathy practices. The survey provides the company an ability to assess any changes occurring from the training, mentoring floor, or management levels regarding applied empathy procedures. The survey also provides an opportunity for employees to make positive suggestions for improving current empathy practices. NEEDS ASSESSMENT CYCLE 5
Thank you for participating!
Instructions: Please choose the from the survey items provided below and use the submit button provided below the survey, after completion. Please remember that these responses assist the company in providing employees a better workplace. Please respond to every item listed in the survey.
Organizational Empathy Strongly Disagree Disagree No Opinion Agree Strongly Agree 1. I understand empathy procedures to assist customers
2. Training provided sufficient empathy information that builds customer rapport
3. Managers provide information that correlates to training practices involving empathy
4. Handle time for customer calls influence application of company empathy practices
5. The training I receive reinforces empathy towards customers
6. Managers take part in training that enhances effectiveness
7. The company provides organized procedures that identifies employee growth for empathy skill needs and applying
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corresponding solutions 8. I am provided new training opportunities that improve empathy procedures
9. My training mentor or manager provides understandable feedback on how to improve empathy skills
10. My manager provided me different empathy practices than were covered in training
11. Mentors provided different empathy practices than training
12. Information received from management is different than what actually occurs for empathy procedures
If the company creates improvements for the above areas, is there one item you believe requires more attention to improve the empathy procedures for the company? Number of survey question: Suggested improvements
Summary In conclusion, this needs assessment should provide all the relevant assessment data required to determine current organizational issues that are influencing the effectiveness of providing customers with proper empathy interaction during service calls. The assessment provides an NEEDS ASSESSMENT CYCLE 7
organizational-wide look at what areas are currently creating barriers to effectively empathizing with customers wants and needs.
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References Miller, J. A. (2011). Training needs assessment. Retrieved from http://thetrainernetwork.wordpress.com/2011/02/05/training-needs-assessment/ Royse, D., Thyer, B., & Padgett, D. (2009). Program evaluation: An introduction (5 th ed.). Belmont, CA: Cengage Learning.