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Needs Assessment Cycle

Randa H. Driscoll
CUR/528 Assessment of Learning
April, 27, 2015
Saddeeqah Johnson

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Introduction
During the ERS CIC Planning session, it was identified that there are gaps/differences in
the mentoring process across all five contact center sites and there appears to be a need to
develop designated peer coaches/mentors to continue a new employees development. While
some contact center leaders have ensured there is a 1:1 ratio of peer coaches when the new
employees transition to the center for the first week out of the classroom, other centers have not
instituted this stringent of a mentoring program. There is misinterpretation of what an effective
peer coach/mentor role and responsibilities are, as well as a lack of process alignment in
mentoring new employees transitioning to the call center. As a result of this meeting and initial
conversation with key stakeholders, a Statement of Work for the needs assessment was created.
Needs Assessment Parameters
The Learning & Development (L&D) team is partnering with the Assistant Vice President
of ERS Customer Interactions Centers (CIC) and Operations Directors of ERS (CIC) to develop
a learning solution for ERS Peer Mentors, and Leadership staff; including but not limited to,
Directors, Inbound Operations Managers, Inbound Operations Supervisors and Product
Responsible, who are responsible for ensuring new employees are successful in processing ERS
calls post classroom training. Because of the inconsistencies in the mentoring process across all
five sites, and the need to align processes, as well as the perceived need for training peer
coaches/mentors, a comprehensive needs assessment will be conducted within a six week period.
Information needed
Because there are several aspects to the initial request for this project, the needs assessment
will have several components.

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1. The first component is to define the differences in the on the job training (OJT) process in
each contact center site. Defining each centers process for transitioning new employees
from the classroom to the contact center and the rationale for these processes and
comparing these processes to the new employees performance metrics, observation
scores conducted by Learning and Development and Center Management, as well as the
attrition rates to determine best practices in the OJT process.
2. The second component is to conduct a performance analysis of what a peer coach/mentor
roles and responsibilities are, the expected knowledge, skills and attitudes and what, if
any, perceived training is necessary by the contact center operations management.
Analyzing the feedback collected through post OJT surveys focusing on the sections that
address mentor and leadership support, and consistencies of policies and procedure
learned in training and in OJT will be useful in validating the expected roles,
responsibilities, knowledge, skills and attitudes of peer coaches/mentors.
3. The third component of the needs assessment will be to hold focus group meetings with a
group of Supervisors representing each contact centers to obtain feedback on the current
state of the knowledge, skills and attitudes of peer coaches and what the future state of
peer coaches/mentors should be, as well as their role in supporting the process to develop
staff.
4. The fourth component of the needs assessment will be to hold focus groups meeting with
a group of peer coaches/mentors representing each of the contact centers to obtain their
feedback on what knowledge, skills and abilities they perceive as needed professional
development.

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Existing information
Due to the nature of this four pronged approach to the needs assessment, it is important to
have the necessary qualitative and quantitative data from several sources. The following data
and their sources will be used:
1. OJT plans provided by each centers Operations Directors.
2. New employees performance metrics who were hired within the last six months from the
30, 60 and 90 day marks of employment. This information can be obtained from the
Workforce Management Group.
3. Service observation reports of new employees hired within the last six months at 60 day
mark of employment and compare with service observations conducted by Learning
Specialists. This information can be obtained from employee record provided by the
Supervisors and the Learning Specialist records.
4. Attrition report of new employees hired within the last six months and who have left the
organization within 90 days of employment, to include the reason for leaving. This
information can be provided by Manager of HR recruiting for Automotive Services
business unit.
5. Post OJT survey results obtained at the 45 day mark of employment from new employees
hired within the last six months. This information can be obtained from the contact
center recruiting group.
Needs Assessment Plan
The needs assessment process is a lot of work and can take a significant amount of time,
particularly when collecting data from resources in external departments. Depending on these
resources to compile information that is outside of their day to day job duties requires

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commitment from project sponsors and key stakeholders to ensure timely reporting and
availability of needed resources. Learning & Development (L&D) will assume responsibilities
for project management, in partnership with key ERS stakeholders and designated personnel,
obtaining the existing data for analysis and the development of focus group questions for the
purposes of the needs assessment.
Roles, responsibilities are established in the Needs Assessment Statement of work and an
overview is as follows:

Executive Sponsor: Senior V.P. of Automotive Services. Reviews the final report of
the needs assessment and approves recommended development solutions

Project Sponsor: V.P. of ERS Customer Interaction Center. Reviews project plan with
Learning & Development project manager on a weekly basis. Monitors the service
levels of the project and intervenes when necessary to ensure timely results of
existing information. Reviews the focus group questions and provides any additional
information needed to gather. Reviews the final draft of the needs assessment report
and has first level approval of recommended development solutions.

Stakeholders: Directors of ERS Customer Interaction Center from all five sites.
Obtains and/or compiles their perspective centers OJT plan. Participates in the
comparison and analysis of the OJT plans. Assigns designated contact center
personnel to obtain existing data, as follows:
o Inbound Operations Managers: Assigns Key Supervisors to participate in
focus group and collaborates with Supervisors to select two peer coaches to
participate in focus group discussions. Ensures availability of participants for
focus groups.

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o Workforce Management Team Lead: Compiles the Key performance metrics
of new employees hired within the last six months to include Customer
Quality Surveys with focus on the Telephone Representative attributes.
Compiles service observation scores for new employees hired within the last
six months.
o Inbound Operations Supervisors: Collect service observation forms for
workforce management report.

Automotive Services Human Resources Manager: Designates contacts for obtaining

Attrition Reports and the Post OJT New Employee survey results from new
employees hired within the last six months.

Learning & Development Project Manager: Schedules weekly meetings with Project
Sponsor to review progress. Develops focus group questions and reviews with project
sponsor. Assigns key learning and development personnel to conduct focus group
meetings for Supervisors and Peer Coaches/Mentors. Collects Service Observation
data from the Learning Specialists. Develops Statement of Work (SOW) for needs
assessment, project plan, establishes schedules and monitors service levels of
assigned resources. Collaborates with the stakeholders to review data collected and
determines the development solution, Compiles report of the needs assessment results
and reviews final draft with Project Sponsor and provides final report to Executive
Sponsor, Project Sponsor and Stakeholders with findings. Collaborates with
Instructional Designers to design and develop the training solution as deemed
necessary.
Conclusion

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Critical to the long term success of the organizations core service, establishing a
measurable peer coaching/mentoring process that is consistent across all sites will positively
influence employee growth and development, decrease time to competency, provide needed
support in making new employees transition to the job efficiently and effectively, as well as
possibly reduce attrition rates within 90 days of hire and the need for additional training classes.