Arcs Needs Assessment Strategy

ARCS NEEDS ANALYSIS STRATEGY
DECEMBER 18, 2015

PROJECT DESCRIPTION
The management team of PJ Enterprises has set a goal to
increase catalog sales from ten million last year to thirteen million
this upcoming year. In order to achieve this goal, PJ Enterprises
has set a key business objective to focus on quality and customer
service with a goal of ten percent improvement on current
customer service scores. At this time fifty percent of the catalog
customers do not plan to do business with PJ Enterprises, due to
perceived poor customer service. In addition it is known that two
out of three customers surveyed have complaints about the
telephone operator in the areas of product knowledge, telephone
etiquette and prompt response to calls waiting in the queue.
Customers have expressed frustration, specifically, that after a
long wait time to speak to an operator, and they are asked to call
back or are redirected to speak to a supervisor.
To improve the customer service, PJ Enterprises has tasked Team
ARCS with creating a new training program with the focus of
increasing the operators and supervisors knowledge and skills in
describing the features and benefits of the products in the
catalog. Prior to determining the best way to serve PJ Enterprises,
Team ARCS has requested permission to conduct research to
determine the cause of the gap between the current state and the
targeted state of ten percent increase in customer service scores.
In doing this research, Team ARCS will strive to discover the
specific reasons for customer dissatisfaction and with this
information provide recommendations on the best approach to
increase the catalog departments customer satisfaction scores.
INFORMATION NEEDED
The following list contains the information ARCS needs for the
needs assessment:
o
o
o
o
O
Customer satisfaction scores

Turnover rate figures
Sales figures
Employee exit interviews
The most recent performance reviews and self-evaluation
reports
ARCS Needs Analysis Strategy
o
o
o
o
o
o
Job descriptions for customer service/telephone operators

Policies/Procedures Handbook
Current training documents for new hires
The last 6 weeks of schedules for the telephone operators
Procedure for the Incentive Program
Phone system reporting on wait time
TEAM STRATEGY
In order to obtain necessary information, ARCS will use these
strategies:
Observation
Secret shopper
Surveys of employees
Interviews
Focus Groups
Metric Analysis
ANALYSIS PLAN
Details of ARCSs strategies for obtaining information follow:
RESEARCH
METHOD
TARGET
AUDIENC
E
INFORMATION
YOU HOPE TO
GAIN
TEAM
MEMBER
RESPONSIB
LE
1.
Observation
Telephone
Operators
(TO)
Insight into behavior,

skill, and processes
Christine
Kephart
2.
Observation
Customer
Insight into behavior,
Service
skill, and processes
Supervisors
(CSS)
Christine
Kephart
3.
Secret
Shopper
Telephone
Operators
Rachel Larson
Determine which
specific factors are
leading to customer
service
dissatisfaction.
RESEARCH
METHOD
TARGET
AUDIENC
E
INFORMATION
YOU HOPE TO
GAIN
TEAM
MEMBER
RESPONSIB
LE
4.
Employee
Survey
Telephone
Operators
Perceptions of job
Allegra Coe
performance and
procedures, attitudes,
degree of job
satisfaction.
5.
Interviews
Manageme
nt
Facts and details

Susan Whalen
about current state of
company in all
departments of the
organization and their
processes. Is staffing
adequate for PJs
mission and vision?
Are there internal
factors contributing
to the high level of
job turnover?
6.
Interviews
Trainers
Specific questions
about TO/CSS
training, such as how
it was developed,
training tools and
approaches,
assessment, etc
7.
Focus Groups
Telephone
Operators
Information about
Christine
attitudes and feelings Kephart
towards the tangible
and intangible
aspects of the
position.
8.
Metric
Analysis
PJ
Enterprises
Understanding about
the gap between
where PJ Enterprises
currently is and
where it wants to be;
help pinpoint specific
areas of struggle.
Christine
Kephart
Christine
Kephart
ACTIVITY ONE - OBSERVATION OF TELEPHONE OPERATORS CK

Details of Activity/Method
ARCS will make announced and prearranged observations to
ensure that the observation can be scheduled and that the
observers presence is understood and acceptable; ARCS will
obtain any necessary permission from PJ Enterprises.
Even with the understanding that the more observations, the
more complete the information, ARCS is considering the feasibility
of conducting observations of all 25 phone operators; it is not a
prohibitive number but a sampling of the 25 operators might be
preferable if there are time or other constraints.
Purpose of Activity
To gain insight into the behavior and manner of telephone
operators so that ARCS can answer such questions as: Does PJ
Enterprises need more operators or better training? If training,
what type of training? What about incentives, support,
equipment? What will observation reveal about the companys
focus on staff development and recognition?
Specific Behaviors/Attitudes to be observed:
Timeliness of answering calls in queue (system is designed to

answer calls in about 2 mins)
Duration of calls (to understand why 3 calls/hr v. 6 calls/hr)
Ability to answer questions
Skill in describing features and benefits of products
Types of questions asked (i.e., about catalog items) v. types of
questions reps are able to answer
Ability, ease, and timeliness of accessing item information
Skill in using and user-friendliness of equipment for accessing
info (hardware and software systems, database)
Phone etiquette for: standard greeting, placing an order,
conducting the customer-service survey, transferring customer
to supervisor when necessary
Behaviors or comments exhibited in down time; space for
taking breaks
Interactions between phone operators and supervisors
Workspace description and layout adequacy for performing TO
tasks
ACTIVITY TWO OBSERVATION OF CUSTOMER SERVICE SUPERVISORS CK

ARCS will conduct announced and prearranged observations to

ensure that the observation can be scheduled and that the
observers presence is understood and acceptable; ARCS will
obtain any necessary permissions from PJ Enterprises. All 4
customer services supervisors will be observed.
Purpose of Activity
ARCS would like to gain insight into the behavior and manner of
supervisors in order to answer such questions as: Does PJ need
more supervisors? How are supervisors trained? What are the
incentives, support, equipment, and environment at PJ
Enterprises?
Specific Behaviors/Attitudes to be Observed:
Timeliness of answering calls in queue: how much time to

answer? How many rings?
Duration of calls
Ability to address complaints
Types of complaints received, types of complaints supers are
able to address satisfactorily
Ability and method of accessing complaint information
Duration of calls from understanding a given complaint before
talking to a customer to resolving the issue
Accessibility/ease of access to complaint information
Process for escalating calls, if this occurs
Phone etiquette
Behaviors or comments exhibited in down time
Interactions between supervisors and telephone operators
ACTIVITY THREE - S ECRET SHOPPER TARGETING TELEPHONE OPERATORS

This strategy provides an unbiased perception and evaluation
from an outside perspective and will be used to determine which
of the following could be factors leading to customer service
dissatisfaction:
Wait times as evaluated by different days and times during the

days
Quality of the phone system
Perceived service provided by the telephone operator
Ability of the operator to answer questions using provided
resources
If unable to answer questions, evaluate the solutions that are
offered by the operators
Directions for Secret Shop Strategy Implementation:

A secret shop company will be selected to evaluate the telephone
operators at PJ Enterprises. 70 calls will be made over the course
of one week each by a different secret shopper. The calls will be
conducted following a schedule that outlines the set times and
days for each shop. PJ Enterprises supervisors will provide a
numbered product/feature listing to the secret shop company.
The list will include thirty current catalog products along with five
common product knowledge questions for each item. The secret
shoppers will be required to ask two questions from the supplied
list. The secret shopper will be required to make a purchase
during this call and will be given an agreed upon credit towards
their purchase. The shopper has to answer the survey completely
and the secret shop company will provide the survey and
purchase receipt to ARCS within 72 hours of the call placed.
TIME
SUNDA
MONDA
TUESDA
WEDNESD
THURSDA
AY
FRIDAY
SATURDA
Y
8am to
10am
10am to
12pm
4pm to 6pm 2
8pm to
10pm
2am to 4am 2
Secret Shop Survey

Questions to Ask
1. Secret shopper name:
2. List the date of the call:
3. List the time of the call:
4. What was the wait time in minutes and seconds on hold before
speaking with the customer service representative? __ min __
sec
5. Rate your satisfaction with the amount of wait time before

speaking with an operator?
a. Exceeded expectations
b. Met expectations
c. Did not meet expectations
6. What was the name of the operator that answered your call?
7. Was the greeting you received (insert standard greeting).
a. Yes
b. No
8. Check the box that best described the tone of voice in the
greeting you received from the telephone operator.
a. Sincere, welcoming and professional
b. Neutral
c. Insincere, unwelcoming and unprofessional
9. Could you clearly understand the telephone operator during
the call?
a. Yes
b. No, check any that apply
Unable to understand the operator
Unable to hear the operator due to volume
Unable to hear the operator due to background noise
10.How well did you feel the customer service representative
understood what you were saying?
a. Extremely well
b. Quite well
c. Moderately well
d. Slightly well
e. Not at all
11.When you asked the operator about a feature on the 1 st
product, the question was answered:
a. Promptly
b. Had to wait less than 30 seconds for the question to be
research and answered
c. Had to wait longer than 30 seconds for the question to be
d. The telephone operator could not answer the question
List the number of the question you asked from the master
list:
12.When you asked the operator about a feature on the 2 nd
product, the question was answered:
a. Promptly
b. Had to wait less than 30 seconds for the question to be

c. Had to wait longer than 30 seconds for the question to be
d. The telephone operator could not answer the question
List the number of the question you asked from the master
list:
13.If the telephone operator couldnt answer the question what
was offered:
a. The operator offered to call back with the information
b. The operator offered to transfer the call to the supervisor
c. The operator did not offer any alternatives
d. N/A the operator could answer the questions
14.When you asked questions the operator used a tone of voice
that was:
a. Sincere, welcoming and professional
b. Neutral
c. Insincere, unwelcoming and unprofessional
15.How knowledgeable did the customer service representative
seem to you?
a. Extremely knowledgeable
b. Quite knowledgeable
c. Moderately knowledgeable
d. Slightly knowledgeable
e. Not at all knowledgeable
16.Did the telephone operator close the conversation with a
sincere offer inviting you to call again for your next order?
a. Yes, the offer was made and was sincere
b. Yes, the offer was made but was insincere
c. No, the offer was not made
17.How would you rate the ease of placing the order?
a. Extremely easy
b. Quite easy
c. Moderately easy
d. Slightly easy
e. Not at all easy
18.Based on your experience, how likely would you be to place an
order for a product based on the service you received.
a. Very likely
b. Likely
c. Undecided
d. Not likely
e. Very unlikely
ACTIVITY FOUR SURVEY OF EMPLOYEES

ARCS will conduct an employee survey of all telephone operators
working in customer service at PJ Enterprises. All telephone
operators will be given the survey and ARCS expects an 80%
participation rate. Participation in the survey will be voluntary but
incentivized by a gift card of $25. Survey questions consist of
both multiple choice questions and constructed responses that
offer the participants the opportunity to describe, explain or
further elaborate on responses.
Questions to Ask
1. How would you rate your current level of job satisfaction?
o
Excellent
Satisfactory
Neutral
Poor
Dissatisfied
Please explain your answer.

2. Are you happy in your current position?
o
Yes
Somewhat
No

3. Do you feel knowledgeable about the products offered by PJ
Enterprises?
o
Yes
Somewhat
No
4. Do you feel you have enough support to do your job

satisfactorily?
o
Yes
No
Somewhat
5. Do you feel you have sufficient training to do your job

satisfactorily?
o
Yes
Somewhat
No
6. Do you feel you have enough training for the products in each
catalog?
o
Yes
Somewhat
No

7. Do you find the product summary descriptions currently
available in the automated entry system sufficient to address
customer questions and concerns?
o
Yes
Somewhat
No
8. Do you think that the product reference guides currently

available are sufficient to address customer questions and
concerns?
10
Yes
Somewhat
No

9. How would you rate your level of customer service?
o
Excellent
Good
Satisfactory
Poor
Unacceptable
10.Please describe the procedure for answering a customer call.

11.On average, how many calls do you receive in an hour?
o
0-2
2-4
4-6
I receive no calls.
12.On average, how many calls do you answer in an hour?
13.On average, how many dissatisfied customers do you speak

with per day?
o
More than 20
15-20
10-5
5-10
Less than 5
11
14.On average, how many calls per day need to be transferred to

a customer service supervisor?
o
More than 20
15-20
10-15
5-10
Less than 5
15.Please describe the procedure for transferring a call to a

customer service supervisor.
16.Are you given the results of the customer service surveys, as they pertain to
your job performance?
o
Yes
No
17.Do you attend the monthly employee meetings?

o
Yes
Sometimes
Rarely
Ive never attended a monthly employee meeting
18.Please explain the performance evaluation process.
19.Do you find the performance evaluation process helpful?

o
Yes
Somewhat
12
No
20.Please explain the self-evaluation process.
21.Do you find the self-evaluation process helpful?

o
Yes
Somewhat
No

22.Please describe or explain any additional comments or
concerns you may have.
Thank you for participating in this survey. We appreciate your
feedback.
ACTIVITY FIVE INTERVIEWS

ARCS will email the interview questions to PJ Enterprises
requesting an interview with ARCS professionals and the following
individuals: Jane MacKenzie, Project Sponsor; Ivan Thomas, IT
Manager; Hannah Ross, Human Resources (HR) Manager; Judie
Thompson, Catalog Director; Sheena Perez, Merchandizing
Manager. ARCS will select a date and time that is mutually
agreeable and which allows individuals enough time to prepare
for the details requested in the questions. ARCS professionals will
conduct and record the interview after securing appropriate
permissions from PJ Enterprises.
Questions to ask
Company Mission
Please state the mission and vision of PJ Enterprises:
Who comprises PJ Enterprises and what do we do?
What does success look like in the coming year?
Staff Characteristics
13
The following questions will help us to understand the

characteristics of the employees at PJ Enterprises, our target
audience.
How many people are in your department?
Please list the duties performed in your specific department:
How many people are in your department?
How many positions comprise your department and what are the
position titles?
Please list the duties personnel performs:
Catalog Division (Judie Thompson)

How many people are in this department?
Please list the duties the Catalog Division performs:
Merchandising Department (Sheena Perez)

Please list the duties the Merchandizing department performs:
Telephone Operators
Please list the duties Telephone Operations performs:
Shipping Department
Please list the duties the Shipping Department performs:
Technology and Environment (Ivan Thomas)

The following questions relate to the current technology and
hardware employed at PJ Enterprises.
What is your current hardware inventory?
What kind of equipment will need replacing this year?
What kind of software is currently being used? Will it need to be
upgraded this year?
What kinds of modifications have been made for accessibility in
the work environment?
14
What is the policy about personal phones in the work

environment?
Human Resources (Hannah Ross)

The following questions are related to the Human Resources
department.
Policies and Procedures
Please list or supply the policies and procedures at PJ Enterprises.
Who wrote the policies and procedures handbook?
Who has access to the handbook containing the policies and
procedures? How is it accessed?
Describe the policy for terminating employment at PJ Enterprises.
What is the procedure for filing a grievance at PJ Enterprises?
What is the procedure for asking for time off or vacation?
What is the chain of command or protocol for customer
complaints?
How often are employees given breaks?
Where do employees take their breaks and eat? Is the policy the
same or different for each department?
Hiring and Training
Please describe the process for hiring and training new
employees. How does it differ for each department?
Who develops the training for each department?
When is the training developed or revised?
How much time is spent on training new hires for each
department?
Where does the training take place?
Recruitment
Please describe the process of recruitment for your employees.
Who decides when it is time to recruit and hire more employees?
Who receives and responds to possible candidate inquiries?
15
What kind of incentives are in place for referrals from existing

employees?
Professional Development
Please supply the ongoing training and development offerings at
PJ Enterprises.
Which employees and departments are offered professional
development?
Meetings
What is the goal of maintaining monthly meetings?
Who conducts the meetings?
When and where do the meetings place?
Who is required to attend the meetings, is it cross departmental
or held separately by department?
What is the consequence of not attending a meeting?
What happens if there is a schedule conflict for attending a
meeting?
Performance Evaluation
Who performs the evaluation with the employee?
What are the key areas being evaluated for each employee?
What is the policy if an employee disagrees with the performance
review statement?
Is the performance evaluation tied to an employees wages? If
so, in please describe how.
How often are performance evaluations conducted in a year?
What forms of recognition are given to employees for good
performance?
Retention Efforts
Once employees are hired, please describe the efforts you use to
retain them.
Please list the incentives you have in place for your employees.
16
Interviews with Trainers

ARCS will conduct one-on-one interviews with the two staff
members responsible for developing and delivering training, the
Merchandizing Manager (S. Perez) and the Catalog Director (J.
Thompson).
Questions to Ask
Overall, how is training designed and delivered

(considering PJ has rotated over 500 items in its catalog
over 6 years)?
Specifically, what topics are covered in training?
How is training chunked and sequenced?
What teaching tools and learner activities are used to

conduct training?
How would you describe the background of the TOs?
Is training provided on the automated system that phone

operators must use to access product descriptions? If so,
how long does this take and what tools does it include?
What are typical questions trainees ask at the 30-minute

Q&A segment at the end of training sessions? Is the 30minute Q&A adequate for addressing TO questions? Do
TOs ask questions?
Do you find the 4-hour training period four times a year

adequate and effective? Do learners fill out an evaluation
of the training?
Who developed the TO/CSS training initially? Has the

training ever been revised? If so, when and how? How
much time is spent on training new TO/CSS hires?
Where does the training take place?
How is the training for Customer Service Supervisors

different from the training for Telephone Operators?
Do you receive feedback from TO/CSS about the training

that you offer? If so, what have you learned?
17
What would you change about the training if you could?

Why?
ACTIVITY SIX FOCUS GROUPS WITH TELEPHONE OPERATORS

ARCS will outsource moderation of one or two focus groups of
telephone operators. Groups will be comprised of 7-10
participants. ARCS, working with the moderator, will decide when
and where to conduct the groups.
Purpose of Activity
To conduct behind-the-mind and similar activities to get at the
attitudes and feelings phone operators have about their jobs,
including tangibles such as:
Support they receive from supervisors and management

Training
Understanding of performance measures
Clarity of HR policies
Focus groups will also include discussion of intangibles such as:
Whether or not they feel valued in their roles

Why they do or do not feel valued
How feeling valuable is or should be exhibited
ACTIVITY SEVEN COMPILATION OF METRICS

ARCS will collect the listed metrics and then analyze the
information PJ Enterprises supplies.
Purpose of Activity
Metrics quantify information and will thus help ARCS to
understand where PJ Enterprises currently is, where it wants to
be, how great the gap is to achieving desired results, and,
potentially, where the gaps are. The focus will be on performance
metrics and key performance indicators.
Metrics Needed:
All available data on sales, targets, expenditures, and profits )

Customer Service Surveys
Data on catalogs:
18
Production costs in money and time

Comparative info about catalogs (amount of new info in
each, sale items, product rotation)
Best-selling, worst selling products
Timeframe for delivery of catalogs and availability of items
in a given catalog
Data on staff:
turnover
number of employees
types/number of positions
Data on Customer Reach:
Demographics
Increase/decrease
Geographical reach
Data on customer service:
Number of headsets, incoming lines, and stations
Activity reported through the activity reporting feature
Stats generated from surveys and reports; comparative
stats
Percentage of use of phone system for inquiries (85%) v.
designed use (90%)
Actual wait times
Understanding of error-free performance
Data on equipment used in all processes:
Equipment Age, Obsolescence, effectiveness
Compatibility of hardware/software
Training of employees on equipment
ROADBLOCKS & DEPENDENCIES

Team ARCS has listed some potential roadblocks or dependencies
that might impact the success of conducting the need
assessment. We have listed the possible mitigation strategies
alongside the roadblocks and dependencies in the table below.
ROADBLOCKS /
DEPENDENCIES
MITIGATION STRATEGIES
An employee may offer

disingenuous behavior because he
or she is being observed.
Employees may be concerned with
scheduling and time constraints.
ARCS will observe on multiple

occasions, be as inconspicuous and
unthreatening as possible, assure
staff that observation is for ARCSs
analysis purposes only and will not
be used for performance reviews
by PJ Enterprises.
19
ROADBLOCKS /
DEPENDENCIES
MITIGATION STRATEGIES
PJ Enterprise executives may have

the mindset that the cost of
analysis is too expensive.
Executives will need a willingness
to learn new information and
uncomfortable facts.
ARCS members will review with PJ

Enterprises the cost of customer
dissatisfaction, training and
turnover, and the value of stable
employment and happy customers.
Employees may present an

unwillingness to be forthcoming
with others in the Focus Groups;
Employees may be concerned with
scheduling and time constraints.
ARCS proposes to: offer incentives

to those who participate; conduct
focus groups off-campus and
during workday, with the
permission of PJE; assure
participants that ARCS will protect
confidentiality and that PJE values
their honest contributions; assure
participants that ARCSs
information gathering is for ARCSs
use in analysis only and will not be
used for performance reviews by PJ
Enterprises.
The individuals being interviewed

may be reluctant to be
forthcoming; Scheduling and time
constraints for one on one
interview may be difficult.
ARCS proposes to: offer an

incentive; conduct interviews
outside of work and off campus;
assure interviewee that ARCS will
protect confidentiality; ensure
subjects that ARCSs information
gathering is for ARCSs use in
analysis only and will not be used
for performance reviews by PJ
Enterprises.
Availability of data may not exist or ARCS members will reiterate the
it cannot be found; divisions or
importance of the information;
department heads may be
members will assure division
unwilling to turn over data.
managers that ARCS maintains the
highest level of confidentiality.
Employees may not be available.

With shift work and scheduling,
employees may not be available
for interviews.
ARCS plans to work with managers

to create a schedule that will allow
for access to employees.
20
21

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ARCS NEEDS ANALYSIS STRATEGY

DECEMBER 18, 2015

Customer satisfaction scores

ARCS Needs Analysis Strategy

Job descriptions for customer service/telephone operators

Insight into behavior,

ARCS Needs Analysis Strategy

Facts and details

ARCS Needs Analysis Strategy

ACTIVITY ONE - OBSERVATION OF TELEPHONE OPERATORS CK

Specific Behaviors/Attitudes to be observed:

Timeliness of answering calls in queue (system is designed to

ACTIVITY TWO OBSERVATION OF CUSTOMER SERVICE SUPERVISORS CK

ARCS Needs Analysis Strategy

ARCS will conduct announced and prearranged observations to

Specific Behaviors/Attitudes to be Observed:

Timeliness of answering calls in queue: how much time to

ACTIVITY THREE - S ECRET SHOPPER TARGETING TELEPHONE OPERATORS

Wait times as evaluated by different days and times during the

ARCS Needs Analysis Strategy

Directions for Secret Shop Strategy Implementation:

Secret Shop Survey

ARCS Needs Analysis Strategy

5. Rate your satisfaction with the amount of wait time before

ARCS Needs Analysis Strategy

b. Had to wait less than 30 seconds for the question to be

ARCS Needs Analysis Strategy

ACTIVITY FOUR SURVEY OF EMPLOYEES

Please explain your answer.

Please explain your answer.

Please explain your answer.

ARCS Needs Analysis Strategy

4. Do you feel you have enough support to do your job

Please explain your answer.

5. Do you feel you have sufficient training to do your job

Please explain your answer.

Please explain your answer.

Please explain your answer.

8. Do you think that the product reference guides currently

ARCS Needs Analysis Strategy

Please explain your answer.

10.Please describe the procedure for answering a customer call.

12.On average, how many calls do you answer in an hour?

13.On average, how many dissatisfied customers do you speak

ARCS Needs Analysis Strategy

14.On average, how many calls per day need to be transferred to

15.Please describe the procedure for transferring a call to a

17.Do you attend the monthly employee meetings?

Ive never attended a monthly employee meeting

Please explain your answer.

18.Please explain the performance evaluation process.

19.Do you find the performance evaluation process helpful?

ARCS Needs Analysis Strategy

Please explain your answer.

20.Please explain the self-evaluation process.

21.Do you find the self-evaluation process helpful?

Please explain your answer.

ACTIVITY FIVE INTERVIEWS

ARCS Needs Analysis Strategy

The following questions will help us to understand the

Catalog Division (Judie Thompson)

Merchandising Department (Sheena Perez)