Running head: NEEDS ASSESSMENT CYCLE 1

Needs Assessment Cycle

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.
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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
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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.
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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
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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.