Performance Analysis Report

for Team 3: Coast to Coast

7/13/2016

Introduction and Background [EK]

This report is submitted to the owners of PJ Enterprises as a report of findings and
recommendations on the performance issue analyzed by Coast to Coast:

PJ Enterprises is reporting a high turnover rate of the telephone operators and a poor customer
service reporting. As a result, PJ Enterprises is seeking consultation to improve customer
service results. Coast to Coast needs to analyze training strategies, onboarding and orientation,
technology needs, management and employee communication, office culture, and expectation
and workflow analysis.

Senior management of PJ Enterprises, in light of new company policies, projecting an increase

in sales from the new catalog and customer complaints of telephone operators, are seeking
support to resolve the core issues posed by PJ Enterprises with the poor customer service
surveys and decreased profits from lack of sale completion by the customer service operators.
PJ Enterprises is requesting a design, development, and delivery of a learning program for their
telephone operators (TO). The training that has been requested is projected to be delivered
before the catalogs are mailed and targeted to address customer service supervisors and
telephone operators on catalog items.

As a result of the problems described above,

Coast to Coast will create a project to assist PJ Enterprises in promoting better
customer service results.

Purpose of the Report [EK]

The purpose of the performance analysis at PJ Enterprises is to provide the PJ Enterprise
management team with the results of our analysis; including the causes of the performance
issues and possible solutions to the increased customer complaints, lack of product knowledge
by the TOs, and the increased amount of calls escalated to supervisors.

Analysis Methods [MS]

Surveys of TOs, management, HR

Provided surveys to TOs, regardless of length of employment, to determine

information about training needs, morale, customer service background,
experience, education, environment, and feedback/incentives
Provided surveys to management to obtain information about management
perspectives of employees and TOs, feedback and recognition programs,
training, professional development, and awareness of technology needs
Provided surveys to HR staff to obtain information about current training
methods, onboarding and orientation procedures, long-term training
opportunities, employee mentoring, and reward and recognition program.
Interviews of TOs, management, HR
Met with focus group of TOs to discuss specific questions related to customer
service surveys, gauge office culture, and find out the needs of the TOs to
perform at a higher level in their positions
Met with representatives from different levels of management from customer
service supervisors, middle management, and upper level management
personnel to gain information regarding leadership structure, communication to
employees, feedback processes, and workflow creation.
Observation of training, TO workflows, and company processes
Observed TOs and timed tasks and workflows to see which employees were
meeting the 10-minute quota.
Observed TOs telephone etiquette, and the amount of times a phone call was
escalated or ended abruptly
Observed TOs how they handled difficult and challenging situations, if they
referred to a manual or a script for assistance.
Data analysis of customer surveys
Analyze the data provided by customer service surveys to determine what the
customers main complaint is about
Analyze the customer service survey data to gain insight into the nature of the
calls and relate to the training and or experience of the TOs handling the calls

Overall Telephone Operator (TO) Calls: [MS BT]

Characteristics of Calls
Meeting Quota: [MS] [BT]
The calls that lasted 10 minutes or less were more
likely to include a PJ Enterprise welcome in the
greeting, a warm transfer, if needed, and the call
closed with a warm thank you.

Customer Complaint Break Down:

[MS] [BT]
The top three complaints involved lack of phone
etiquette, followed by lack of product knowledge, and
spending too much time in the queue. Nearly half of
the customer complaints focused on a lack of phone.

Reasons Calls went Past 10

Minutes: [MS] [BT]
Of the calls that went past the 10minute quota, a majority were
ended curtly by the customer.
Roughly 1/4 of the TOs became
frustrated, and resulted in an
escalated call to a supervisor; while
another 1/4 show that the customer
became frustrated first, and
requesting an escalated call to a supervisor. Findings, Needs,

and Recommended Solutions [CDB, KT]

The following table is a collection of findings from interviews, surveys, and other documentation
that gives Coast to Coast the current state of whats going on in the areas of technology, human
resources, management, and the telephone operators. The findings help us identify what needs
exist at PJ and then weve listed the recommended solution for those needs.

Finding

Need

Recommended Solution

Staff
Incentive programs for error-free
work are limited to just discounts
on orders for one week.
Employees dont see others being
acknowledged for their
contributions.

TOs need/want performance

incentives that promote
investment in TO performance
enhancement.

Implement a performance reward

program acknowledging top
performers and offers friendly
competition. Rewards can be
cash, discounts, gift cards, etc.

Product guides are not as helpful

as one would believe and they
are barely complemented by the
order entry system.

One system that covers

descriptions and also can assist
with orders is needed to increase
productivity and call speed.

TOs do not feel prepared to handle Training needs to be revamped.

workload after initial training.

TOs would feel more successful if

equipment was ergonomically
efficient and up-to-date.

A new easy access product

information guide designed to
help increase TO call volume,
sales, customer satisfaction, and
overall productivity.
Current training must be evaluated
and options must be explored for
improving it and accommodating
learner needs.

Equipment upgrade plans needs to IT, management, and HR will need

to address these issues as
be assessed.
mentioned throughout this
document.
Management

Monthly meetings are being held

with employees and hosted by
supervisors and management,
which are unpaid, optional, and
promote low morale.

Employee meetings must be

mandatory, paid, and promote
employee morale to support
training provided by Coast to
Coast.

Cover training highlights and

updates, make them mandatory,
incentives to attend by providing
paid meetings and employee
recognition during meetings.

Supervisors prefer to handle

service complaints instead of
TOs.

TOs need to be able to handle

conflict resolution issues as they
arise before they are escalated to
supervisors

TO training should incorporate

how to handle customer service
issues on the phone. These can
be done through role plays, demo
videos, or e-Learnings.

Peak Season ordering is slow.

Faster ordering with shorter wait

times, higher order completion,
and efficient customer service
during peak ordering times.

TO training to include training

with the product quick guide, role
playing, and practice on taking
orders start to finish.

Product reference guides exist in

paper format only. Managers feel
that this is good enough.

Product reference guides need to

be available in digital format and
be searchable.

Get an online version of this

guide set up to speed up the
search process and increase call
volume.

Human Resources
Staff doesnt see anyone as a
leader or champion and would like
management to take the lead on
this.

Formalized employee recognition

and a structured organization chart
needs to be developed to display
the chain of command.

PJ Enterprises to consider
promotion plan and employee
progression path to leadership
and professional development.

A self-evaluation process is in
place but its unsure if
management sits down with
employees to go over it.

Information about reviews need to

be made public.

Set review dates, inform TOs

about what they are being
reviewed on. Implement a review
plan and use it as a platform to
implement additional training and
employee development.

Employees arent loyal, are

dissatisfied with their job, pay,
have low opinion of training.
Management cannot supply a
reason for this.

Continued employee satisfaction

surveys, interviews, and
performance reviews need to be
implemented to address gaps in
TO performance.

Management and HR town hall

style meetings can allow
employees to voice concerns,
questions, and receive important
updates or feedback in a neutral
environment.

There are ]no current staff

development initiatives or
opportunities to practice/apply
new skills. The best reps get
chosen for supervisor roles.
Judie would like to consider
adjusting their the feedback
process for operators

An employee training and

development plan and
department needs to be explored
to learn and apply new skills.

HR and Management need to

discuss and implement options to
improve this and align it with the
company goals and mission
through the training, product
reference guide, and
assessments provided by Coast
to Coast.

Training

Operators/supervisors are trained

with demonstrations in the form of
PowerPoint presentation on the
order entry system. There is no
training documentation.

Role playing, hands-on training,

problem solving activities, and
presentation based training
needed to increase TO
knowledge and skills.

Training and training material is

limited. There are also no current
training guides.

A catalog training curriculum

needs to be created with call
scripts to be used after training to
compensate for lack of a
formalized and a uniform call
script.

Coast to Coast will design training

that includes various learning
modalities with visual
presentations, hands-on learning
activities, problem-solving
activities, and role playing
activities.

Refer to training plan

recommendations above. In
addition, more frequent trainings,
follow up, retraining, and possibly
ad hoc training should be made
available. Product training can be
conducted through special visits
with the product representatives.
This can replace Sheenas need
to be there for all product training.

New catalog training is scheduled

for late 3rd quarter for
Fall/Holiday. Training is two
weeks prior to release.

Training plan must be

implemented by late 2nd quarter to
ensure completion prior to peak
season.

Gather the experts to devise a

training plan with a script. Set it
up for more than just a half day of
training. Use it as a pilot for
future training. Pick dates in
advance of the release date with
enough time to accommodate all
learners. Invite representatives to
come onsite and demonstrate the
product or conduct training for
that product.
Explore a variety of adult
education including ways that
learners can be more enticed to
learn (games, exercises, role
plays, etc ). Also incorporate
more phone etiquette training

Training room has one LCD

projector and several tables

Training room needs to be set up

as a mock call desk with all new
equipment for operators to
practice with and be trained on.

Get a hold of upgraded

equipment and set up the room
for ideal state training purposes.

New product information is only

available at quarterly trainings.
Employees dont always get
trained on all items and are given
the guide to depend on only.

These product lists need to be

available in advance and
accessible to the training team to
discuss with the operators.

E-Learnings, product literature, or

product videos would be great for
upcoming product information.
These would be good for
mandatory self-paced learning
and preparation. No more slide
presentations.

Sheena wants to continue to

conduct trainings but has been
promoted. She also admits that
training has been less than
stellar.

Sheena needs to share the

responsibility of training with other
employees. She needs to
delegate the expert trainers.

Utilize the experts as the lead

trainers to take over teaching all
operators, including new hires.
Sheena can prepare them and
they can teach the others after
the contract with Coast to Coast
has been completed.

Employees don't receive any

phone etiquette training. Many of
them believe they are polite and
that is enough.

A phone etiquette training class

would be necessary.

Incorporate proper phone sales

and etiquette training with demos,
e-Learnings, videos, role plays, or
other ways to enhance current
skills or establish new and good
call habits. This should be done
during initial training and
periodically for refreshers.

Role-play and script writing can

enhance the TOs ability to apply
the knowledge from the trainings
into real-life settings.
There is no intermittent training or
follow up training.

Training instructors are just

content experts. They have no
experience as trainers but are
good salespeople.

More regular training than the

once/quarter product training.

Content experts, training

instructors need to have additional
training and teaching development
to ensure that the TOs are being
properly trained.

Pre-shift huddles and training or

product focus sessions scheduled
regularly. Training of any type
needs to happen more frequently.
Before each shift and periodically
(weekly, monthly) have
management and training experts
go over the days focus, new
products, product highlights, or
daily goals to educate and
influence staff.
Anyone training employees
should be taught how to train.
Create a train-the-trainer course
for employees leading training to
learn methods to train other
employees.

Environment
Operators sit in a large room, not
in cubicles, work on dated
equipment, and the room is fairly
noisy.

TOs need a quieter area to work to

reduce environmental noise and
distraction with updated and
efficiently placed equipment.

Technology

High-wall cubicles would reduce

the noise transfer and increase
focus on the call, equipment
updates are needed as well.
Changes need to be made here to
improve work productivity. New
equipment purchases and
revamping the workspace layout
will help make improvements here.

Equipment upgrade and

replacement plan is to be
completed by Q1 2017 and
should make the job easier

Softwares, hardwares, and

IT needs to provide a specific list
technologies need to be updated
of equipment that is being used
and efficient for TO performance. for the upgrade (software) and a
training will need to be conducted
on how to use any new softwares
or databases implemented. As
well, all equipment, including
headsets, should be provided by
PJ.

There will be a new order entry

system in place.

A demonstration/training on the
new order entry system needs to
be set up.

This mandatory training can be set

up in the main training room where
employees can stop by throughout
their shift to either have instructorled or self-paced training. This can
be done over a week or longer and
happen during the day and night
shifts with sessions lasting no
longer than 30 minutes.

The order entry system will not

have a product guide in place
initially.

The product guide should be

embedded initially and then the
system rolled out. This is a desire
of the TOs to have something
better than the paper guide.

Although it could delay the new

system roll out, it is recommended
that the product guide be built into
the new order entry system prior to
being implemented. This will
minimize the need to do additional
training after initial training,
followed by continued follow-up
training implemented by PJ
Enterprises based on the training
and facilitator guides provided by
Coast to Coast.

Present phone system supports 20

incoming lines, 40 headsets, and
automatic call-distribution features
yet only used at 85% capacity .

A phone system upgrade thats

modernized enough to be able to
allow TOs to communicate and
work efficiently to decrease call
times and to allow for more
incoming calls.

Cisco phones, for example would

be a great choice for expanding
capabilities.

Proposed Solutions for Consulting Firm to Carry Out [KT,

BT]

Priority

Solution

Description

Implement TO training
program through a more
efficient product guide,
customer service training,
call completion and sale
closing training, and
increased skills for TO
performance.

Program will include items

such as CBTs, eLearnings, videos, demos,
role plays, phone etiquette,
classroom and self-paced.
This strategy will also
include products for the
catalog. Product
representatives can come
in for product demos.

Product guide and ordering Develop new product

system
guide, working in
coordination with the IT
team in order to ensure it is
operable for the TOs.

Training for Supervisors

Develop training programs

for supervisors. Training
will include, role play
leadership for staff, training
new hires, performance
evaluations, supervisor
skills and performance and
evaluations.

Redesign Catalog

Include more product

information and content,
such as fabric, color, size,
dimensions. The guide
should list products
alphabetically and should
ease searching and replace
paper guide.

Staff development

Advanced opportunities for

more advanced levels of
training, professional
development, and
enhanced skills trainings.

Evaluation plan [KT]

Coast to Coast will work with PJ Enterprises by conducting ongoing evaluations of the
effectiveness of the proposed solutions to ensure that customer complaints are reduced by at
least 10% from initial data.
Follow up data will be taken on:

Product knowledge by operators through a low-stakes summative assessment

Calls per hour
Amount of calls transferred to supervisors
Annual sales after training is completed in comparison to the prior years sales reports
Telephone capacity use
Customer satisfaction
Increased call to sale completion rate

Request for Proposal [KT]

Coast to Coast has developed recommendations and solutions based on previous data taken
and analysis plan. Coast to Coast would welcome a request from PJ Enterprises to carry out the
solutions in the proposed solutions section.