Performance Analysis Report - Team #4

March 19, 2017

Introduction and Background

The senior management team of PJ Enterprises has a goal of quality service delivery, but has been experiencing
high turnover of staff, job dissatisfaction, and an increase in customer complaints. The company wishes to
improve the training program for Customer Service Supervisors and Telephone Operators to increase catalog
sales and reduce customer complaints. They have asked UWS Project Management to design, develop, and
deliver a new training program for these employees prior to the next catalog mailing.
UWS Project Management conducted a gap analysis to gather information needed to identify the performance
issues, determine the root causes of the issues, and come up with a solution to the problem. UWS Project
Management interviewed Telephone Operators, Customer Service Supervisors, upper management, and
members of the IT department. UWS Project Management also observed Telephone Operators at work and
conducted surveys of the Telephone Operators and their supervisors. Prior to gathering data, UWS Project
Management attempted to predict roadblocks and dependencies in the information gathering process and
developed mitigation strategies to overcome them.

Purpose of the Report

The purpose of this report is to provide PJ Enterprises with the results of the gap analysis and to recommend
solutions to the problems of high turnover of staff, job dissatisfaction, and an increase in customer complaints.
This report will provide upper management with the information it needs to make an informed decision about
the project and will ensure that the project team and upper management have the same understanding of the
project.

Analysis Methods
Interviews of Telephone Operators and Customer Service Supervisors
Interviews were conducted in person to better facilitate discussion and lasted a half-hour to an hour. Supervisors
were interviewed individually and in private. To facilitate open, honest responses, the interviewers assured all
participants that their responses would remain confidential. Interviewers scheduled interviews in advance and
sent out reminders two days prior to the interview date. All supervisors were interviewed to make them feel
included in the team effort and to give them a sense of ownership over the project.
Surveys of Telephone Operators and Customer Service Supervisors
The survey for the Telephone Operators was electronically distributed, and accommodations were made for
employees that preferred the survey in a different format. Operators were given three working days to complete
the survey. All employees taking the survey were guaranteed confidentiality to ensure more accurate results.
The purpose of the survey was to obtain measurable feedback regarding:
Training received to date on product, telephone system, and sales skills.
What is the work culture?
How are the goals for Telephone Operators determined?
Interviews with Judie Thompson and Sheena Perez
In an effort to uncover what is really going on, interviews with Judie Thompson (Catalog Director) and Sheena
Perez (Merchandising Manager) were conducted. The Project Manager and Project Coordinator from UWS
Project Management Team met separately with these key employees face-to-face. Prior to the interviews, UWS
PM Team reviewed copies of their resumes and employee records. The overarching goal of these interviews was
to determine if the issues PJ Enterprises is experiencing could actually be resolved through training. Follow-up
meetings took place with the copyright and professional service firms Sheena works closely with, as needed.
Document Analysis of Sales Reports, Customer Satisfaction Surveys, Employee Handbook, Performance
Evaluations, Training Materials, and Job Descriptions
The Business Analysts (all team members) reviewed documentation of business activities and internal
evaluations to gain a quantitative understanding of the current state of the business. They also reviewed these
materials to determine whether training materials and job descriptions were adequate for PJs current and future
needs. PJ Enterprises was asked to furnish sales reports, sales data associated with individual products and
operators, customer satisfaction survey data, call volume data, documentation related to the function of the call-
distribution system, job descriptions, annual evaluations, HR data (including turnover rates from teams and
departments, participation rates in training, and employee satisfaction data), training materials, and other
materials relevant to UWSs investigation.
Interviewed Jane Mackenzie and Yun Tsien
The Instructional Designers (IDs) spoke with Jane Mackenzie, Director of Sales Support, to confirm milestone
dates and to determine how the dates coincide with sales goals, catalog releases, and system installations. The
IDs also discussed how their training initiative fits in with other actions leading to growth, and learned where
management felt previous methods had fallen short.
The IDs also interviewed Yun Tsien, the manager of the new sales installation system, to verify his timeline,
understand the abilities of the new system, and to ascertain what, if any training on the system would be offered
by the vendor.
When possible these interviews were conducted in person or by phone and followed the protocols for privacy
and brevity as outlined in the first activity above.
Observed Telephone Operators
Observers met with the Telephone Operators to inform them of the purpose of the observations that will be
conducted. Telephone Operators were assured that the observations were being conducted for data collection
purposes only, and would not affect their job security. Observers situated themselves in unobtrusive locations,
being sure to relocate periodically to better view all operators. Observations were conducted during all shifts
for one week.
Observers looked for the following occurrences and graded them using a pre-determined rating system:
Quality of customer interaction
Speed of service
Ease of use of the telephone system
Coworker interactions
Customer Service Supervisor/Telephone Operator interactions

Data Summary: Breakdown of Customer Complaints

This set of data, collected from post call surveys, breaks down the reasons behind the 30% increase in customer
complaints over the past year.
The largest area of complaints, Poor Customer Service, is a reflection of the lack of a customer service
training program for Telephone Operators and Supervisors. UWS will address this need starting with the
New Hire Training
 The second largest complaint regarding Lack of Product Knowledge will be addressed by our
recommendation for an improved online catalog and to provide training to accompany it.
We expect that the complaints regarding Time Spent on Call to be reduced by addressing the previous
two areas.

Data Summary: Common Customer Inquiries

To determine what information customers are looking for, we listened in on 50 customer phone calls and tallied
the types of requests they made. The types and specificity of the information goes beyond what is reasonable for
Telephone Operators to remember and is better separated from product knowledge training and instead placed in
the online product catalog for quick reference and updates.
Data Summary: Customer-service Recommendations for Improvement
This chart provides insight as to why turnover is so high. This comes from an online survey provided to all
Telephone Operators asking them to rate what would make them more successful in their jobs.
PJ Enterprises is already addressing the largest recommendation for more efficient computers/software.
UWS can shorten training times by focusing clearly on product features and benefits during live
trainings but moving the hard data (type of fabric, washability, dimensions, etc.) to the online catalog.
UWS will address the request for more hands-on with products by asking vendors to supply
permanent samples for Telephone Operators to reference at no cost or low cost.

Data Summary: Corporate Strategy Awareness

It became clear from the Telephone Operator and Customer Service Supervisor surveys and interviews that
awareness of corporate goals and strategies was minimal. We would recommend instituting a balanced
scorecard of management and goals as developed by Kaplan and Norton. By setting clear goals for the
Telephone Operators, they will understand what they are expected to achieve each time they answer a call, and
Customer Service Supervisors will understand how to observe and rate Telephone Operators.
Findings, Needs, and Recommended Solutions
The UWS Project Management Team has included our findings, needs, and recommended solutions for PJ
Enterprises in the table below.
Finding
Telephone Operators and Customer Service Supervisors need to receive training on customer service and sales skills.
Telephone Operators report that searching through the hard copy of the product catalog is difficult and time consuming.
Employees do not feel that getting one week to use a company discount is a valuable reward for good work.
Many employees do not attend monthly meetings and feel that the meetings are used to comment on their performance.
Supervisor observation and rating of Telephone Operators is inconsistent with little feedback.
There is no standard rating system to gauge Telephone Operator performance.
Employee turnover is high and morale is low.

Telephone Operators are transferring too many calls to their supervisors.

Proposed Solutions [All]

Priority Solution
Number
1 Create a training program for
Telephone Operators and
Customer Service Supervisors,
PJ Training Initiative
Description
Create a mandatory training program for Telephone
Operators and Customer Service Supervisors. Training will
cover sales skills, customer-service skills, telephone
etiquette, and navigation of the online catalog,. Incorporates
scenario-based training, with opportunity for knowledge
checks and a Q & A period.
 2 Implement an online product
catalog and associated training
3 Align employee incentive
program with corporate goals
4 Make changes to monthly
meetings
Create an online catalog with a search component so that
Telephone Operators can quickly find products and answer
customer questions. Online product-catalog training and
testing will be required for all Telephone Operators and
Customer Service Supervisors. This training will also be
incorporated into the training program. Ongoing training
will be required to ensure Telephone Operators and
Customer Service Supervisors maintain familiarity with the
system, and are systematically made aware of new additions
to the catalog. Eventually, this online catalog will integrate
with the ordering system.
Align employee incentive program to corporate goals.
Include long term discounts on products, performance based
and quarterly raise.,. Consider monetary rewards for sales
volume, not length for number of calls.
Use the time to address training needs and to motivate
employees. Training should cover product knowledge and
catalog training and updates.

Evaluation Plan
The UWS Project Management Team will utilize the following methods in order to evaluate the effectiveness of
our recommended solutions:
1. Track the number of phone calls Telephone Operators complete daily.
2. Track the length of each phone call Telephone Operators take daily.
3. Monitor the rate of completed sales.
4. Record the reasons for customer complaints.
5. Measure employee morale using a survey.
6. Track employee attendance to monthly company meetings.
7. Observe Telephone Operators while they locate products in the new Online Product Guide.
8. Identify reasons for high employee turnover rate.
9. Track the reasons for call transfers to a supervisor.
10. Track sales volume/number of sales per Telephone Operator.
11. Track rate of participation in new training programs.

Request for Proposal

UWS Project Management asks that PJ Enterprises reviews the results of our Performance Analysis and submit
a proposal to our team to carry out the solutions we have outlined.