Needs Assessment Justification For Joejoe Was Stuck

Needs Assessment Justification For Joejoe Was Stuck He Had Been Hire

Needs Assessment: Justification for Joe Joe was stuck. He had been hired because the turnover rate for employees was outrageous. Normally, they would see employees resign and others hired at an 8-10% rate per year. However, they were seeing this turnover rate per month. This was very costly for the company, so they did something unprecedented—they hired a consultant.

Joe had a great reputation for repairing training programs that weren’t working. He had 20+ years of experience in higher education and training. He was ideally suited for this project. It had been a month, and he was no closer to finding out what was going wrong with training than he was when he started. It was very frustrating to him, and he was concerned that he would be dismissed from the project.

This company didn't need to throw more money at yet another training solution that didn’t work. A bit of background about the company and the employees. The Aliant Company employed 5,000 customer service representatives in a small town in Kansas. They were a major employer for the town, third to the regional hospital and a new distribution center for storage goods that had been in business for less than a year. The town had been economically depressed for quite some time.

However, thanks to a change in county leadership, employers and employees had been attracted to this part of Kansas due to the low cost of living, low crime, and a slower pace of life. Before Joe gave up, he decided to give you a call. Although you are new to instructional design, he believed that you could help him. Your knowledge of needs assessment would surely be helpful. He called you on Monday and as soon as you could, you hopped a plane and took a car to smalltown Kansas.

To begin, you asked Joe if human resources had completed exit interviews. If so, would you have access to them? Next, could you interview employees who had completed training less than 30 days ago? Finally, could you interview trainers and managers who trained and managed these customer service representatives on a daily basis? You are in luck!

This has already been done for you. You simply need to analyze the data. #1. Before you begin your analysis: do you see anything about the company or the background that might impact the turnover rate? You begin to review the comments from the representatives who left the company. These are not employees who were fired or demoted.

The exit interviews were only those who had been with the company for more than 30 days and left of their own free will. You reviewed a representative 100 sample of exit interviews, and you noticed that demographic information was very diverse—much like the town demographics. You saw different races, ethnicities, ages, and genders. In fact, you didn’t see many commonalities except that they had left the company. There were few complaints about the training provided for employees to do their jobs.

Employees seemed to like their supervisors and the hours were flexible and on par with other part-time and full-time positions in the area. You saw few complaints (mostly about hourly salary rate), with most employees leaving for other similar positions in town. #2. Begin to formulate questions that pertain to needs assessment. Keep in mind that an instructional need is only part of what an employee might need for continued employment. Next, you speak with three of the managers, representing the day, night and weekend shifts.

These managers had all been with the company for more than two years and were a part of designing the training materials for new employees. They were at a loss to explain the turnover. This all seemed to start about six months ago when the town began to grow economically. What should have been a win for everyone seemed to be a problem for the Aliant Company. In fact, there had been a small increase in the hourly rate for employees but that did not seem to help.

You think that you see a pattern coming to light and a major factor that might impact the turnover rate. You make an appointment with Joe to discuss your findings. #3. What information would you offer Joe? In a presentation, explain some of the key factors of needs assessment (from the Brown and Green text and other resources). #4. Within your presentation, explain what you discovered in your needs assessment and make two or three recommendations to help either alleviate the problem of rapid employee turnover or explain the possible cause.

Paper For Above instruction

The rapid turnover of employees at the Aliant Company presents a significant challenge that requires a comprehensive needs assessment to identify underlying causes and develop effective solutions. An effective needs assessment involves systematically gathering, analyzing, and interpreting data to understand the root causes of organizational problems, particularly employee turnover. This process is rooted in several key factors outlined by Brown and Green (2016), including identifying performance gaps, understanding learner and organizational needs, and aligning training interventions with strategic goals.

Initially, it is crucial to recognize that the high turnover rate—exceeding 8-10% per year and occurring monthly—indicates fundamental systemic issues rather than isolated incidents. The demographic diversity among departing employees suggests that personal characteristics such as race, ethnicity, age, and gender are not primary contributors. Instead, the lack of significant complaints about training or supervision, noted in exit interviews, shifts the focus toward external factors such as local economic conditions, labor market trends, and employee expectations.

From an organizational perspective, the economic growth in the town, which began around six months ago, seems to have coincided with the spike in turnover. Despite some increases in hourly wages, turnover persists, implying that compensation alone does not retain employees. This suggests that the company must explore other needs, including intrinsic motivators, job satisfaction, career development opportunities, and employment stability, which may have been overlooked.

Gathering qualitative data from exit interviews, employee surveys, and management discussions offers valuable insights. Interestingly, most employees appreciated supervisory support and flexible hours, indicating that these factors were not primary dissatisfaction sources. However, the low wages, tentatively identified as a reason for leaving, point to the need for further analysis of the compensation strategy in relation to employee expectations and the competitive labor market.

In conducting interviews with managers on different shifts, recognition of emerging patterns—such as increased competition for labor and the impact of local economic growth—becomes evident. Managers, despite their experience and involvement in training design, could not explain the turnover spike, signaling a gaps in understanding employee motivations and external labor dynamics.

Based on these findings, several key recommendations can be made. First, conduct a comprehensive job satisfaction and motivation survey among current employees to identify unmet needs and expectations. Second, implement a competitive compensation review strategy that considers local market wages and employee perception of fair pay. Third, develop retention initiatives focused on career development, employee recognition, and creating a supportive work environment that fosters loyalty beyond monetary incentives.

In conclusion, the needs assessment highlights that employee turnover at Aliant is multifaceted, influenced by external economic factors and internal management practices. A strategic, data-driven approach involving continuous feedback, market analysis, and targeted interventions will be essential to reducing turnover and fostering a stable, satisfied workforce aligned with the company's long-term goals.

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