I sit at my desk enjoying the satisfaction of having just completed a new-hire training program for Bitloom’s sales team. The feeling does not last long. A Slack message from my manager appears: he has just left a meeting with senior leadership, and they are demanding that we develop a communication-skills training program to address two major concerns: delayed customer support response times and poor service quality.
The request is clearly a high priority, and leadership appears convinced that inadequate communication skills are causing both problems. However, my responsibility as the Lead Learning Designer is not simply to deliver the requested training, but to determine whether it will address the actual performance need. Christensen’s Performance Improvement Process Model emphasizes that performance-improvement work should begin by verifying the need rather than immediately accepting a proposed intervention. Similarly, Stefaniak explains that statements such as “we need training” describe a preferred solution, while the true need is the gap between current and desired performance. Although communication training may appear to be a quick and responsive solution, developing it without further investigation would treat leadership’s assumption as a confirmed diagnosis.
I begin by comparing Bitloom’s current performance with its desired state to define the gap clearly. At present, delayed responses, growing ticket backlogs, and negative customer experiences fall short of the timely, reliable, and high-quality support customers expect. Once that gap is established, the next step is to determine its cause. As Stefaniak explains, a needs assessment identifies the gap between current and desired performance, while a needs analysis investigates the root causes of that gap.
Identifying the root causes requires me to look beyond the employee; I must consider all factors that could be contributing to the feedback the organization has received from its customers. So Christensen’s model supports looking at it through a broad lens, focusing on the worker, work, workplace, and the broader organizational environment. I must examine worker knowledge, tools, technology, staffing, workflow, expectations, management support, workload, and organizational conditions.
I have interview-style meetings with customer service managers and help desk technicians. Using a well-designed needs assessment interview creates consensus by pinpointing specific performance gaps, while neutral, open-ended questions reduce bias by allowing employees to define issues objectively. I started to see patterns and themes emerge as parallel causes. For example, frequent outages during peak periods, software slowdowns and crashes, outdated customer service software, and a system unable to handle current ticket volume. Not only did those non-training barriers start to emerge, but it was also identified that the department is understaffed, causing employees to perform multiple roles and take on additional responsibilities. Not addressing certain non-training barriers could cause further delays and stress for employees, as taking those employees off the phone for training could increase the backlog.
I also observed that the workflow and organizational conditions are not optimal. I need to follow up with additional research and seek out other factors contributing to the issues. There could be underlying issues, such as ineffective ticket routing or prioritization, unclear escalation procedures, staffing issues during peak calling hours, and coordination between departments. These could represent process or management issues rather than learning deficiencies.
After speaking with staff members and making my own observations, I needed to verify my findings with data before making my recommendations, so I used one of the principles of Stefaniak’s six-part process, Data Collection. So I start with 1) Performance and Customer Data: I want to understand the first point of contact, average resolution time, daily ticket volume by time and department, and issue types. Also, I would want to review customer complaints by code and call listening to identify any communication issues. 2) Systems data: I would review offline vs online stats, crash frequency, hardware and software processing speed, and help-desk incident tickets. I would want to know if response times and customer ratings decline when the system slows down or becomes unavailable. 3) Staffing and work flow data: Review employee-to-ticket ratio, staffing levels by shift, turnover and absence, hiring practices, and time spent doing other roles.
Stefaniak recommends gathering evidence from multiple organizational levels to verify patterns, rather than relying on a single stakeholder’s perspective. Now that I have conducted interviews with staff members and collected data, along with my own observations, I have some insight into the root causes of negative client feedback.
As I begin to formulate a plan to share with leadership, my conclusion is that multiple causes are present, and my recommendation is a blended intervention. McGoldrick and Tobey stress that recommendations should connect organizational, performance, learning, and learner needs rather than begin with course design.
So, I scheduled a meeting with the leadership team, including my manager, to review my findings and present a solution.
Agenda Overview
Business Goal
Improve customer service response times and increase customer satisfaction survey results.
Leadership Request
Develop a customer-service communication training program to support these goals.
Needs Assessment Approach
Review the current performance environment through:
Employee and manager interviews
Workplace observations
Customer service and operational data analysis
Evaluation of systems, staffing, workload, and workflow
Key Findings
The performance gap appears to involve several contributing factors:
Technology: Employees understand their responsibilities, but outdated and unreliable systems limit their ability to respond efficiently.
Staffing and workload: Ticket demand exceeds the department’s capacity, resulting in backlogs and delayed responses.
Workflow: Inefficient ticket routing and escalation procedures may be contributing to longer resolution times.
Communication skills: Some employees may benefit from targeted development in empathy, expectation-setting, and handling difficult customer conversations.
Why Training Alone Is Not Enough
Employees could complete a communication course while response times, ticket backlogs, and customer satisfaction results remained unchanged. Training can address knowledge and skill gaps, but it cannot correct system failures, staffing shortages, or inefficient processes.
Recommended Path Forward
Implement a blended performance-improvement strategy that includes:
Software stabilization or replacement
Staffing and scheduling adjustments
Clearer roles and workload expectations
Improved ticket-routing and escalation processes
Targeted communication training, coaching, job aids, and practice
Expected Business Impact
Although this approach will require an organizational investment, it is more likely to improve response times, customer satisfaction, employee performance, and Bitloom’s brand reputation. The recommended solution should also produce a stronger return on investment and better meet stakeholder expectations than training alone.
Final Thoughts
As the Lead Learning Designer, my responsibility is to listen carefully, respect leadership’s concerns, and investigate the situation objectively. In doing so, I help protect Bitloom from investing in a one-dimensional solution that addresses only a small part of the problem. The thorough needs assessment strengthens my recommendation by making it more credible, measurable, and directly connected to organizational performance.
References
Christensen, B. (2023). Needs assessment & needs analysis: A talking shop webinar [Webinar].
Stefaniak, J. E. (2020). Needs assessment for learning and performance: Theory, process, and practice. Taylor & Francis Group.
McGoldrick, B., & Tobey, D. (2016). Needs assessment basics (2nd ed.). ATD Press.
AI Use Statement
I used ChatGPT, an artificial intelligence tool developed by OpenAI, to assist with grammar, sentence structure, organization, and formatting. The ideas, analysis, interpretations, and final content presented in this work are my own.
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