Analysis

=Analysis Phase I=

=//Front-End Analysis//=
 * Performance improvement initiatives will be directly related to Gannett Fleming's Vision, Mission and Values for 2009:**



=Problem Statement=  Consistent with its value "Employees are our Most Important Asset," Gannett Fleming aims to provide all employees with the "tools and training required to perform their duties." Every employee at Gannett Fleming is required to have a solid understanding of the firm’s Quality Management System, and most employees are required to fully understand and practice the firm’s ISO 9001:2008 standards. Those employees whose jobs relate directly to providing products and services to clients will be more deeply involved in the firm’s QMS than those employees whose jobs are administrative in nature. However, all employees are expected to participate actively at whatever level is appropriate for them. Because there is a lack of resources to regularly train employees on our QMS and ISO standards, many newly hired employees go without the proper knowledge of our QMS for long periods of time, and without ever attending a formal QMS training session. Gannett Fleming’s goal is to provide the necessary QMS training to all new employees when hired, at every regional location across the country and globe. The firm will achieve this goal by creating an asynchronous e-learning training module that will be housed within its Learning Management System (LMS). Members of Gannett Fleming’s Corporate Learning department will design and implement this module and import it into the LMS for easy 24/7 access for all employees.

=Organizational Assessment=

On June 30, 2009, 1,611 employees at Gannett Fleming were invited to complete a Workforce Committment Survey administered by Morehead Associates, a company specializing in employee opinion surveys. Of those 1,611 employees, 84% (1,357) responded to the 66-question web survey administered between June 30 and July 14, 2009.

From the results, it was concluded that in the Organizational Domain, Gannett Fleming scored a 3.95 out of 4.00, which is .26 points above the National Business and Industry Average, and .21 points above our last score received in 2005.

Click here for a full Report:



**Pertinent Survey Items**
Statement 17. //This organization cares about quality improvement// received a score of **4.39**
 * Most Favorable Compared to the Nat'l Bus & Ind Average:**

Statement 44. //This organization provides career development opportunities// received a score of **3.93**
 * Most Favorable Compared to 2005:**

646 Responses (48% provided feedback)
 * Open Ended-Item: What could be done to make this organization a better place to work?**
 * Theme:** Encourage teamwork and __provide opportunities for training__ (12%)

=Gap Analysis= __Problem Identification__ Employees and managers are need a systemic procedure for training newly hired employees on Gannett Fleming's Quality Management System and ISO 9001 standards in a timely manner. Due to its geographical expansion and lack of resources, Gannett Fleming employees are not trained and most go months or even years without any type of formal QMS/ISO training.
 * Performance Gap Assessment:**

__Requirements__ All new employees are to be introduced to the Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI) process by participation in a formal training session. Employees are automatically assigned to a Quality Improvement Meeting Unit (QIMU), which provides a structure for addressing both quality problems and opportunities for quality improvement.

__Current Performance Levels__ Each year, approximately 300 or more new employees are hired at Gannett Fleming. The last formal CQI training session was held in March of 2009, where 70 employees received training either via classroom or WebEx. This means that about 230 employees (hired in 2008) have still not yet had any type of formal CQI training. As of October 2009, approximatley 250 or more new employees have been hired at Gannett Fleming. This is a total of about 500 employees who have gone almost a year without training on our Quality Management System or ISO 9001 standards.

__Root Cause of Problem__ The root cause of this problem has been determined as a lack of resources. For over a year, there was a gap in between the time a new employee was hired and when they received CQI/ISO 9001 training (if they received any training at all). The reason why there was such a large gap was because the firm was going through some human resource changes and created a new department devoted to employee learning and development. Therefore, a need for this training was identified and the new members of the Corporate Learning department are now able to have responsibility over this mandatory employee training.

__Desired Performance Outcome__ Newly hired employees will have the chance to take part in the asynchronous e-learning course entitled, "Gannett Fleming QMS Orientation." Within 2 weeks from their date of hire, every new employee will be assigned to complete this course through the firm's Learning Management System, which is administered by the Corporate Learning group. After successful completion of the course, the newly hired employee will have record of completion in their online transcript.

__Expectations of Training Related to Outcome__ This training program will undoubtedly reduce training costs, and be much more timely for effectively training all newly hired employees. The automated process of assigning new employees through the LMS will be easier for supervisors and employees. This takes away the time and travel expenses of putting together an instructor-led training class.

=**Training Needs Assessment**=


 * What problems is the organization facing?**

Gannett Fleming is an ISO 9001:2008 Certified organization, which requires documented regular training on its Quality Management System (QMS) and ISO requirements. However, when new employees join the firm there is no regulary-set training schedule in place in order to train these new hires in a timely manner. Some employees are trained when schedules and time allow it; however most employees go without formal training for long periods of time.

Yes. A system needs to be established so that new hires gain an understanding of Gannett Fleming's QMS and ISO requirements in a timely manner.
 * Can it be solved with training? Which learners would need this training?**

Yes. The Corporate Quality Officer (VP of Gannett Fleming, Inc.) validates that this training is a necessary part of an employee's career development and will adhere to the ISO 9001 standards at Gannett Fleming.
 * Can a SME validate this training? Will the firm support this training?**

The most return will be evident in the amount of training funds spent. See ROI calculation below.
 * Where will see the most return on investment?**

=**Needs Analysis Report**= View report by clicking here:



Cost/Benefit Analysis

 * Overall ROI = efficiency & compliance savings + improved staff management savings + increased business performance**


 * OR

ROI = (Benefits - Cost)/Cost**

For an asynchronous e-learning module, the following would apply:

1. Efficiency and Compliance How much time is currently spent on formal, instructor-led training sessions at Gannett Fleming? This includes time to prepare, register participants, have conversations, follow up on missing/late participants, collect and analyze data, report the results, etc. If we can make training quicker and easier to complete (for learner //and// instructor), we immediately will save time for managers and employees. And of course, senior management can immediately access accurate data in our Learning Management System (LMS) for compliancy-checking...which is traditionally a time-consuming task.
 * Saving time and reducing errors.**
 * ROI=amount of time saved per person (7 hours) * average hourly wage ($20) * # of people (300) = approximately __$42,000.00 per year.__**

By collecting objective, detailed compliancy data, we reduce the amount of nonconformities associated with undocumented training records. We will save time that would have been required to deal with corrective action requests from internal and external audit findings.
 * Compliancy**
 * ROI=cost of time lost to nonconformities * chance of nonconformance occurring**

The above measures deal with short to medium-term returns. However, when justifying quality management, we cannot ignore the competitive advantage of a strong talent strategy. For many industries like Gannett Fleming's, the most constrained resource is quality-orientated people: the businesses that do the best job of attracting, managing and retaining talent will be the ones that prevail. A learning management system is central to a strong talent strategy.
 * Long-term ROI**