Global Knowledge provided customized training to improve the customer service skills of the IT help desk staff at Electronic Design Company (EDC). They conducted interviews to understand EDC's needs and developed an interactive virtual training program with role-playing scenarios, best practices guidance, and podcast refreshers. Global Knowledge delivered the training to 180 IT employees across EDC's offices worldwide. As a result, EDC saw reduced delays in help desk ticket handling, increased employee morale, and an IT staff better able to proactively meet internal customer needs.

1. Case Study
GLOBAL KNOWLEDGE CASE STUDY www.globalknowledge.com
Training Reduces Help Desk Ticket
Delays, Boosts Employee Morale
Client: Electronic Design Company (EDC)
EDC is a leading provider of software, hardware and
Internet protocol services for the design of consumer
electronics, advanced semiconductors and
networking and telecommunications equipment.
Headquartered in San Jose, California, the company
has over $1 billion in annual revenue and more than
60 offices worldwide.
Situation: Improve IT Help Desk Experience
EDC reorganized the IT department resulting in some staff downsizing. Many of the
remaining employees were feeling overworked, underappreciated and insecure about the
stability of their jobs. EDC recognized the need to standardize customer service practices
and to develop professionals who could proactively respond to internal customer support
requests.
The company wanted to improve their internal help desk experience and adopt customer
service best practices from industry leaders. The IT organization needed the knowledge
and skills to proactively anticipate internal needs and to provide a high-quality and
consistent help desk experience.
EDC’s chief information officer (CIO) requested a customized training curriculum and
learning aids focused on customer communication, listening skills and establishing trust
for the IT department’s 300 employees. The objective was to create the course and
related educational materials necessary to enable EDC to deliver its own training in the
future.
As part of the solution, EDC needed training for a core group of early adopters and three
quarterly podcast “refreshers” to support the original training. The IT organization was
divided across Europe, North America and Asia, requiring training to be delivered
virtually.
Solution: Customized Role-Play Scenarios, Best Practices Guide and Podcasts
Global Knowledge spent a week on-site interviewing over two dozen stakeholders, from
front line help desk employees to C-level executives. A handful of interviews were
conducted over the phone with stakeholders in Japan, India and Europe. EDC received a
needs analysis report, which included a summary of interview findings and high-level
course design recommendations related to existing customer service policies and their
desired future state.
The course was designed to be interactive with virtual breakout groups for participants to
collaborate with their counterparts on various activities. The course material consisted of
an EDC-branded slide deck with instructor notes and student job aids. A series of 11
podcast recordings were developed based on topics presented in the course. Each
Industry
IT Related Services
Product Area
Business Transformation
Services
Learning Services
■ Needs Analysis
■ Custom Solution Development
■ Mentoring/Consultation
■ Training Delivery
■ Measurement/Evaluation

2. Case Study
GLOBAL KNOWLEDGE CASE STUDY www.globalknowledge.com
podcast was designed to be less than five minutes and served as a reference guide for
the trainees to access after the course.
The scenario-based podcasts demonstrated the wrong approach to customer service
request followed by narrator commentary and then the same scenario performed using
the correct approach to the situation. To cater to a globally dispersed, multicultural
audience, Global Knowledge used professional voice-over talents with different accents
(e.g., American, British, French, Indian and French). Global Knowledge delivered pilot
courses to key EDC stakeholders and internal trainers who would ultimately deliver the
course to the target audience.
Results: Employees Trained to Proactively and Effectively Respond to Internal
IT Needs
Before training, there was no baseline customer service knowledge or best practice
guidelines. By working with Global Knowledge, EDC was able to standardize their
customer service approach, invest in their employees and improve department morale.
Global Knowledge enabled EDC to host 13 training sessions: eight in North America, two
in the Europe, Middle East and Africa region and three in Asia, resulting in training for
about 180 IT help desk employees. After training, EDC was able to increase internal
communication and reduce delays in help desk ticket status updates for employees. EDC
was able to increase positive feedback metrics and IT departments worldwide were
trained to proactively anticipate the needs of internal customers.
“Since I come from the customer support background, the topics discussed in here were
very basic and critical for my daily work. Understanding the customer’s needs, empathy,
taking the ownership of reported issues, making the customer feel how important they are
and deliver the best out of us to the customer… all these are critical.” – Student