The new technical solution is not all you need – ignore the human aspect and you will lose the benefits promised
When a new solution is not used right it brings no benefits and can even create costs. One might ask why is there little emphasis on training, even after making a significant investment in a technical. Klaus Canth of Sofigate Academy shares his insights on why and how to secure business continuity with the required skills and knowledge in an ERP project.
If a system is not used correctly, the benefit it is supposed to bring is equal to zero and often creates costs. So why is it that in many projects training is not prioritised, even though the technical solution a company has invested in costs a fortune? Sofigate Academy’s experienced system expert and trainer Klaus Canth responds.
The importance of training for a successful system project is increasingly recognised. This is likely because the significance of change management, and training as an integral part of it is now understood in more organisations.
Despite this heightened understanding of the significance of training, the human role in change is still often overlooked. First signs of trouble may start to appear in the daily life of a company that has acquired a new ERP system: Excel spreadsheets begin quietly to circulate via email, and people stubbornly “do things the old way.” The benefits of the new system are postponed indefinitely.
Retraining is the only solution for when poor training hinders the use of a new system, but training staff on something they’ve already supposedly learned is expensive as it takes time and demands human input. Employees are taken away from productive work for the same topic a second time, and they get understandably frustrated. So, what causes this situation, and how can it be avoided?
What does “training” mean?
Surprisingly often challenges in system project training begin with how the word “training” is understood. For one person, the quality of training is measured by the number of slides; for another, it’s the depth of the trainer’s expertise; while a third person believes in learning alongside work.
For the integrator, the project is often understood to be just technical execution. Training is a necessary evil, handled with minimal effort. On the other hand, the buyer often doesn’t even know to demand a clear definition of what “training” entails. Are practical exercises a core part of it? What should documentation include? In what format is the material designed, developed, and how is it validated and approved by the buyer organization?
If the project leadership lacks up-to-date knowledge of what training can ideally be it easily ends up in a secondary role. Often the main challenge is the lack of understanding on what to demand from vendors and integrators. This leads to a self-perpetuating cycle where the organisation settles for whatever training is available, regardless of its quality.
Orchestrate, challenge, and get results
I order to tackle the above-mentioned challenge of unsuccessful training I have developed a new way of orchestrating training in ERP projects. The method delivers solid learning outcomes, puts the learner at the centre, and secures business continuity. In this role, I’ve had to challenge the outdated way of handling training with minimal effort and poor results.
The change is tangible. It begins by involving a professional facilitator in the training process from the start. This person leads training development and brings structure, energy, and interaction to the actual training events. The focus is on practical exercises: I aim for the first exercise to begin 15 minutes after the training starts. What is learned and practiced is tested and measured in various ways. This ensures that work continues successfully after implementation.
In all ERP projects where this approach has been used, implementation has gone smoothly, and operations have continued without competence-related issues.
Include the people and inspire learning
Training development must start from the learner’s perspective. If we want to succeed, we need to build the training on how the participants learn best. This means that training should be a lively dialogue led by a facilitator. Questions are encouraged, even rewarded, creating an enthusiastic and positive atmosphere.
One aspect of the dialogue is to seek audience insights and ideas on how to improve on the solution. Training is the first time end users get to try the system, so they are happy to give feedback. This should be built into the training as, after all, it is built for the participants. In my own sessions we took the participants’ ideas to the continual development for further processing, many ideas were later carried out as upgrades/fixes.
What if you ignore the audience?
The results of ignoring people in training can have far reaching consequences. If ignored, people can become frustrated and cynical during and after the training. With this negative attitude they may start questioning the entire system project, its goals, and the competence of decision-makers. In the worst case, some key personnel may start looking for jobs elsewhere so you will lose valuable knowledge and capabilities as well as creating recruitment costs. The consequences of ignoring people are inevitably negative.
If you are the business looking to get successful ERP training here’s how to ensure a critical system becomes part of everyday operations:
- Treat training with the same intensity and standards as the technical solution.
- Include a professional in the project to lead training design, development, and delivery.
- Demand a clear, goal-oriented training strategy, detailed training descriptions, and diverse, engaging content and human-centric delivery style from all training providers.
- Collect feedback systematically and act on it, especially if it is negative.
- Demand changes to training if the quality does not meet expectations.
About the author
Klaus Canth is an experienced system expert and trainer at Sofigate Academy. With more than 20 years of experience in training and coaching and five ERP projects under his belt Klaus knows what he is talking about.
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