Most of the ERP systems are complicated and difficult to understand. End user training is often most under valued part of a ERP system implementation. There are much talked cases about ERP failure caused due to bad training. One of the example is Lumber Liquidators where profit dropped by 45% due to training issues. The software was so hard to use that it caused employees to leave.

According to Gartner Research “companies spending less than 13 percent of their ERP project costs on training are three times more likely to fall short of their business and project goals than organizations spending 17 percent or more.”. The reality is companies spend on a average 3.6% of IT budget on training.

However small is your budget doing it the right way could help you increase ROI from your money. Below are some of the practical tips you can consider when planning for training sessions on ERP systems-

1 – Train the Trainer pitfall

It is not realistic to assume someone can be trained several weeks before the go-live and expect him/her to deliver quality training.

2 – Plan your training well in advance.

When you are taking train the trainer approach make sure that they do not get bogged down by last minute deliverables which always seems to take priority over training.

3 – Role based training.

In some organizations there will be more than 30 roles. So single design will not fit them all. A small amount of overview is needed but for most of the roles it will be just their processes and how it is to be done in tools.

4 – Role of super users

When thinking of using super users for conducting training be cautioned that they might be deep in technical aspects but lack the process context and communication aspects

5 – Different kind of training at different stages

Begin with classroom training and gradually shift to e-learning and on the job training. The comparison of classroom vs e-learning will never end but you have to plan it judiciously.

6 – Re look your training manuals

Design your training manuals well. Putting a very detailed manual is counterproductive according to research. Most people read documentation only as last resort. And clutter is what puts them off.

7 – Go minimalist with manuals

In one of the experiment when a document was cut down by 75% the learning time reduced by 40%. So take a hard look at your screenshot based lengthy documentation.

8 – Bring in context

Improve learning by integrating your documents into the product and segregating it based on application context.

9 – Track effectiveness and follow up

Do not trust feedback forms collected at end of training for knowing effectiveness. Track your support calls to zero in on the processes getting most queries and decide about follow up training for same.

With the right training strategy organizations can mitigate one of the most common reasons for ERP implementation failure. We at Anakage with its intelligent train, assist and support technology for SAP, Oracle , Salesforce is trying to change the way End user training is being done for ERP  implementatons. Send us a mail to enterprise@anakage.in to know more.