Although there is no test that can accurately measure the damage to your bottom-line that results from skimping on computer user training, there is very little doubt that such a mechanism will become available sooner rather than later as the move to automated business processes speeds up.
The proliferation of enterprise resource planning systems and other vertically focussed systems, is resulting in a large scale computerisation of processes which were previously manual, says Kevin Kemp, a director of CS Education Solutions, a subsidiary of JSE-listed CS Holdings.
"In many such cases, there is an accompanying workflow through to already well-established desktop packages such as MS Office, specifically because of the flexibility many of the applications in these systems offer the end-user. The result is that, today, there is a need not only to skill employees up to work with and interface with the new ERP system, but also need to ensure that the employees know how to use the features of the office suite relevant to their jobs.
"In addition, the general acceptance of e-mail as a form of information transmission in the business world has resulted in the need to also know how to use e-mail effectively," says Kemp. "All these components add up to a considerable training requirement, and one which, it must be said, many small- to medium-sized businesses tend to skimp on because of budgetary constraints.
"This tendency to skimp in the area of training is a legacy of a time when people were expected to educate themselves," says Kemp. "In the past, employers felt they were obligated only to train staff in those areas directly related to the company`s core business activity.
"With the convergence of business and IT, it is essential that employers understand that a lack of IT-user skills can in fact jeopardise your business and render your investment in IT useless."
"Today IT forms an integral part of the production line and the supply chain. A lack of training in the processes driving the system and in how to use the system to its full benefit is tantamount to putting electricity in the house but never switching the lights on," says Kemp.
Staff who don`t know how to use the applications properly work slower and never use the expensive technology to its full potential. They overload help desks and support staff with tedious problems that properly trained users would have corrected themselves.
The latter results in an unbalanced view of the resources required in the IT support staff.
Kemp maintains bad management practices in the past have to answer for the failure of many training programmes and that good change management can go a long way to delivering successful ROI on both new systems and accompanying training.
"Very often when a new system is implemented, staff have not been consulted about the implementation. A new system needs to be sold to the user," says Kemp. "Proper education regarding the benefits, not only for the company, but also for the staff, can make a difference to the way users perceive the new system."
Managers running the change management programme need to ensure procedures and methodologies to ensure everyone buys in and migrates successfully.
"Key to successful migration is to ensure everyone receives adequate training on the new system, specifically in regard to how they will need to use the system in their own job or role. "You cannot experience return on investment in IT if hardly anyone in the company knows how to interface and use the system effectively, thereby ensuring value-add from the workshop floor upwards," concludes Kemp.
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