You’ve made the decision to purchase an ERP system. Team heads are identified and you’re doing an audit on your processes to make sure no one’s left out of the loop. You’ve contacted ERP vendors and you’ve identified key IT resources for conversion, maintenance, and end-user support.
You’ve assured stakeholders that this conversion is not only necessary, but will give your company the edge on your competition, allowing you to respond to the market in a way you never could before.
But how can you be assured that your ERP implementation will succeed? Possibly one of the most important ways to bolster your chances of success is to conduct a thorough Dynamics ERP training for your employees.
Perhaps it seems unlikely, with all the effort and resources invested in this cross-enterprise project, that training would be the thing that makes or breaks an implementation. Yet, CIO Magazine says that not investing in good ERP training and change management is one of the most common reasons that ERP projects fail, and Tech Republic recommends that companies make quality training a priority.
But why?
First, trainers are evangelists. Everyone has some employees who are resistant to change. They don’t like being moved out of their comfort zones. Unfortunately, negative
attitudes keep people from using the more innovative functions your new system allows. Worse, these attitudes can lead to improper system use, and submarine the whole system. Good trainers can help these employees embrace a change mindset by enthusiastically showcasing new functionality that will make their jobs easier and more streamlined. Getting new users past fear and into acceptance is essential. A well-planned ERP training program does that, by surmounting negative attitudes and showing people how to use a new system to its full potential.
Second, thorough ERP training eliminates challenges for customer-facing groups, allowing your service reps and salespeople to have confidence they’ll be able to keep promises they make to your customers. No employee wants to tell a customer that they couldn’t come through because they made a mistake. And no customer wants to hear that their production deadline was missed because of an operational mishap. By implementing a good ERP training program, you tell customers and employees that you’re a careful guardian of the processes that the system was purchased to tend, and that you recognize the symbiotic relationship between employees and systems. You never want to be the thing that stands between your service organization and your customer.
Third, well-trained employees with an early adopter mindset will be your informal boots-on-the-ground. They’ll not only emphasize the benefits of the new system to those around
them, but they’ll be your first line of trainers. As an added benefit, if they feel they’ve been considered in the process of implementation, they’ll be the vocal supporters you’ll need now and in the future, as the software changes and as new modules are added.
Finally, a well-developed ERP training proces
s will identify problems and inevitable glitches before your go-live date. It’s beneficial, in fact, to conduct a pre-training with established department key users well ahead of a go-live date, as a kind of “soft open” to identify real-world issues before the whole-enterprise implementation. That kind of preparedness, with knowledgeable business users, is invaluable.
A well-trained organization tells customers, customer-facing end users, and departmental staff that you have truly addressed end-to-end corporate needs, and that your system is ready to function as the company’s backbone. To find out more about our training services please contact us.
Written by J.L. (Consulting Team)
{{cta(’52a6f94c-7ea9-4a8d-bf2d-9432e3c12709′)}}
