ERP Training

11/1/2010 at 10:23 am by The Sage ERP Team

While your business is working hard to select the right ERP vendor, choose the right ERP system and implement the entire thing in a timely and cost-effective manner, other things can often fall by the wayside. One part of the process that can get tossed asunder is training.

However, neglecting to properly train and prepare employees and management for ERP can have disastrous effects on your ERP implementation project. Employees who don’t understand how to use or appreciate the system are bound to become frustrated and unhappy – which is exactly the kind of scenario you want to avoid. So what should you focus on in your ERP training sessions?

For management
For one thing, be sure not to overlook the management. Even upper-level company executives will be affected by ERP, and they need the same preparation as other employees to deal with these changes. You’ll want to start by explaining the key benefits of ERP to the company executives: increased business efficiency, the elimination of double data entry and other repetitive processes and improved communication throughout the company, to name a few.

Give managers an overview about the functionality and likely impacts of ERP on your organization. These vary from one ERP system to another and from company to company, so you’ll want to be sure that you carefully research your chosen ERP package and understand how it will alter day-to-day life for managers and executives at the business.

It’s also important that executives and management understand the ways in which the roles at the company will be altered following the implementation of an ERP system. Some of their responsibilities may change or become larger or smaller in scope. Though executives may sometimes feel threatened by these changes, it is important to reassure them of the importance of their jobs. ERP is complementary to business management, not a substitute for it. When managerial forces and the ERP system can work in tandem, your company is sure to see the best possible return on investment from ERP.

Finally, be sure that management understands the goals of the ERP system. In many ways, the job of management at a company is to drive employees toward a certain goal. Helping management understand that goal is one the best ways to ensure that everything stays on track with your ERP system.

For employees
Employees will need significant end-user training to ensure that they are comfortable with the ERP system long before it goes live. In order to make this possible, be sure to schedule training dates well in advance of the go-live date.

Like their managers, employees are likely to feel threatened by a system that they don’t fully understand. For this reason, it is crucial to explain not just how ERP works, but how it doesn’t work – in other words, reassure employees that their jobs are still valuable to the company. Once again, ERP is designed to work together with the human element of your company to help you run the most efficient business possible.

Help employees understand how they can utilize ERP to make their own jobs easier. ERP can reduce tedious data entry, make it easier to find stored data and streamline processes that used to take ages to complete.

When your entire company, from upper management down to interns, understands how to work with ERP, you’ll be enjoying the benefits of a smooth-running system in no time.