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If you’re looking for, or have just purchased, a new HR system, how will you ensure that the ongoing user training is as effective as it can be?
Will you control your monetary costs (but not time costs) by having the internal resource to train new users, or will you have to purchase a number of additional consultancy days from your supplier? Or, ideally, have you considered that your training consultant may be able to provide online training as and when you need it, on a pay-as-you-go service?
As is often the case when training employees on new software, the consultant and your own project team may feel that they've checked the "Train Employees" box if they follow the classroom-based learning technique to cover the reasons why this new technology is required and how to use it on a daily basis. However, this does not necessarily mean employees have learned how to use the full functionality and features of the software to their benefit. In fact, it may mean that the scheduled training session has interrupted employee productivity: a manager engrossed in a pressing project or under pressure to meet deadlines will probably spend the training session checking their BlackBerry or glancing down repeatedly at their opened laptop to check emails. It could even be the case that some employees need more training and exposure to the product before they are comfortable with it and confident in their own abilities to use it well.
There’s no doubt that training needs to be provided in the formats that most appeal to end-users - which is usually instructor led/ hands-on training supported by Word documents or PowerPoint presentations, with user guides provided for reference after the session - but have you considered the advantages of web-based training?
If your new HR system follows the Software as a Service model, in that it hosted by your supplier and available online, then web-based training will be of huge benefit to you. Let’s say all of your HR staff needs a refresher on managing absence records to meet your new policies and procedures. With web-based training, your consultant can login to your live system, with delegates either viewing the consultant’s screen or logged in as themselves to discuss the training content via teleconference. Alternatively, this could become a hands-on training session with the HR Manager’s PC serving as the ‘host’ screen, with the consultant explaining the system as you go. The key point here is that only those who need to learn more about this specific aspect of the software now need attend online, rather than inviting all possible users of the software to a general overview session in the training suite, the detail of which will usually be quickly forgotten.
By following the web-based approach to software training: - Your training requirements can be fulfilled much more quickly: scheduling a 2 hour training session from everyone’s desk rather than a whole day’s training with everyone out of the office for a day will certainly be a lot easier to accommodate, both internally and with your trainer;
- You will increase employee productivity by providing training when it is needed: online refresher sessions can be used to ensure that employees really have learnt how to use their system;
- Your software becomes more affordable: if the daily cost of a software consultant is too much for your budget to bear, why not hold a programme of 2 hour online sessions as and when you need them?
To further enhance employee-learning of the software, to cut down on the “how do I do that again?” requests to HR and IT, and to follow the true Software as a Service approach, the training materials and software user guides should be made available online within a Documents module of your system, and therefore accessible by all users.
Using Youmanage, which Broxburn Bottlers and Ian MacLeod Distillers have chosen to implement, has helped them to realise that their once heavily HR-reliant workforce can use the system to self-serve for information to keep up-to-date with Company policies and procedures. With a specialist engineering workforce who don’t use computer software on a daily basis, this would have been a daunting prospect for the HR and Management team, but this has become a reality for them as they are safe in the knowledge that if any further training is required, then it can be obtained in an extremely cost-effective manner. For more information on how to get the most out of HR software training, or to discuss your own circumstances, please call us on 0844 335 8486 or email Nick at
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