How do you teach staff to use ERP integration?

Not everyone understands the importance of an ERP or how it serves overarching business goals. Before training the staff, make sure you can explain in layman’s terms the purpose of an ERP and what problems you’re trying to solve or goals you’re trying to achieve with integration.

ERP is a sophisticated application. Before beginning any training, it is critical to establish an individual's roles and responsibilities inside the firm. Most ERP systems include training for a specific set of roles. Training should not be restricted to theory alone, but should also include hands-on experience.

Start by carefully evaluating staff's KPI and assign active integration modules and ERP system and matching them to the goals of the firm. To promote a thorough grasp of integration complexities, use a variety of training methods, including seminars, webinars, and self-paced courses, along with practical exercises and demonstrations.

We are working on an implementation now and decided we need a reward/incentive program for our employees to get them truly engaged in training and testing.

Feedback is necessary, during or post-training, as it promotes learning cycle. Maintain the value of lifelong learning as you adjust to changing ERP technologies. These steps will enable staff to successfully negotiate the challenges of ERP integration, opening the door for more efficient operations.

One thing that really helps is the use of work flows. Engage your staff in deciding what the best procedures are, and then build work flows to guide (or force) everyone to follow the procedures they agreed to. In the newer ERPs, writing a work flow can be done by someone in-house who has been trained, rather than asking the vendor to do it for you.

ERP, one of the largest projects a company will ever undertake, requires active engagement from management & a communications plan. Leadership must make clear they support the project & why. Management stakeholders have responsibility for communication to their teams & for team adoption. PM’s should help to ensure the above happens while providing their own communications. Training primary stakeholders should happen first introducing ERP, to assist with system config options & requirements. End user training comes later. PM should rely on the vendor to provide training & materials, tailored by internal project teams as appropriate. It should be team-role specific, with easy to access reference materials, & include ongoing support processes.