How can you support employees during and after ERP change?

If we are talking about a well-known ERP system for sure we will have like a guidelines about how to implement the system and assessing the current state of the organizations, as well the desired state, based on the solution provider experience and knowledge by applying the best practices While in the Customized ERP system you need to understand both requirements and assessing your team capabilities as they will be the one who tailor of the training materials because they will share their own experience and requirement, so the ERP service provider will tailor it based on the solution, not following a standard practices Your success in both scenarios, who will use the ERP system with the maximum features and value to empower the business

I couldn't agree more. Knowing the product is the only way you can feel comfortable when interacting with a system like ERP. An ancient Greek saying goes as "training is the mother of all knowing" and this fits here as well perfectly. Take time to invest and train your managers, before implementing an ERP to your company. Then give them 1-3months to get hands on experience with it over a sandbox environment. You can save so much money/effort/frustration and mistakes with this. Better to lose 3 months in training than recalling data structures on a running environment because of falsely configured systems. Always remember, garbage in-garbage out. And this is rhe way to avoid garbage in in the first place

Adapting to change for any product or process platform will have resistance. Resistance to change is a major factor to breakdown of use or lack of process. Identifying the changes in product process will provide a proactive approach to reducing resistance to change by eliminating unknowns, narrowing down major changes in ERP per role, department, focus and uplift confidence across personnel (and most importantly changes in people’s current understanding of ERP process vs new).

I agree. Different departments use different modules of a ERP system, so, Know your audience, their roles and functions, then tailor the training materials to fit their needs.

When rolling out a new ERP system, assess employees' skills to pinpoint training needs. We surveyed staff and held focus groups to gather input. Engineers wanted workflow training, accountants financial reporting practice. With managers trained on performance tracking, warehouse staff on inventory management, and customized instruction overall, our transition went smoothly. I've found it's crucial to tailor training to roles and functions. For example, We provided hands-on NetSuite Workflow for engineers and detail docs for accountants. Taking the time to identify gaps and address them with targeted training ensures a successful rollout. Employees feel supported, and adoption is faster.

Make sure training program is well designed and it caters to the need of require preferences make sure to align business goals.

Also, each person has a different learning style and pace. Some will learn faster than the others. Consider this when designing training materials and delivery. Don't forget to also design assessment activities to check whether employees were able to absorb the materials as well as identify areas which require further training and capability building.

Once you've identified employee training needs, design a program covering all aspects of the new ERP system. Usually, my training combined technical modules on NetSuite workflows with functional areas like financial reporting. I included change management and collaboration skills too. Use varied formats to suit different learning styles. My training blended online courses, in-person workshops and videos. Align training objectives with business goals. We measured training effectiveness by tracking performance metrics after rollout. The comprehensive program brought employees up to speed and prepared them to use the ERP system on day one. When you invest in thorough, tailored training, you set up both your people and your business for success

I worked with a major airline to implement a customized maintenance module of an ERP system. It took over 4 years and we wrote step by step work instructions that were then put into a company format. By the time it was time to go live the instructions made no sense. From what I understand by keeping in touch with the business the end users are miserable and no one knows how to use the new software to this day almost 5 years later. Lesson is don't let an outsider write instructions on how you do your job. If you are getting an ERP system it is because there is a business need. Embrace the challenges and make sure the training program makes sense to each department.

Make sure to deliver the training program and address the require changes and locations make sure to address the needs of up skilling

Once you've designed the ERP training program, it's time to deliver it. Schedule sessions well in advance and let staff know the details. I provide training schedules 2 months before our NetSuite rollout. During the sessions, encourage questions and discussion to create an interactive learning environment. Let staff apply new skills with hands-on activities and demos, then provide constructive feedback. Peers can also share experiences and tips. After training, we gave employees sample workflows to practice in the test environment. Follow-up support like quick reference guides reinforced the concepts. With timely, engaging and practical training delivery, employees will comprehend the material and master new processes.

After ERP implementation to go live, the ERP becomes operational. As long as the ERP is not retired, ongoing administration, support, training and maintenance keep it continuously efficient, effective and adequate for the constantly changing organizational requirements. System administration for security and data management, support for existing users, training for new users or features or modules and maintenance for bug-fixing and minor improvement updates or major enhancement upgrades constitute the operations to keep the ERP fit and running for the organization. If the ERP vendor is reliable and regularly issues new versions to keep pace with technological, process and regulatory innovation or change, there is no need to retire the ERP.

make sure to provide regular support to training framework identify the needs and work with them.Make sure to evaluate proper frameworks .

Additional manpower requirements in the form of trainors/support staff may be required to provide ongoing support to employees. Make sure to identify this manpower requirement well before implementing the training program. Identify key people per deparment/organizational function and designate them as champions who can help advocate the use of the ERP system and its modules.

Appointing change ambassadors who play a key role in influencing and championing change during the process of implementing a new ERP system.

Make sure to be open and capture relevant feedback improve the systems if require adhere to change and implement them.Make sure to evaluate proper mechanism.

Make sure opinions and feedback from all levels of the organization are captured. Don't just focus on C-level feedback, also get feedback from operations and actual end-users. However, do evaluate feedback against best practices. Some users prefer certain things that may not align with what is acceptable in the industry.

Couldn’t agree more. Being apart of major ERP change for a retail vendor some years ago; gathering feedback periodically and per process or department greatly increases the confidence and addressing bottlenecks in process or knowledge. By gaining feedback address issues, resistance to change, process control and increased efficiencies

ERP Change Management, is the secret! The change management process refers to the stages involved in any change management strategy and its implementation. Having a strategy and steps helps transformations become successful and ensure that all factors are considered like culture of change, for example: dependency on continuous ERP training, will leverage user vision for more innovation which will lead to company growth depending on users recommendation to facilitate their daily work and gain most of ERP ROI.

Make sure everyone understand the benefits of ERP systems people realise their benefits and optimal usage of their processes.

Other than the previous points on having the right trainings, stakeholders, and having a plan on assigning roles and responsibilities, a culture of change should be key before any company embarks in changing its own ERP. A culture of change can be implemented by assessing the root causes of user resistance and by: - Explaining that the benefits of the new ERP adoption are higher than the costs - Reducing knowledge barriers (e.g. training) to help drive innovation. A set of levers to promote a culture of change are also identified in higher user involvement, training, peer support, top management support, and external consultants involvement.

Change management is key and should be supported by C-level leadership and managers across the organization. Change should be backed by the higher ups. In fact, without this support, employees from lower levels will not care much for the ERP project (or any project for that matter). Also, communication shouldn't be limited to the project team and top-level management. Get ideas and feedback from all levels.

One might conder following for easy implementation as per my experience. Introduce a buddy system for peer learning. Align ERP usage with performance metrics. Create role-specific support sessions. Host ERP problem-solving workshops. Recognize and reward proactive ERP users. Maintain transparency about ERP progress. Offer access to external ERP resources. Encourage cross-departmental collaboration.

Supporting employees through organizational changes is more than training. Employees want to understand how their day-to-day will be impacted and what that means for them in the future. Consider an AP clerk who manually enters invoices all day - you implement OCR automation - from the AP clerk's perspective - they don't have a job anymore since the bulk of their work has been removed. Now, if a job impact assessment is done - it could be that the AP clerk does get a large task removed from their workload, but the OCR output needs to be reviewed and the company is now performing 3-way matching and the AP clerk will be responsible for addressing variances, etc. Focus on how the PEOPLE are impacted.

Clear communication and employee well-being are essential focus areas in ERP change programmes. Establishing channels for regular updates and feedback will help to ensure transparency and addresses concerns head on. Post-implementation, maintaining communication will reaffirm benefits and can help to gather feedback for improvements. Employee stress can be managed by offering workshops, counselling, and promoting work-life balance. Continuous well-being assessments post-change ensure that the businesses support mechanisms can adapt to evolving needs, fostering a resilient team through the transition.