What good is it to have the latest software updates if they are not being used productively? Considering how much your company spends on software expenses, investing just a fraction of that into targeted training will give your organization a serious competitive edge.
Many employees and even managers don't see how to improve their productivity because they are so close to the details. Plus we are, as a species, wired to use ingrained habits just to get through the day. And yet as our software tools grow and change, some businesses fail to invest sufficiently in training.
Is your company one of them? Let’s help your managers see the real value of a software training investment.
Spend money to succeed
In a Gartner Research study, it was determined that organizations spending less than 13% of enterprise software project costs on continual end-user training are 3x more likely to fall short of project/business goals. They also estimate that for every hour of effective training provided, organizations can save five hours of work time. That’s enough to make any manager stop to evaluate his/her team’s productive potential.
Getting more from employees
Gaining worktime to take on additional tasks is but a single benefit of productivity training. Organizations who make the investment are likely to see:
Improved accuracy
Employees produce cleaner work with less errors, because they’re concentrating less on how to work with an application.
Elevated confidence
Knowledge creates a confident, empowered workforce that’s more likely and open to trying new things.
Increased sense of personal worth
An investment in their success is often met with feeling of personal value to the organization’s success. They feel cared for, and as a result, they care about the company.
Better retention rates
A Dale Carnegie study found that 40% of employees who receive poor training are likely to leave their jobs within the first year. Investing in quality productivity training could assist in helping staff feel valued, and inclined to stay longer. Surely an investment in software training costs less than acquiring new talent.
Greater customer satisfaction
The last thing a customer wants to endure is an employee fighting with the tools they use to support a patron. If users know how to work with their software effortlessly, that will be seen/appreciated by the customers.
Investments in software training helps managers, too
If your managers still need convincing, hit them where it matters most. Explain how an investment in software productivity training can benefit them personally:
Put out more fires
When their team members know how to use software proficiently, they ask less questions. That’s less time managers need to spend training and more time to focus on their ever-growing to-do list.
Deliver more – faster
Teams will waste measurably less time fumbling around in software. Thus, their manager can deliver on tasks/projects assigned with greater efficiently.
Increased value in the organization
A software-proficient team will get noticed quickly as a “can-do” crew. That increases their value to the overall organization – and may help protect the unit in the face of re-orgs or shifts in responsibility.
Of course, if your managers are wondering where to begin with software productivity training, we’d love to help! KnowledgeWave has a proven record of helping organizations get the most from the software investments they make, and turning end-users into superstars.
Investing in software is invaluable to an organization’s success. But it could be wasted if the end users aren’t using it proficiently. By dedicating just a fraction of your software budget to productivity training, your company’s managers – and the teams they develop – can contribute directly to the company’s competitive edge.
