Why It Is Important to Train Your Staff to Use New Software

According to a recent research commissioned by Middlesex University for Work Based Learning, 74% of workers felt they weren’t achieving their full potential at work due to a lack of development opportunities.

The same research found that 56% of HR Managers viewed training and development as a crucial factor in enabling staff productivity, satisfaction, and success.

The two statistics show a clear disconnect between manager beliefs and actual practice.

Why is it important to train your staff to use new software?

There are many reasons why businesses invest in new software. SunSystems, for example, can upgrade your accounting processes, provide rapid and versatile reporting and make it much easier to analyse your organisation’s data.

However, it’s very difficult to achieve a return on software investment if staff in the business are not willing and able to use a system – which is just one of the reasons why training staff to use new software is so essential.

You’ll see a greater and faster return on your software investment with staff training

Although the best software should be relatively easy to use, when you change the way things are done internally there is always a requirement for transition management.

Training staff to use new software makes that transition easier, as staff will have the tools to work with the new software and won’t get stuck at critical points in their day. You’ll also be able to get the most out of the software you’ve invested in if you train staff to use it properly.

Otherwise, you may find that you’re not seeing the expected improvements in performance and efficiency – or that mistakes and delays are arising as a result of the change.

Without training, staff may not use software

It’s easy to forget that, for many people, switching to new software may not come easily. It may be difficult to understand or require a perspective shift or new approach to workflow that doesn’t initially seem logical, especially if alternative software or other systems are what employees are used to.

Without training your staff may simply give up on using the software that you’ve invested in and go back to old habits. If you don’t give your staff the understanding and insight to use the new software then it could end up being a waste of valuable resources.

Training enables staff to see all the advantages

It’s important to demonstrate how new software will benefit the business, as well as what it could add to the everyday experience that staff have.

Training is the simplest and most effective way to do this, providing employees with essential insight into how the software works to improve the business and make it more efficient, as well as highlighting the ways in which it gives individuals more flexibility, focus and potential to achieve more.

Staff may not have time to learn on their own

In a busy work environment, most of your staff will already have a lot to do – and deadlines don’t grind to a halt simply as a result of the need to use new software.

If you don’t make time to train your staff – and there is no space in schedules for employees to explore the software and learn on their own – then they are far less likely to engage with it. Allocating time and resources for training should be an integral part of the process of new software investment.

We offer a range of training options to help your business unleash the power of SunSystems – contact FinanSys today to find out more.