Providing proper training will prevent expensive mistakes when implementing an IT change initiative.
No one can dispute the powerful impact technology has had on big business in recent years. Companies are relying on IT more than ever to get them connected, help them collaborate, work more efficiently, and provide a competitive advantage. Leaders are banking on technical innovations to make and keep their enterprises viable, open new markets, offer new products and services, and grow revenue.
According to PricewaterhouseCoopers's 14th Annual Global CEO Survey, 78 percent of CEOs believe innovation will generate "significant" new revenue and cost reduction opportunities during the next three years. Information technology can be both an enabler and a solution for innovation.
As new tools and technologies are introduced to organizations at an increasingly rapid pace, we have to consider how the workforce will react to this type of continual adjustment. Technology is disruptive—it's immediate and it demands change. How will organizations continually help their employees adopt new knowledge and skills required for their jobs? Herein lies the challenge and the opportunity for training and development professionals to add value by participating in IT initiatives aimed at contributing to the bottom line.
Training and development professionals will play an even more important role in linking technology, end users, and results. While companies are depending on technology to generate revenue and reduce operational costs, the reality is that technology implementations often flat out fail.
Research shows that 40 percent of IT solutions no longer are used a year after go-live. The statistics get no better when isolating for multimillion dollar systems according to Margo Visitacion from Forrester Research. If new technology and systems are not adopted, there is no chance they can achieve the value they set out to bring.
Here are four critical keys to success when planning for technology implementations:
- Blur the line between business process and IT training.
- Acknowledge and address your audience's tolerance for change.
- Tailor your learning methodology for technology training.
- Support your audience through the change.
Blur the line between business process and IT training
Most system training hasn't shifted focus from how to execute transactions to how the transaction fits into the broader business process and organization's goals. Technology training should be holistic; it should encompass and intertwine both business process training and procedural how-to training.
Users absorb training more effectively when they understand how the system transactions fit into the big picture. Teaching keystrokes and clicks is not enough. Proper training will prevent costly mistakes, and with an integrated system, an upstream mistake can become a catastrophic and costly mistake downstream.
To give users a meaningful framework for technology training, a good place to start is to provide a mapping of the current processes to the future processes. This exercise goes a long way in helping users understand the system as a part of their day-to-day jobs, as well as how it links to larger business impacts. It also serves as a method to create dialogue so questions can be addressed early on.
This deliverable has added importance to training and development professionals—it puts them in a position to engage leaders, create alignment, establish credibility by asking good questions, and ultimately, gain trust. Although it takes extra effort to develop a holistic training program, the investment is well worth it for everyone involved.
Acknowledge and address your audience's tolerance for change
Be mindful of other initiatives and changes that are happening simultaneously. When an organization tries to cope with too much change, employees can become drained or distracted. Consequently, they are less capable of taking on new change.
Organizations are dynamic. Although it may be impossible to time software implementations perfectly, it is important to bring awareness to key stakeholders about the risks of layering too much change and advocate for an alternative option if the situation calls for it.
For example, it may be possible to deliver portions of the functionality in phases or to pull in or postpone the go-live. If you are absolutely required to implement a new system in the midst of another major organizational shift, prepare your stakeholders to expect less than perfect results, including risking adoption altogether.
Tailor your learning methodology for technology
Developing training for IT systems is different from other types of training. Even when the best-laid plans call for a comfortable timeline, there generally is a small window between the point when the system is fully functional and when training documentation and training must be ready. And, of course, last-minute adjustments will happen.
Therefore, the design process must be flexible to catch the necessary steps as they become available throughout the development cycle. For systems, the training development process is more iterative than linear. You may find yourself cycling back to a topic you thought was finished weeks ago because the requirements have changed or the functionality wasn't ready to be documented.
Save yourself some time and frustration by waiting on any fine-tuning until closer to the launch, and set this expectation with others so they are understanding of progress throughout the project.
Even after implementation, systems are likely to be tweaked and enhanced. This reality means major shifts in training content can happen within a day, week, or month. Thus the training program must be designed so that it can be easily maintained.
For example, be mindful of the number of documents you create to support a particular initiative. The existence of too many files makes it difficult to hunt and peck where updates are needed, driving inconsistency in your product and degrading the initial quality.
Moreover, a surplus of supporting documents makes organization and retrieval of the content more difficult and frustrating for users. Source files always should be stored in a central location with access allowed for any individual maintaining the document.
Since maintenance efforts can be quite significant depending on the size of the program, you may want to consider assigning responsibility to a support analyst or super user to help keep material accurate. Also by defining a regular release schedule, updates can be more easily retrofitted.
Ensure that you are part of the system change request process so that you are notified promptly when new features are being developed. Remember: be flexible, patient, and ready for changes.
Support your audience through the change
Developing and executing a well-laid-out change plan is the single most important key to success. When people do not understand the reasons for change or do not agree with those reasons, they will resist, which is the top predictor of failure according to author and expert John Kotter. More often than not, change initiatives do fail—and when substantial change is needed, the failure rate is higher.
All failures will prove costly, but technology implementations in particular can be multimillion dollar investments. Training and development professionals are well positioned to take the lead in supporting people through change.
Promoting a common understanding of the change will wear away the fear of the unknown to make alignment and commitment possible. A simple approach is the Change Sandwich (see figure below). By executing the activities at each layer, the audience moves closer to accepting the change.
This approach works well because it's fun, memorable, and everyone understands the metaphor. If a change plan for a system implementation is solid, many of the audience members will even be excited for the change.
Training and development practitioners now are in a position to add a great deal of value to their companies by investing effort in analyzing their IT portfolios, determining the heavy hitters, and preparing their organizations for new technology adoption. Use the four keys to successful technology implementations to address the unique challenges, and seize the unique opportunities that IT initiatives present for training and development professionals.
Applying the Change Sandwich
To scale their processes and operations, First Solar implemented a new ERP (enterprise resource planning) system. ERPs drive large-scale change for organizations. They can fundamentally change the roles and responsibilities of many workers, which results in concern, apprehension, and anxiety in the workforce. In general, because of the complexities of ERP implementations, the failure rate is typically greater than 50 percent. The project’s scope included
- seven locations around the globe
- 500+ users
- 700+ business requirements
- 34+ business processes
- 13 SAP modules
- 300 SAP transaction codes
- a project team comprising 100 associates
- six dedicated organizational change and learning professionals
- a timeline of 10 months.
Using the Change Sandwich approach, First Solar applied the following change activities.
Tell audience what to expect and why
- A change impact analysis identified 60 organizational changes and 153 actions to ready the business and people for the new ERP.
- Awareness presentations were prepared for high-impact areas.
- Pulse check surveys gauged awareness and support of the project.
- A communication campaign with messaging focused on how to prepare and what to expect. It targeted all stakeholders, including customers and suppliers.
- Orientation meetings led by project sponsors delivered key messages to users.
- Go-live countdown signs, go-live toolkits, and promotional items were developed.
Tell audience how
- Four e-learning courses and 25 instructor-led sessions equipped users with process and system knowledge to successfully transition to the new ERP.
- A webpage on the corporate intranet served as a central repository for information; the site included numerous performance support materials, from job aids to data cross references (for example, old to new department numbers and part numbers).
- A dedicated training environment allowed for additional practice and confidence-building.
- Business trainers continued to offer classes after the go-live to sustain the program and be the first line of support.
Confirm the change took place
- Stabilization surveys provided feedback on how each area was adapting to the new processes and system and also identified when additional help was needed.
- Help-desk analysis highlighted common questions and mistakes.
- Key business metrics were monitored to understand usage and adoption (for example, the number of orders processed, shipments made, and financial transactions).
- Additional self-help resources were made available on the intranet and site analytics were monitored.
As a result of using the Change Sandwich approach, First Solar transitioned to the new ERP system without major disruption to business activities, and within a few weeks transactions were back at comparable volumes. The project team, leaders, and users were aligned on key decisions, impacts, and what was needed to sufficiently prepare.
Training was well supported, and this was validated by attendance and user participation. Overall the ERP implementation was a major success for First Solar, with much credit due to the efforts of the training and development team.
