Bang Your Training Drum!

Posted on November 2017 By Chris Oughton
Bang Your Training Drum!

Everyone learns in different ways and at a different pace so it is imperative that organisations chose the right training methods when it comes to training their staff.

Well trained employees are the driving force to many successful businesses having gone through an ERP Transformation and as many will know – can determine the long-term profitability of such SAP implementations

Companies look to bring in external, seasoned SAP Trainers to make sure that their staff will utilise their new “all singing and all dancing” ERP system and start to reap the rewards of this…………………..but what makes a good SAP Trainer??

Excellent Communicators!

Now this may sound like a fairly obvious starting point, but only because Trainers should have great communications skills! See Trainers will be called upon to break down complex ideas, formulas, business processes etc and explain them clearly to their audience. Not only that but they are also required to listen and pick up on non-verbal communication.

The environment in which they are training in must operate with open lines of communication so the trainees are happy to ask plenty of questions! Not an easy thing to achieve!!

Offers Rich Training!

We have all been there, calendar invites start flooding the inbox as we are locked in for ‘yet another training session’, but good Trainers try different methods to avoid this way of thinking and get people excited about taking the course.

This can be achieved by changing the delivery format or the type of course material handed out in training sessions. Aim to keep it lively folks!

And keeping it lively can be as simple as encouraging student participation. Asking questions throughout the session will keep trainees engaged, and on their toes too! This is a great way for the trainer to measure how much of the info is being retained or what areas may need some additional explaining.

Possess Industry Knowledge

Having SAP knowledge when training employees in a company that has just implemented SAP is a good start here people!

Having good SAP knowledge firstly will help with designing an effective training program and will help choose what training medium to use and the type of activities that will work.

In addition, specific SAP Module knowledge will help the trainer understand the concepts and functionality of certain modules and hence will know what the trainees will want to know regarding what will affect their role day to day. Delegates can quickly spot a trainer who’s only reading from a prepared slide!

If I wanted to be taught on SuccessFactors, I would want my trainer to engage with me and explain the how’s, the why’s and the when’s! Maybe someone who has used it before as well so they can give me real life examples and how it relates to me as an employee – this approach is far more advantageous to the trainee over a trainer who’s flicking through slide after slide reading off the projector!

And not only that – a good trainer with industry knowledge can ALWAYS find a way to make even the most boring of topics lively! Now THAT is a skill!

Passionate About Learning

A passionate Trainer will take time out to develop themselves in addition to their audience! They possess a passion that will always aid them in the quality of training they offer by constantly honing in on their skills, keeping up to date with the latest insights in training and new modules that arise in the SAP market.

By doing this and feeding their passion, a good SAP Trainer will always be in demand.

High Level of Professionalism

SAP Trainers understand that people learn in different ways and at different speeds. Regardless of how fast trainees pick up on the concepts taught, an SAP Trainer will always remain patient. In addition, they will make sure they have enough time to interact with each delegate to ensure they understand the material prior to moving on.

Excellent trainers are open-minded and willing to listen to different points of view and will not talk down to their trainees believing that they know everything!

Now cast your mind back to your own experience as a trainee – Im sure you’ve been trained by someone who did not possess many (if not any) of the above traits! You found yourself watching the clock thinking about what series to watch on Netflix when you get home (hint: it should be Stranger Things) and this is because not every trainer is effective simply because not every trainer possesses the above characteristics.

It is not enough to simply talk ‘at’ the trainees – the trainer must be charismatic, insightful, passionate, humorous and of course have exceptional communications skills!

And without these characteristics, the audience will not be engaged, or worse still, the training session will not be worthwhile! But a trainer with these characteristics will have the ability to convey clear, concise messages and help the organisation reap the rewards of their ERP Implementation /upgrade and potentially change someone’s entire mind-set for the better!

SAP Trainers………………THE DRIVING FORCE FOR A SUCCESSFUL IMPLEMENTATION