Another problem for organisations that want to switch to an ERP management system is that employees still lack the knowledge, understanding, and skills to use the ERP system, and have never used an ERP system before. Employees are one of the main factors that help drive an organisation to use an ERP management system to its full potential.

To solve the problem when employees in the organisation have never used an ERP system, there are 5 things to do:

1. Arrange training for employees

The appropriate time to arrange training is before Go Live, or before beginning full use of the ERP management system.

For this training, the organisation should discuss the in-depth details with the ERP provider it has hired to implement the system — when training should be held, how many man-days the training of employees will take, and what form the training schedule will take — so the organisation can prepare its employees’ work schedules to align with the upcoming ERP training.

For example, if you want to Go Live around January, you may need to hold training in August, September, and October of the previous year, before entering January when Go Live will take place to use the system fully.

2. Have employees start with the basics of using the ERP system

Starting to use the system simply follows on from the training. Since employees have never used an ERP system before, once they’ve been trained to have basic knowledge of the ERP system, you might have them try creating a user account, logging in for the first time, and starting simple operations by keying in data and running the various functions of the system, in the modules they have permission to access.

Here, employees gain an understanding of the system from actually doing it — understanding how to key in data, what data must be keyed in at which step in the sequence — and employees also get the chance to learn from their own mistakes when using the system, such as the system failing to run because data wasn’t keyed in completely, or failing because the data path was incorrect.

Actually doing it by starting to use the system simply lets employees in the organisation develop their ERP skills naturally, and employees won’t feel overly anxious if they make some mistakes during the learning period, while they haven’t yet entered into serious ERP usage.

3. Have employees learn how to report usage problems to the ERP provider

Normally, an ERP provider has a customer support team that answers questions or provides various assistance in case users encounter failures in usage.

Here, the employees of the ERP customer organisation should learn the process of reporting usage problems to the ERP provider’s customer support team — what the sequence of steps is, such as:

Report the problem by email and wait for an email reply from the customer support team
Report the problem in a LINE group and the customer support team will reply immediately
Report the problem by phone and talk and ask the customer support team directly, and so on

Once employees in the organisation know how to report usage problems to the customer support team, they will feel more at ease using the ERP system, because if there’s a technical failure that employees in the organisation can’t fix themselves, the ERP provider’s customer support team will be there to look after it too.

4. Have a model group of employees, with manuals and reference resources for learning the ERP system

An organisation that must switch to an ERP management system might select a model group of employees who can learn to use the system quickly and understand its use more than others — a group that’s the first to start using the ERP system, and a group that can help colleagues in the organisation if they get stuck with basic usage problems.

The organisation might also create internal online resources, such as usage manuals, instructional videos, and an internal website with frequently asked questions and solutions, and might also have an internal LINE group to ask and discuss the basics of using the ERP system.

5. Create motivation for employees

The organisation can create motivation for employees to be enthusiastic about using the ERP system through various forms of support, such as:

Setting goals and rewards for employees who can develop their ERP skills efficiently and have outstanding performance
Supporting the various tools so they’re ready for employees switching to the ERP system, such as hardware and software equipment to appropriate specifications to support ERP access

In addition, the organisation can publicise the various advantages and benefits of using the ERP system to help drive the organisation forward, to create motivation so employees feel they’re part of developing the organisation by using the ERP system.

Publicising within the organisation can be done through many channels, such as sending news by email, putting up posters at various points in the organisation, and providing information via LINE groups or the organisation’s various publicity media.

Conclusion

In summary, the 5 things to do when employees in the organisation have never used an ERP system mentioned above — whether arranging training, having employees start using the system simply, learning how to report usage problems, having a model group of employees and knowledge resources for using the ERP system, and creating motivation for employees — if this entire process happens step by step, it will make employees in the organisation feel confident and motivated to learn and develop their own potential to have ERP skills at a level where they can use the ERP system expertly.

5 things to do when your employees have never used an ERP system