Table of Contents
Introduction
Enterprise resource planning is one of the most essential aspects of running any business. Due to the interconnectivity and complexity of the processes involved, it should always be performed using a capable ERP digital solution. SAP is one of the most in-demand ERP platforms among large companies across the world due to its enterprise-grade offerings. In fact, 40% of large organizations utilize SAP for their operations.
However, SAP is a feature-heavy platform and can often be difficult to learn. It requires special measures to ensure enthusiastic adoption. Having a well-planned training strategy is one of them. However, an SAP training strategy for large enterprises can only be implemented successfully if you use a tried and tested systems training solution. In this regard, Assima is a highly popular option among enterprises with large-scale ERP global deployments.
Assima has the right solutions for all your SAP S/4HANA implementation requirements.
Challenges of SAP Training in Large Enterprises
Before you start providing enterprise SAP training, you must understand the areas where you might face challenges. These SAP training challenges include:
- Inadequate amount of training
- Outdated training materials
- Ill-equipped training platform
- Risks of live training using business data
- Low scalability of training programs
- Inability to fulfill multilingual training needs
- Low employee engagement
Poor or ineffective training can have a serious impact on SAP deployment results in a large enterprise, like:
- Low productivity and efficiency
- Employee resistance and demotivation
- Increase in helpdesk calls
- Security risks to sensitive customer data
- Inaccuracies in business processes
- Unsatisfactory ROI of SAP implementation
- High drop rate of SAP users
With a robust SAP training strategy for large enterprises, you should be able to overcome these roadblocks.
Why Enterprises Need a Data-Driven SAP Training Strategy
Trying to build a training program without a viable strategy is like trying to row a boat without oars – you won’t have the essential tools to give the program direction. Without direction, the training program would not be able to achieve the results you are expecting. A robust SAP training strategy ensures:
Time and Cost-Effective Onboarding
A well-implemented SAP training program ensures that employees master the right SAP skills for their jobs and are able to retain and apply them well right off the bat. This saves a lot of time and money during the onboarding process.
Proper Skillset Development
A well-planned SAP training strategy ensures that every employee gets trained in the right skills based on their roles and responsibilities. If this is not ensured, not only will you be wasting resources but also creating disinterested learners.
High Productivity and Efficiency
An effective SAP employee training strategy will create users who know how to make the right decisions and complete their tasks in time without wasting any resources. Their productivity and efficiency should be enhanced after training.
Lower Downtime Due to Errors
Well-trained employees are less likely to commit errors that impact the live system and result in downtime. Less downtime means more productive hours and less time that the helpdesk team has to spend solving problems generated due to the errors.
Reduced Risk to Business Data
Employees who did not pass through a thorough training program are more likely to introduce inaccuracies in business data due to completely avoidable mistakes. SAP deals with a lot of sensitive data, so good training protects them.
Higher Job Satisfaction
Employees who get trained well are proven to have higher job satisfaction and are more likely to stay at their current place of employment than find better opportunities elsewhere. They will also contribute more towards their responsibilities and will even be eager to take on more.
You can achieve the above results and more using Assima for SAP training. Want to know how?
Key Elements of a Successful SAP Training Program
Any training program, especially a large-scale SAP training project, must mandatorily comprise a few elements to make it a success. If you want a satisfactory SAP user adoption rate in your organization, make sure you incorporate these in your training program:
Customized Training for Different Roles
One of the key points to remember when framing an SAP training strategy for large enterprises is that their workforce will also be large and diverse. Your training program must have modules customized for employees, teams, and departments with different roles and responsibilities for maximum learning effectiveness and minimum wastage of time and resources.
A Variety of Training Modes and Formats
Different users will have different learning styles, preferences, and needs. Some might even have constraints preventing them from using certain training methods or outputs. So, ensure that your training program covers as many modes and formats as possible, including classroom training, e-learning, simulation-based training, self-paced learning, live training, etc.
Strategies to Improve Knowledge Retention
Some training methods have been proven to be more effective in helping learners retain and recall knowledge than others. Experiential training methods, on-the-job learning, microlearning, just-in-time training, etc. are all techniques that help learners learn and retain information with greater effectiveness and accuracy than traditional methods.
Data Analytics to Track Progress
When you have to train a large workforce in a large organization, you need a reliable method to collect and analyze data, create progress reports, and use that information to pinpoint flaws and areas of improvement in your training program that you can rectify. It also helps you identify learners who need an extra hand in mastering SAP skills.
Features to Ensure Scalability
Large corporations are always expanding their business, and with that, their workforce and training needs also grow. Hence, scalability should be a large investment in your training program implementation strategy. Ensure there is a system in place for quick translation, remote training, and rapid content distribution for easy scaling.
Data Access and Security Measures
When you train a large workforce, it is important to understand that different employees and teams will have different levels of access to business data available on SAP and hence, in the training materials too. Before delegating lessons to each learner, ensure that they can only access data based on their clearance to protect sensitive business information.
Fast Content Delivery and Update Methods
Another important aspect of large-scale training is the ability to quickly update and distribute lessons to stay ahead of system changes and software updates. If it takes too long to do so, the onboarding time to the new, updated system gets delayed, resulting in the entire business running one step behind.
Refresher Courses for Staying Up-to-Date
The best way to make the most of software that is difficult to develop skills in like SAP is to enforce constant learning practices. Refresher courses help employees stay updated on the latest SAP methods and practices while brushing up on the skills that they may be weaker in or haven’t used for some time.
Leveraging Assima Train for SAP Training Success
Using SAP training solutions is often the most efficient way to implement an SAP training strategy for large enterprises. Digital SAP training platforms automate the training process and impart many benefits to the learning experience of the users. Assima takes it a step further with its innovative features designed to make SAP training easier. Here are some ways Assima Train SAP training is superior to most other solutions:
Simulation Training for Knowledge Retention
Immersive training methods like simulation training are the best choice for training a large workforce quickly. They improve knowledge retention and application while honing their decision-making skills. Assima Train uses a 4X patented cloning technology to create hyper-realistic, interactive simulations that provide the highest degree of hands-on training to learners.
Real-Time In-App Guidance for Efficiency
Assima Train SAP training can be augmented with Assima In-App Search, a widget that overlays the live SAP system and provides dynamic and contextual search results based on your role and current task. This increases user confidence and reduces the chance of committing errors to a great degree, thus ensuring higher efficiency and lower downtime.
Reduced Onboarding Time and Expenses
Assima replaces the need for maintaining a sandbox environment or hiring too many instructors to teach your employees. Its training methods also make learners experts in SAP usage in a much shorter time than other solutions. By reducing the onboarding time and costs for SAP, Assima helps you redirect your resources to other areas in greater need.
Quick and Easy Updates to Training Materials
Assima’s technology creates editable simulations that can be modified down to the smallest detail. That means you can implement necessary changes due to system updates in the lessons much before the software update goes live, making your employees ready to work by the time the new upgrade is implemented.
Remote Training and Translation for Global Training
Scalability is a major requirement for any SAP training strategy for large enterprises. Assima allows remote training capabilities as well as one-step translation for every language commonly used across global offices. You can quickly scale your training to global workforces and train all your employees across all offices easily.
Here’s what makes Assima better than traditional SAP training solutions.
Best Practices for Implementing an SAP Training Strategy
When crafting an SAP training strategy for large enterprises, it is important to keep a few things in mind that will help you elevate the quality of training. Some SAP training best practices that will benefit every organization are:
- Ensure that every aspect of your plan aligns with both your business goals and learner needs. Ignoring either will result in the failure of the training project.
- Have a system in place to constantly monitor training effectiveness, adoption metrics, and ROI. This will help you quickly identify and address any issues holding back SAP adoption.
- Look at the big picture; ensure that your training program encourages not just immediate SAP adoption but also long-term SAP usage and engagement.
- Keep in mind that business and learning requirements change with time. Create a flexible training program to accommodate these changing requirements.
- Don’t rely only on machine-generated data to gauge the success of the training program; gather feedback from the learners for deeper insights.
- SAP users can have many different types of roles. You have end-users, administrators, developers, etc. There are also different modules to be used for different purposes. Ensure that the training you provide is segregated based on these differences.
Training does not end once onboarding is over. Continued learning is necessary to keep your skills sharp and your knowledge updated.
Conclusion: Future-Proofing SAP Training for Large Enterprises
SAP training for large-scale businesses will always be more complicated than that of smaller ones simply due to the sheer size of their operations and the diversity of their workforce. Special measures must be taken to ensure that the SAP training strategy for large enterprises can accommodate the more complex needs of a large business. Besides employing a specially designed SAP training strategy for large enterprises, you should also use learning technologies to streamline the training deployment process. A digital adoption platform like Assima is the perfect choice if you want the software adoption aspect of your SAP training and onboarding covered.
We are here to answer all your questions regarding how Assima can help you with SAP adoption for your large company.
Frequently Asked Questions
Let’s Answer Some of Your Questions.
Large enterprises have complicated and diverse training needs that require a well-planned and structured SAP training strategy for proper implementation. Without a solid framework, it will be extremely difficult to manage all the variables and factors at play in a large company, making it impossible to have proper control over the training program and achieve the intended results.
Some of the common challenges faced by large enterprises in their SAP training efforts include low engagement, insufficient scalability, going over the expected budget and timeline, training materials and solutions not being up-to-date, etc.
Assima Train is built to handle the complex training requirements of large enterprises. Its patented technology perfectly emulates SAP processes to create simulations for training that enhance engagement and knowledge retention unlike other screenshot-based tools, Moreover, it offers the scalability that you could never expect from using sandboxes without putting live business operations or data at any risk. Assima has been proven to reduce onboarding time and costs and create training materials that are easy to maintain and reuse.
When implementing an SAP training program, ensure that your training plan keeps in mind your business objectives and learner needs, allows flexibility and scalability, is connected to an analytics system that provides actionable insights, can be customized for different roles, and is equipped for continuous learning.
You can track common adoption metrics like adoption rate, drop rate, pass rate, NPS, time-to-value, ROI, post-training increase in productivity, etc. to assess the success of the SAP training strategy of your business. However, every enterprise is unique, and based on your specific business characteristics, draw up a list of metrics to track that accurately reflects the success of your training strategy for your particular use case.
