Table of Contents
Introduction
SAP is not a cheap investment. For small businesses, the cost can go from the mid-five figures to the early six figures whereas it is bound to be well into the six figures for global enterprise-level organizations. While SAP usually provides custom pricing plans based on several factors, a basic cost breakdown can be viewed here. If a business is paying such high amounts for an ERP solution, they would obviously want to get results and returns that reflect such spendings.
While there are many ways to maximize SAP ROI, one of the primary areas of focus should be effective employee training for SAP. If the intended users are not able to use the solution to its full potential and struggle with alternate, often inefficient, methods, you are losing out on your money. Your best choice is to go for SAP training solutions targeted towards the size and nature of your business. Assima is one of the top digital training platforms that corporations choose when they require help with SAP digital adoption. We are experts in helping companies maximize their SAP ROI with innovative training solutions.
Explore further how Assima can help your L&D team create state-of-the-art training modules for SAP.
The Importance of Training in SAP Success
SAP is a feature-heavy software suite. There are many capabilities and action paths, and it requires an immense amount of practice and confidence to get tasks done smoothly without hiccups. Moreover, being a platform primarily for enterprise resource management, which is connected to almost every other department and workflow, even a small mistake can escalate into huge problems due to the butterfly effect. Only an employee armed with expertise and confidence can operate the system in a streamlined manner and manage resources and processes efficiently.
However, it is impossible to reach the expected level of expertise without proper training. Undertrained individuals will introduce errors, underconfident employees will take a long time to find the most optimum way to handle a process, and under-specialized workers will miss simple cues and signals from the application. This is bound to affect the productivity and efficiency of the company negatively and eat into the ROI expected from the use of costly software like SAP. The only way to prevent underwhelming results and maximize SAP ROI is to train your employees to the point that they can get things done blindly.
What are Some Common Challenges in SAP Adoption
SAP S/4HANA user adoption often faces certain challenges, the most significant of which are:
Poorly Laid Out Objectives
SAP S/4HANA has many functionalities that can be used by different teams and departments based on their needs. When training employees, if you do not define their needs and target functionalities, instead opting for a one-size-fits-all training program, you will fail to achieve the results you expected.
Resistance from the Workforce
To those who are not well-versed in SAP, the software can appear quite complicated. As a result, they might have reservations about migrating to SAP, especially if the previous platform they used was in place for a long time. If nothing is done to drive home the advantages of using SAP and how good training can help, expect passive and active resistance in the workplace.
Poorly Planned Training Program
Nothing impairs the productivity and morale of a workforce like a badly planned and implemented training program, especially when a heavy ERP software suite like SAP is in question. Not only will your employees grow resentment towards a perfectly effective solution like SAP forever, but they will also lose trust in the capability of your company support workforce training.
Ineffective Training Solutions
Sometimes, even if you do everything right, from a perfect onboarding plan to a robust training program as well as streamlined change management strategies, choosing the wrong training solution can completely ruin it all. Without the appropriate digital adoption platform, all your efforts will be in vain, and the SAP transition will fail miserably.
Additionally, the usual challenges that you face when onboarding any software will also be there. You can read about it here so that you can prepare for them too.
How Do SAP Adoption Challenges Impact ROI
SAP implementation challenges, if not resolved, can give rise to myriad issues like:
Low User Adoption Rates
Unless proper enterprise SAP training strategies are enforced, employees will struggle with the new software and make mistakes. This will affect their motivation and give rise to resistance. It will also affect the performance of the workers and reduce the efficiency of all the processes managed using SAP.
Increased Support Costs
Not being completely familiar with the SAP system will result in doubts and errors, increasing the number of IT support requests and helpdesk calls. This not only unnecessarily overburdens the helpdesk staff but also increases the hidden costs associated with excess IT support tickets and a poorly used digital solution.
Inefficient Workflows and Errors
Enterprise resource management is associated with a lot of important departments and workflows, including finance, supply chain, order fulfillment, and even human resources. Errors and inefficiencies in resource management affect all these sectors, slowing down processes and requiring extra effort to fix.
How Targeted Training Boosts SAP ROI
One of the most effective ways to maximize SAP ROI is to utilize the power of targeted training and onboarding. This will help in the following ways:
Faster Employee Onboarding and Adoption
A constructive training program significantly reduces the learning curve for most employees, especially when it comes to SAP. Interactive training modules are very useful in this respect. It provides hands-on training that familiarizes employees with the system intimately.
Reducing Support Dependency
Assima In-App Search provides real-time, in-app guidance to users after Assima Train has supported their learning phase with interactive simulation training. These tools encourage self-sufficiency and increase confidence among workers.
Improving Process Efficiency
SAP has a lot of functionalities that are impossible to master without some form of hands-on training. Unless a potential user learns the optimum ways to get tasks done, using SAP is useless. Only a good training program can improve their skills and efficiency.
Decreasing Onboarding Costs
Onboarding employees to new software is costly only when it is done without any proper planning. A good training program can help in reducing SAP transition costs as well as improving worker performance, ultimately ensuring returns that make up for all upfront payments.
Here’s an example of how Assima can transform your SAP training system just like it did for Plan International.
Why Choose Assima Train for SAP Training?
If you want to truly maximize SAP ROI and get results that justify the investment you made, Assima is a great choice for you. Here’s why:
Real-Time Interactive Guidance
Assima’s end-to-end solutions not only provide support during pre-go live training but also after go live on the SAP platform. Interactive guidance and informational support at the point of need help users gain confidence in using the live system.
Hands-On Simulations for Better Retention
Scalable, Multilingual Training for Global Teams
When enterprises with a global workforce look towards SAP migration, they must take into account their requirement for multilingual training. Assima provides easy translation facilities for every aspect of their lessons to streamline the process and make it scalable.
No More Need for Expensive Training Clients
Assima replaces sandboxes or training clients for SAP, which are expensive, require a lot of maintenance, and are overall bulkier in terms of data feeding than the solutions Assima provides. Maintaining a viable training program with Assima is much easier during SAP digital adoption.
Here’s how Assima simulations are the best alternative to training clients in the modern age.
Best Practices for Implementing Targeted SAP Training
Here is a list of SAP onboarding best practices that will help you optimize the process and maximize SAP ROI:
Personalizing Training Based on User Roles
As we mentioned before, SAP is a multi-functional solution that can be used for many different tasks. It is very important to ensure that you are training employees based on their responsibilities and requirements on SAP rather than using an umbrella program for all. Otherwise, you would not only be wasting precious time and resources but also unnecessarily burdening your employees.
Leveraging Simulation-Based Learning
For software that is tougher to learn due to complex processes and a feature-heavy interface, simulation training is the most effective solution. Simulation-based learning will help employees become well-acquainted with the platform without risking the live system. It will also ensure better retention and improve their problem-solving skills.
Measuring Training Metrics for Constant Improvement
Unless you keep track of how your employees are performing on the new SAP system and how well they are adapting to the new ways of performing tasks, you won’t be able to gauge the success of your training program. Keep a keen eye on the adoption metrics and tune your training strategies to improve its effectiveness and learner-friendliness.
Conclusion
SAP being a generally expensive solution to implement, doing so successfully and raking up the necessary returns is extremely important. Assima can help you every step of the way with its innovative digital adoption tools and solutions. If you are still wondering whether we can deliver what we promise, don’t hesitate to find out.
Know more about how Assima can help you with SAP adoption by talking to our experts.
Frequently Asked Questions
Let’s Answer Some of Your Questions.
It is very important to understand that the consequences of a failed SAP training program can be disastrous. Your employees would have strong reservations about using the software, and even when they do, they won’t be efficient or productive, often resulting in costly mistakes and multiple calls to the IT helpdesk. You could incur serious losses as a result.
Targeted training is essential for any software onboarding, especially SAP S/4HANA and allied solutions. SAP has many different applications, and employees must only be trained in the functionalities that they would most commonly be utilizing. Otherwise, you would be wasting time and resources on unnecessary activities.
SAP adoption often faces major roadblocks like employee resistance, inadequate training programs, poor understanding of how SAP can help users, and unsuitable training tools. However, there are many minor issues that could plague the onboarding process too and it is important to keep an open mind so you can resolve them in time.
Assima Train uses hyper-realistic, hyper-interactive simulations to train employees before they start working on the live system. Along with supplementary digital tools, it ensures end-to-end training and onboarding solutions and services for enterprise-level SAP rollouts.
Utilizing analytics tools and metrics is the most effective way to measure the success of any training program, including one for SAP. Both individual-level and global-level data must be collected and analyzed to measure the success of your SAP training program.
