Table of Contents
Introduction
The world of ERP is largely dominated by SAP. However, it is a well-known fact that SAP has a steep learning curve. Whether you are learning the basics or doing an advanced course, the average time to get a grasp over the platform is longer than that for other applications. The estimated time to reach the expected level of expertise depends on various factors like:
- The level of difficulty of the course
- The extent of expertise you wish to reach
- Your previous knowledge of SAP
- How many and which modules of SAP you learn
- The functionalities you need to learn
- The customization and integration architecture
However, if your company uses SAP for any process or workflow you are involved in, you will definitely need to learn how to operate it. Doing things manually is no longer an option in this digital age. However, the onus of providing SAP training for non-technical users lies with the organization.
It is a good idea to make SAP accessible to all employees so that they may at least be able to perform basic functions and get basic tasks done, even in the absence of SAP experts. A good digital adoption solution like Assima is the answer to how you can make this happen.
Get further insight into the complexities of SAP training and how Assima solves them here.
Why SAP Can Be Challenging for Non-Technical Employees
Non-technical SAP learning is often challenging, and typically, only individuals with specialized knowledge can navigate it confidently. The reasons for this are not hard to find:
Complexity of SAP Interfaces
SAP has a highly feature-heavy interface. It has a large number of modules and functionalities that deal with many different business functions and tasks. An action path on the application can vary widely based on even a small difference in a single input. It requires years of SAP user training, practice, and experience to get these things right.
High Dependency on IT Teams
SAP is a software solution that can be configured and customized to a great extent to suit the exact business requirements of an organization. However, this implies that the knowledgebase for its usage will be limited, and any modifications or complex usage needs can only be resolved with the support of the IT team.
Use of Proprietary Coding Language
SAP uses ABAP (Advanced Business Application Programming), a proprietary, fourth-generation programming language used in its business applications for data processing. As a result, unless you receive specific training in this language, it is impossible to make necessary changes to SAP for a use case to suit your business needs.
Poor SAP Adoption Strategies
Most organizations do not understand that SAP S/4HANA training requires a distinctive kind of training designed especially for the application suite. They end up utilizing the same strategy for the SAP onboarding of employees that they use for other software. This ends up hindering the rate and motivation for SAP adoption in the workforce.
The Importance of User-Friendly SAP Training
Simplifying SAP for business users can be done quite easily with the right training strategy and solution. It can make a world of difference in the attitude non-technical users adopt when approaching the use of SAP.
Reduces Employee Frustration and Errors
Using software that a person has little knowledge of is daunting. If an employee is forced to use a complicated interface like SAP without any training or guidance, they will have to guess their way through getting things done using trial and error. It will demoralize and frustrate the employees, which is never good for general workplace morale.
Positively Impacts Productivity and Efficiency
SAP training for non-technical users greatly aids in increasing the productivity and efficiency of your employees. When users are confident and skilled in using SAP, it will automatically show in their performance. They will work fast and without many hiccups and will easily reach or even exceed the expectations higher-ups have from them.
Prevents Costly Mistakes and Downtime
Enterprise resource planning deals with a lot of critical business processes. Even a small mistake can ripple into major consequences. Hence, it is important for users to be well-versed in the use of SAP to prevent such costly mistakes. Training will also help in preventing downtime from doubts and errors made by employees.
How Assima Train Simplifies SAP Learning for Business Users
Assima Train has been providing effective SAP training for non-technical users for years. It is one of the most powerful SAP training solutions available in the market right now for enterprise usage. Here are a few ways Assima Train provides the perfect training platform for SAP.
Interactive, Hands-On Training for Better Engagement
A National Training laboratory study shows that knowledge retention with simulation training can be as high as 75% compared to 5-10% for traditional methods. The immersive and interactive nature of simulation training gives learners a taste of the real world without instantly exposing them to related risks. This helps them gain confidence and explore new software without fear. Assima Train uses a 4X patented simulation authoring tool that creates hyper-realistic and hyper-interactive application clones that act and react exactly like the real platform.
Real-Time Guidance to Minimize Errors
By using Assima In-App Search along with Train, you get the added advantage of real-time in-app guidance when using the live system. Search results provided are dynamic, contextual, and role-based to ensure that any information reaching the user is relevant to their current task and responsibility only. These SAP productivity tools provide just-in-time training to employees, boosting their self-reliance and reducing the number of errors made when transitioning from training to live operations.
Reducing Dependency on IT Support
Assima takes the place of IT support in L&D requirements. By taking people through entire processes on SAP in the risk-free environment provided by its simulations and providing guidance at the point of need in the live system, it reduces the need for people to take visits to IT or raise helpdesk tickets. As a result, IT and helpdesk staff can focus on more serious issues that cannot be delegated to anyone else. It also reduces the workload on the IT and helpdesk teams and keeps them available for their core responsibilities.
Learn how Assima simplifies SAP training for non-technical users here.
Key Benefits of Targeted SAP Training for Non-Technical Users
Digital adoption in SAP depends greatly on whether or not non-technical staff are receiving targeted and directed training meant to address their specific needs on the platform. If they are, your organization will reap multiple benefits like:
Improved Employee Confidence and Efficiency
SAP training for non-technical users can help improve the performance of employees working with ERP systems like SAP. This in turn will increase their efficiency, productivity, and performance and help them do their job and get business operations completed in a streamlined manner.
Faster Onboarding and Reduced Transition Periods
Intelligent SAP training ensures that employees become ready to work in the live SAP environment faster. The transition period from initial training to onboarding to actually working is shortened greatly, which results in a lower downtime for the company too.
Better Compliance and Fewer Operational Errors
Effective training ensures that employees become highly skilled in the usage of SAP. They are confident in their knowledge, make fewer mistakes, and do not get stuck on the system too often. They are also less likely to raise security and compliance alerts.
Success Stories: How Enterprises Improve SAP Usability with Assima
Using Assima Train for SAP has proved highly beneficial for many global enterprises. One such example is npower, a leading UK energy company that replaced it costly training clients for SAP with Assima. It resulted in them saving £3 million in training costs, reducing onboarding time for new starters from 33 to 18 days, and delivering new training programs with 80% less staff. Get the complete details of the success story here.
In quite the same manner, when Zuyderland MC in Heerlen, Netherlands, needed to implement SAP and train 2500 nursing staff in it without disrupting the medical care of patients, they turned to Assima. It helped them reduce the classroom training time by 50% from 7 days to 3.5. Moreover, this resulted in a proportional reduction in training costs while ensuring zero downtime when transitioning to the new SAP system. Read all about it here.
Steps to Implement an Effective SAP Training Strategy
While you can plan your own SAP training strategy based on the requirements of your organization, ensure that they follow the basic progression below:
- Assess the training needs of the workforce based on individual employees, teams, and departments.
- Discover the key objectives your organization wants to achieve using this training program as well as its strengths and weaknesses.
- Create a detailed training plan that can realistically fulfill your needs and reach your objectives.
- Use hands-on, scenario-based training to give your employees the best chance at learning and using SAP.
- Reassess your metrics and anatomize the success of the program, continuously updating it to achieve the best results.
You can read in detail how to implement a digital adoption platform for training your employees in this blog.
Conclusion: Making SAP Work for Everyone
If your company uses SAP but your employees do not have basic knowledge of how to operate it, know that you are not getting the potential returns on your investment in SAP. If anything, you are probably incurring losses and losing efficiency. With even the most basic level of SAP training for non-technical users, you can turn this scenario around. We recommend Assima to get the best out of your SAP system.
Talk to our experts and find out what we can do for you when it comes to SAP training.
Frequently Asked Questions
Let’s Answer Some of Your Questions.
SAP is quite a complex platform with a wide range of tools, solutions, modules, and functionalities. Moreover, its coding and interface are not simple either. For non-technical users, it is quite a challenge to understand the ins and outs of SAP software completely.
With targeted training, hands-on learning solutions, and a positive feedback approach, SAP adoption by employees can become easier for businesses to implement. There must also be an attempt for higher-ups to explain to potential SAP users how easier life will become when they use SAP.
Giving basic but targeted SAP training to non-technical users will make them more confident and self-sufficient, reducing errors and removing some of the burden on the helpdesk. It will also improve productivity and efficiency and decrease the downtime during SAP implementation or migration.
Assima Train uses hyper-realistic and hyper-interactive simulations that accurately mirror the operations on SAP to train non-technical users. This hands-on method of learning in a risk-free environment is the most optimum way for basic-level users to learn.
First, you must analyze user objectives and needs, and based on that, create targeted training plans tailored for each team or department. Use a tried and tested training solution like Assima to implement the training program. Keep track of their progress and ensure that you tweak and improve the program based on the current learning status and requirements.
