Don't Forget the People: Training

25 Sep 2016

I often talk and write about how focusing only on the technical roles required for the implementation of UC projects delivers at most only 45% of the required solution. Today, I've enlisted the input of a human resources professional to expand upon this idea specifically as it relates to the importance of training.

Fortunately, I didn't have to look far to find such an expert, I only needed to look across the dinner table. Over to you, Anna:

I'm going to provide a people-centric, human resources focused, perspective on why training must be a key part of the UC implementation equation and also detail how you can drive people to attend training.

Organizations often allocate the most significant part of their implementation resources to the acquisition and deployment of the technology itself. No question, investing in technology is important to maintaining competitiveness. However, technology can only provide organizations with a competitive advantage when end users receive the necessary training to effectively and optimally utilize the new technology. Knowledgeable and skilled employees have become increasingly important to all organizations; after all, we are living in a knowledge-based economy. Ensuring that your end users receive training on new technology both increases your chance of implementation success and increases your organization's knowledge resource. Both technology and knowledge are critical components of achieving a competitive advantage.

Let's assume you've been convinced to complement your new technology implementation with training and that you've managed to persuade your organization to allocate the appropriate financial resources. How do you ensure that your end users commit to acquiring the knowledge and skills required to exploit your new technology?

1. Link your new technology deployment with your performance management process, training strategy and rewards programs. Each end user should have a measureable performance goal linked to the utilization of the new technology.

2. To help each end user achieve this goal, they must have an individual training plan that includes successful completion of the required training. An end user cannot be fairly measured against a performance goal without appropriate training.

3. In order to ensure a cohesive effort organization-wide, each end-user's individual performance goal should be linked to, and cascade from, the complementing departmental and organizational goals relating to the new technology deployment.

Integrating technology training with your organization's performance management process and aligning both with your organization's innovation strategy facilitates organization-wide learning and skills development. Offering training is simply not enough. You need to both offer training AND create an incentive for end users to attend the training. In other words, if you build a training program they will not necessarily come. If you "incentivize" your users, through ties to performance management, they might both "show up" and learn something.

Technological innovation combined with an expanded knowledge resource creates a competitive advantage. A training program with a high-level of consumption expands organizational knowledge.

Additional variables such as communication strategy, organizational culture and the degree to which your organization is "change motivated" will all impact your project and are additional parts of the successful implementation equation. However, none of the above variables are likely to have as significant an impact as an effective training program.

Organizations should abandon the perception of training as a discretionary expense in new technology implementations. Not only does investing in training increase the likelihood that your UC project will succeed, it also makes good business sense. And, if your organization is willing to make the investment in training, connecting participation in training with your performance evaluation process communicates the importance your organization assigns to knowledge expansion and drives training attendance which ultimately leads to success with UC.

Anna Kieller is a Human Resources professional who helps people and organizations move forward through effective human resource practices.

Three Key Takeaways

1. What she said.
2. It appears I was right, training is important.
3. It pays to listen to your spouse.

If you are interested in learning more about how to succeed with UC&C, please consider attending the exclusive BC Summit at the beginning of November. I will be leading a session that focuses on the practices and approaches of organizations that succeed.

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