WMS Newsletter: Technical Education Consultants, Inc.

“People are the forgotten side of systems integrations,” says Kaie Latterner, president and founder of Technical Education Consultants Inc., a Somerset, Wis.-based consultancy focusing on the training and human resources side of systems integrations. “Companies are being sold on the newest technology, but they have to keep in mind that it’s the people who are going to make the technology work.”

Latterner offers several tips to help make your systems integration proceed more smoothly.

Follow these tips for training:

Look at your business objectives. “Many companies are allowing the technology to determine how they are going to do business,” says Latterner. “You need to identify your goals and objectives. Then identify and acquire technology that supports them.”

Communicate openly and honestly throughout the process. This is the most important aspect of the entire project from the employees’ point of view. “Too often, employees feel like they are being kept in the dark,” Latterner explains.

Focus on training from the beginning. “A lot of people think of training as what happens when the project is almost finished,” says Latterner. “They view it as someone coming in and writing documents about the system. But as soon as the business process begins, trainers should start learning the new system.”

Educate employees about why you are making the change. “Anybody can learn how to push buttons,” she says. “What you have to teach employees is: Why are they doing this? How does the process work?” For example, if you are implementing a cross-docking process as part of the new system, explain to employees what items should be cross-docked, when they should be cross-docked, and how cross-docking impacts the operations.

Explain to employees that the new system is not going to cost them their jobs. Make it clear that the purpose of the system is to help them be more productive and to improve the business.

Dedicate 10–15 percent of the entire project budget to training. “Most people think that sounds like too much,” she says. “But the alternative is having a great system without the employee knowledge to operate it properly.” She gives the example of one company that allocated 30 percent of its project budget to the human side of integration — training, communications, change management, and organizational realignment. The result of that investment was a smooth go-live and minimal post-integration training, cultural, or operational issues. Its project goals were met.

Evaluate your legacy systems and procedures. Do employees need to be retrained on any processes? “I always ask if the new system is going to affect any of the legacy systems, and the answer is almost always ‘no,’” says Latterner. But invariably, when the new system is in place, it impacts the legacy systems in unexpected ways. Employee training must be a priority.

Recruit the best individuals for the project team. Latterner often sees people without the proper background, qualifications, or skills on the project team.

Identify “super-users.” These are employees with good skills, who are well respected by their peers, and who will be good representatives to lead the change management.

Develop training and reference guides. Even in hands-on classroom training, employees like to have manuals to refer to, says Latterner. Even if the vendor has its own reference guides, she adds, they feature generic instructions and are not written for the modifications or workarounds that you may have customized. They also don’t include the purposes or processes behind the procedures.

Don’t underestimate the effort. “Almost everyone underestimates the effort required,” concludes Latterner. “You can never put too much effort into training employees effectively.”

WHAT’S WORKING IN WMS
The Newsletter for Warehouse Management & Control Systems Users
28 West 25th Street — 8th Floor • New York, NY 10010
Telephone: (212) 228-0246 • Fax: (212) 228-0376 • Email: info@DistributionGroup.com
Website: www.DistributionGroup.com

© 2002 Alexander Communications Group, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying or otherwise, without the prior written permission of Alexander Communications Group.