Change is inevitable. It can strike at any moment, whether you are a small startup or a large, global conglomerate. To build a perception of relevance and innovation among customers, businesses must choose to embrace it and transform – rather than fight it and continue with business as normal. But to make that happen, a well-trained, informed workforce needs to be in place.
Even though most companies understand this elementary principle, many are hesitant to invest in their employees. They fear that education and training efforts will negatively impact productivity, stealing employees away from top business priorities. Adding to this challenge is the increasing globalization of the business landscape, which helps create a decentralized, mobile workforce that does not walk into a corporate office every day – making it nearly impossible to schedule traditional onsite training.
But there is a solution to this age-old problem: a centralized, online database of learning tools and materials that can be accessed from anywhere in the world. (If you are interested in learning about the technology available that facilitates this capability, check out my earlier blog post “How can you stay agile at work? It starts with learning (not the company gym)”.)
This nontraditional approach to training can help employees improve implementation, maintenance, and end-user skills and take advantage of new training opportunities in a way that is tailored. And better yet, employees can participate in learning opportunities at a time and speed that is most convenient for them and does not impede with job priorities and responsibilities.
Standard Bank equips employees with technical knowledge for the journey ahead
One business that has reaped the benefits of this approach is Standard Bank – one of South Africa’s largest financial services groups, operating in 30 countries. When the bank decided to transform its core banking processes with SAP software, executives realized that a number of internal stakeholders would require technical training on specific functionality to optimize performance.
Some companies may view this as a barrier to transformation. But not Standard Bank. Instead, the situation was thought to be an educational opportunity for its employees – serving as a building block for future business transformations.
With minimal disruption to daily work routines, project team members and stakeholders were able to receive the training they needed – tailored and aligned with Standard Bank’s business strategy. Plus, the bank realized unintended benefits, such as reduced training travel costs for the learning and development team.
Prepare your employees for the work of tomorrow
With greater demand for nontraditional classroom learning to enhance the potential of an increasing global workforce, how are you ensuring your employees are ready for your business’ next transformation?
Discover how instant, continuous access to custom learning materials in a variety of formats can help train and educate your employees for a real, competitive edge. Check out the SAP Customer Success Profile on Standard Bank to learn more.
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