Training comes off second best in IT Budgeting and Planning across companies of all sizes, for a number of reasons; in large companies the budget responsibility falls into the gap between HR and IT, and is first to be cut when times are hard, and in smaller companies staff time away from the office and cost are major inhibitors. In small companies in particular though, a lack of IT Training at all levels is becoming a significant factor in performance and competitiveness.
At the top, business managers need to improve their awareness of IT, so they can make informed decisions about IT, improve their selection of services and solutions, and recognise what their business needs. At the coalface, people need training that isn’t just vendor based “how to” training, but training which fills the gap between the basic use of the application and the most effective use for their business.
The gap is there to be filled, and even in this financially difficult climate, companies should seriously consider investing in training, as it could give them the edge they need to survive the downturn. A recent survey identified "better use of IT" as 80% of the productivity advantage of US multinationals, and concluded that "UK companies assimilate and exploit IT more slowly than their US counterparts, delaying returns". It's not just training companies that recognise the consequences of a lack of training, in the same survey;
- 92% of the employers not providing training believed the lack of training had an effect on their business
- 43% believed lack of training had a negative effect on product or service development within their organisation,
- 31% believed that lack of training was detrimental to productivity.
A typical case is found in a study by an email managament consultancy, which found that the overwhelming majority said neither they nor their managers have been offered any email training. This lack of training in a critical system disrupts communication rather than enable it, leading to problems like these;
- "more than 80 percent of respondents think others do not use the email ‘cc’ function properly"
- "62 percent feel most emails are too long and should be kept to a maximum of four or five lines"
Add these inefficiencies together, and what you're doing is slowing your organisation down, and ultimately wasting money. It's time to fill in the missing link, and train your staff.
Richard Bartlett offers expert and independent IT Consultancy Services to review your IT, help buy the right systems, install them, train your users to use them, and ensure you have appropriate IT Support. For more information on services including training see http://www.rgbartlett.co.uk/services
Sources: Technology Counts: IT and Telecoms Insights 2008 (e-skills UK), "Lack of email training is costing employers dearly" (sme web, mesmo consulting)
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