How To Nail Enterprise Resource Planning Training Programs That Appeal To Millennials And Boomers

How To Nail Enterprise Resource Planning Training Programs That Appeal To Millennials And Boomers
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Summary: Your workforce is currently made up of two very distinct groups of people; Boomers and Gen X in one group and Millennials in the other. In this article I will share 5 tips to create successful Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) training programs that appeal to all generations of your workforce.

5 Tips To Nail Your Enterprise Resource Planning Training Programs That Appeal To Millennials, Gen X, And Boomers

Baby Boomers are associated with virtues such as loyalty, dedication, and perseverance, and Millennials are associated with being technologically savvy and independent. Both groups have great virtues but these virtues translate into big differences in workplace skill sets.

Considering how different your workforce has become, how are you supposed to devise a one-size-fits-all training program to get your entire workforce up and running on your Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)? Successful Enterprise Resource Planning training programs must accommodate the characteristics and preferences of their users. Here are 5 tips to accomplish this:

  1. Baby Boomers as the “Corporate Memory”.
    Boomers and Gen X serve as the “corporate memory” of organizations and are typically the disseminators of knowledge. Boomers can play a part in training new employees by sharing their company-specific knowledge and passing down organizational values.
  2. Clearly Communicate Training Benefits.
    Millennials want to know the “end result” of an activity before fully committing to it. Thus, it is important to give them a “run through” of the Enterprise Resource Planning training program before it commences and let them know how the new acquired skill-set will have a lasting impact on their work. Training should guide them through software simulation practices and show them the big picture of how an Enterprise Resource Planning improves the company's bottom-line, their careers, and compensation opportunities.
  3. Incorporate Multimedia Content.
    Tying Millennials to a chair for 8-10 hours a day while trying to teach them a massive amount of information is not the right way to structure a training program. Trainees must be given the option of accessing training materials in small, bite-sized segments and in a variety of formats. A mix of self-help documentations, 30-minute online webinars by remote experts, and even knowledge apps and YouTube videos can boost interest and increase productivity.
  4. Personalized, Targeted Information.
    Millennials generally have no patience with cookie-cutter solutions. Thus, it is better to assign a training moderator to small groups of millennial employees, segmented according to department and position, so that training is relevant and targeted.
  5. Using Social Forums To Facilitate Interaction.
    Millennial employees are extremely interactive and responsive and, as such, prefer trainings in social settings. They should also be given a platform where they can give and receive feedback from the training moderator and share concerns and questions with colleagues. Digital forums like private Facebook groups or space on your internal Customer Relationship Management (CRM) can solve this need.

For Millennials, it is not enough to simply present the new information. Millennials digest new information through multimedia training, and continuous back-and-forth interaction with the training moderator and amongst themselves.