Productive Measures: Why It Training And Support Makes Business Sense

Here’s a sure-fire way to improve business productivity and cut IT support costs: make sure you and your staff know how to use office software and operating systems properly, then engage an IT support partner to proactively manage the truly tough stuff.
Pam Martin is director of Extra Mile Training, a company that specialises in basic office and operating system training for people of all ages. She says small business owners and their employees often think they know more about using office software like Microsoft Word, Excel and Outlook than they actually do. As a result, they miss out on the productivity benefits of the extra features lying just beneath the surface of these applications.
“You don’t know what you don’t know. We talk about a skills shortage, but part of it is actually a log jam. There are very experienced and capable people who won’t change job or go for promotion because they know their poor computer skills will let them down,” says Martin.
As for young people, confidence doesn’t always equal competence – school and university leaders may be a whizz at computer games, social networking and digital editing, but not have the IT competence needed for the work environment, says Martin.
“There is a multimillion dollar industry based on training and support for small businesses and yet there is generally no mention of the need for knowledge of basic computer software.”
Adam Dunkerley, director of IT support company Need A Nerd, says some of the downsides associated with a workforce with low technical literacy include unproductive, frustrated and unhappy staff.
“This has a flow-on effect on morale which is particularly dangerous in customer-facing staff.  How often have you had to wait on the end of a phone while someone complains to you, the customer, that the system is ‘down’?” says Dunkerley.
He says small business staff should know how to troubleshoot basic technology problems without causing major issues. 
Martin says one of the biggest needs is for better training in the use of Microsoft Outlook – if people don’t know how to properly manage their inboxes – how to set up rules, how to use tasks, the calendar and other features – contact and time management benefits are lost. Proper use of Microsoft Word is also important because of its prolific use for business documentation, email, and business information and reports. And Excel is probably the office application least forgiving of a DIY approach to learning. “So many people do Excel calculations on a calculator, and then type the totals into the cells. If you don’t know how Excel works, you can’t use it for the things it does so well – like job pricing and quoting and (budgets and forecasts.) We even had someone who didn’t know you could tab between the cells in Excel, they were clicking on individual cells,” says Martin. If you’re laughing, you’re lucky, because inept use of office software is extremely common and has nothing to do with age or intelligence – the clients that come to Martin include school leavers and 50-plus executives who’ve made millions. Often, they’re embarrassed to admit how bad their basic IT skills really are. “The first step is to talk about it, people need to realise they’re not alone. From there, they can decide what type of IT training will suit them or their employees best,” says Martin.
Train right
Finding the right IT training ‘fit’ for an individual or group of people can be challenging. People learn in different ways, at different rates, and as a result no one mode of learning is better than another. For example, a course participant may sit through a three day classroom training session or an online course with no time limits without learning a thing, or they may soak up the information and become an ‘IT gun’ – much depends on how the person learns best. For this reason, IT training organisations today are careful to measure the impact of what is being taught and to use methods that prove learning has occurred (or not, as the case may be). Either way, businesses need to know whether or not the training dollar they have invested is getting the result they need. “If all the business does is send its people on a course, there is no proof those people have learned anything,” points out Martin. Tony Skelton, managing director for IT training organisation Ace Training says ACE is currently engaged in a research programme with New Zealand organisations to determine the most appropriate training modes for specific trainee profiles. “For too long money spent on training has been viewed as an expense and a necessary evil, rather than an investment. Part of the reason for this is the fact that return on training investment is rarely measured, but measuring that return on investment is not only possible, it is critical,” says Skelton. Ace Training uses a web-based tool that measures the full impact and benefit of any training done for the organisation that has spent the money. ACE liaises with its client before, during and after training intervention to gather the data that is required to be able to provide ROI reports. Martin says software and process training like that provided by the International Computer Drivers Licence (ICDL) qualification is also valuable as it is internationally recognised and checks what students already know via practical tasks and skills. (Extra Mile Training, some secondary schools and other IT training organisations offer ICDL in New Zealand.) When the student has completed seven modules, they take an invigilated exam. The ICDL – which can be delivered online, through booklets or via CD – costs around $500 per person including the cost of sitting the relevant exams at an approved centre.
Online all the way?
What of e-learning then? At first glance this seems one of the most convenient ways for busy small business people to upskill. Just one examples of e-learning is the company Skillsoft, which offers more than 20,000 business and IT-related books online and delivers on-demand e-learning and support services. Martin says e-learning is a great medium for the self-motivated and those who are good at time management. However, learning via an online course needs to be measurable and, preferably, lead to an IT competence qualification or certification that is recognised. Skelton says ACE also believes in e-learning and recently became the only authorised Live Instructor Led Distance Learning provider for Microsoft technical training in New Zealand. He says ACE sees considerable growth in the New Zealand market for instructor-led online learning programmes. “Although most of the IT training we deliver is instructor-led and classroom based, we appreciate that with online training geographical barriers are eliminated, opening up broader education options, and the accessibility [of e-learning] makes scheduling easy and allows a greater number of people to attend classes,” says Skelton. Other advantages of e-learning include personal flexibility (the learning can happen precisely when needed) and a reduction in travel time and overall student training costs such as tuition, accommodation, food and child care. On the topic of cost-reduced IT training, although free council and Government IT training courses are available in New Zealand (and laudable) these tend to require the learner to set aside time to travel to the learning centre, and often culminate in open book tests which can make it difficult for employers to measure actual learning. (Additionally, many participants on free IT courses start off with a ‘hiss and a roar’ but don’t get around to finishing because there is no immediate goal, timeframe or benchmark to work within or towards.) “There is a place for initiatives that reach out to those who are unable for various reasons to afford paid courses. Of course, the old adage that ‘one typically gets what one pays for’ tends to apply in this case and it is more likely that an organisation that operates on commercially viable terms will afford to provide better service, employ top-drawer trainers, provide environments more conducive to learning and offer the assurances that ‘fly by nights’ simply cannot guarantee, despite all the best intentions,” says Skelton. He points out there’s little point embarking on any form of IT training if training goals have not been clearly identified and are relevant. “Frankly, the decision-making process that leads to investment in training programmes is often quite flawed, and based on less than sophisticated considerations such as ‘cheapest rates’, rather than addressing the real needs of the company. Small businesses should especially make the effort to be sure of precisely what the training is intended to accomplish before investing the money. A training provider willing to assist small companies with this essential pre-training decision-making process is invaluable.”
Passing the baton
While there are tangible business benefits to ensuring basic software skills are at a premium and employees understand the importance of data backups and following security procedures, a thorough knowledge of certain IT systems and services is not always achievable or even advisable. Unless the small business employs a dedicated IT manager, once a small business network has been established (and sometimes even before it has) it is important to build a relationship with an external IT provider that is as close as the relationship a small business traditionally has with its accountant. “Products such as Microsoft Small Business Server, and others, provide smaller businesses with viable alternatives to the enterprise systems that may otherwise be out of their league. However, it is a challenge for a small company with limited resources to keep up with the never-ending version upgrades and prolific product development teams of the software giants,” says Skelton. Stuart Lees, director of Auckland-based IT support company Rad9 Computer Services says as small businesses grow they need help to build back office IT systems that help them maintain and increase productivity. They also need a support company to maintain their IT systems and keep them running through staff and premises changes. “Some companies are looking for strong, robust and accessible systems that support things like remote access or linking offices together, others want more high-tech solutions,” says Lees. He says common small business IT problems are usually caused by inadequate data security practices, and Rad9 does a lot of disaster recovery. All of which is a bit like the ambulance at the bottom of the cliff – how willing are small businesses to form a long term relationship with an IT service provider, and build on it? Lees says while it’s true more businesses are seeking a partnership, it’s generally after they’ve been through one or two freelance or amateur IT support people, have been burnt a few times and are now seeking “long term safety” at a company level. “We assign them an account manager and their calls are handled through our service desk. Obviously proactive customers have fewer problems because they have better maintenance and systems in place. Also if they have a relationship with us, we are more inclined to want to help them quickly,” says Lees. Need A Nerd’s Dunkerley says most small businesses are reactive and call ‘the Nerds’ only when they have an IT problem.  “However a major role for our franchisees is to educate our customers on how technology can improve the way they do business and the benefits of proactively maintaining and monitoring their IT infrastructure.  Once they understand the benefits of this kind of support many customers take advantage of this service,” says Dunkerley. Most IT support companies offer remote monitoring of small business systems and can access individual computers to fix them remotely if required. Such services mean a small business’s IT problems can be solved before the business knows it has one. “Retaining an IT support company to conduct regular proactive maintenance and monitoring will save businesses money or even save the business itself. As part of risk profiling, business owners should ask themselves what it would cost their business if they lost all of the information on their computer systems,” says Dunkerley. He says the key to finding a good IT support company is understanding how well the provider is going to manage the relationship.  “Will they proactively improve how technology is used in your business? How quickly will they be there when you need them?  Will they communicate effectively if they are running late or have to follow-up on an uncompleted job?” Vikki Bland is an Auckland-based IT writer. Email [email protected]