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Your cloud proposition 6: Training to become cloud experts

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7th Feb 2017
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Most firms have a good grasp of training new members of staff on systems, but what happens if it’s all new?

Whether you currently have a cloud proposition or not, making sure staff and clients have the confidence needed on your chosen systems creates the trust and certainty they need to use it effectively.

“Getting going with the cloud can take time,” said Mary Blyth, cloud services manager at French Duncan. “It’s a long and winding road that presents a few challenges along the way, so building up staff momentum so that they are confident, excited, and engaged has really helped.”

The connection has been proved to be clear: “The more staff are engaged and see the opportunity the more clients we see adopting the system,” Blyth explained, and echoes the experience of all the firms researched.

Getting everyone there, however, is not always easy or straightforward:

“At the beginning there were some that were averse to change, and having over 60 staff within the department means getting everyone trained and onboard has been tricky, so we’ve really worked on building enthusiasm and allowing them to see the potential for themselves,” continued Blyth.

Thankfully most vendors take training and education seriously, and can provide fantastic resources for you to use. This could include online guides, training videos and whole accreditation programmes. The latter in particular can be useful to confirm knowledge and confer status for both the trainee and the firm.

“Fortunately we’ve had a lot of intervention from our supplier who came in and demonstrated the system in front of everyone, and that really helped in setting the scene and opening up the possibilities," said Blyth.

Speaking to your chosen suppliers about best practice and their experiences will help to refine your approach. You ultimately know your staff and client best, and can help tailor the programme to suit. After the initial vendor presentations, French Duncan adopted a very specific strategy to focus successful training and adoption:

“We started small, focussing on the six or so internal users who had some experience using cloud, making sure they were using it in the best possible way and then getting a number of clients per team trained up. Embedding these skills across the firm helped carry the message and get others interested.

Gradually we followed up with more training and interactive sessions which gave everyone an opportunity to ask questions, raise concerns, and gain confidence. These sessions really got people excited and we quickly saw was that we were getting more clients onboard as a result,” explained Blyth.

Taking time to formulate your approach will greatly aid confident take up, and you shouldn’t feel limited to one specific avenue. Seminar style events, for example, can be extremely useful in training a number of clients in one go; however, one–to–one support might be more effective.

Having a coordinated approach will allow you to best organise your people and resources, and make it easier for your suppliers to support you. Using a template to plan and record will greatly increase the effectiveness of your training, as well as ensuring nothing or no one is left out.

Cloud proposition action points: Training

  1. Identify all the products staff and clients need to be trained on
  2. Prioritise which are the most important
  3. Identify the preferred training routes
  4. Create a simple chart to map out who needs training on what
  5. Record as completed as you go along

For more details about how to clarify your firm’s cloud strategy, download Richard Sergeant’s free guide ‘How to create your firm’s cloud proposition’ at www.cloudproposition.co.uk. The 52-page guide presents a practical framework to guide accounting firms through their cloud journey. This vendor-neutral initiative was produced in association with ICAS, and supported by FreeAgent.

 
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