Enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems are the lifeblood of every modern organization today. Offering a centralized option, they allow teams to efficiently and securely manage various aspects of business operations using a single platform.
Yet, when it comes to maximizing ERP ROI, many organizations experience sub-optimal numbers because of poor implementation leading to less-than-desired adoption. Read on as we examine why employees don’t love your ERP and the steps you can take to change that!
What Are the Issues
When you invest in an ERP system, you expect widespread adoption. Unfortunately, several issues come in the way of this, which leads to suboptimal usage. Here are the top 5 issues employees often have with a newly implemented ERP solution:
1. The Out-of-the-Box ERP Doesn’t Align with Their Needs
Almost every organization today realizes the importance of investing in an ERP system. However, most implement an out-of-the-box system that does not cater to their unique needs. A system not customized to fit the industry or the use case at hand adds to employee burden rather than reducing it. It can lead to the forced adoption of generic processes while increasing reliance on the vendor for support and updates.
2. The ERP System Isn’t Integrated with Other Enterprise Systems
Poor integration restricts teams’ access to the same up-to-date information, diluting productivity and profits. It also adds a high administrative burden, as employees are forced to manually manage and integrate data, which consumes much of their time.
3. Employees Haven’t Been Given Enough Training
Another reason why your employees don’t love your ERP is because they haven’t been given proper user training. With deadlines to meet, it is critical that they can perform their tasks as quickly and efficiently as possible. Lack of training on the different features and system use can result in poor productivity, errors, and an unmotivated and disgruntled workforce.
4. They Find the ERP System Complex
Modern ERP platforms are expected to integrate siloed data and processes across the organization and minimize administrative burden. Yet, many employees find these systems complex and challenging to use. Navigating the intricate features, searching for the necessary information, and using it to make the right decisions seem a Herculean task.
5. The ERP System is Slow and Unresponsive
While there is one section of employees who find ERP systems complex, there is another which finds them slow and unresponsive. Given the massive data that modern ERPs process, there is a high likelihood that the UX is clunky and sluggish. Such a UX impacts adoption while also affecting employee morale and motivation.
What You Can Do
To ensure your employees leverage the ERP system and its many capabilities, you must effectively address the inherent challenges. Here are some tips to get you started on the right foot:
- Customize the ERP system: Every organization has different needs, employee motivations, and goals. Using an out-of-the-box ERP solution might not be the best option. Instead, you must customize or tailor modules and features to suit your unique use cases, grow your business, and drive greater profitability. For instance, even a powerful ERP like Oracle can be used more effectively in the construction sector when it comes with construction-specific applications and customisations.
- Automate wherever possible: Transitioning from siloed tools to mammoth ERP platforms can sometimes overwhelm employees. To simplify the move and encourage adoption, you must first automate mundane and error-prone processes across accounting, inventory management, financial close, order processing, etc. Such automation can enable employees to focus on their strategic priorities and not waste time on administrative efforts.
- Ensure seamless integration: ERP adoption can be successful only if it works in harmony with all other systems in your organization. This means you must ensure seamless integration of your newly implemented system with other existing tools and apps. Using pre-built adaptors can significantly reduce integration time while ensuring data is constantly and securely exchanged across the enterprise. This helps in enhancing visibility, transparency, and decision-making.
- Educate and train employees: Another critical step in increasing the adoption of your newly implemented ERP system is education and training. Employees who use stand-alone systems to carry out their daily tasks need to be informed about the potential benefits of the modern system. They must also be trained to use the system, its different features, and how to make the most of it to simplify their jobs.
- Set up a knowledge base: Employees may encounter issues using your new ERP system. A knowledge base can allow employees to get quick answers to their queries and ease their concerns. They can refer to this centralized repository anytime and navigate the ERP system independently – without burdening your IT helpdesk.
- Enhance the user experience: If you want your employees to use your ERP system, you must enhance the user experience at every point of the journey. This includes adding personalization, improving search functionality, and enabling data visualization. You must also allow employees to build dashboards of their choice, add role-based metrics, or filter views based on their needs.
- Ensure 24/7/365 support: The pace of technological advancement demands that you constantly update and optimize your ERP instance. This includes upgrading your system to the latest version, implementing the latest security patches, conducting performance-related enhancements, and streamlining integrations with other systems.
Modern ERP systems can truly transform your business operations. However, this is possible only when your employees make the most of these enterprise systems. To ensure your employees love the ERP system, you must address their concerns and challenges and enable a solution that simplifies their job – rather than complicating it!
At Shahgaron, we bring exclusive expertise and proven best industry practices to ERP implementations for both on-premises and cloud environments. Our purpose-built implementation methodology makes it easier to build information-driven business processes that connect, automate, and energize your business.