More Than Important, A Software Training Plan Is Vital
You may have several good arguments against training your employees. The most common is because it takes time away from work and can be a drain on resources. But those are short-term challenges that often prevent employers from providing advanced training on their retail management software. The return on this type of training investment can be seen quickly and accrue over time.
Training builds a solid foundation for new hires and store veterans. Their knowledge of how the software works has a direct effect on the customer experience.
How It Works
To compete in today’s global marketplace, small businesses need to close the gap between the skills their employees have and the skills they need. Start your software training plan with the little details in the point of sale system that matter most to your business. It’s often these smaller processes can get overlooked, yet they have a major impact on your operations. This should be considered a low-hanging fruit for all employees to grasp and incorporate into their daily routines. Typically, there are training videos and tutorials available to quicken the pace of learning and act as a reference guide when questions need answering.
For more complex functions and transactions, you should bring in a trainer who can work one-on-one with employees or in a classroom setting. This could be a representative from the software company or one of your highly skilled employees. Either one can help novice employees with hands-on learning and professional support to alleviate confusion, sticking to best practices and not finding workarounds that will skew data.
Learning While Working
Employees can and should continue to learn more about the system while working, because many of the robust features within a retail management software go unused. How can this happen when you’ve already trained them? They either have doubts on how to use these functions or questions about when to use them. The key is to have the right amount of support available for your employees when they need it, or else it may affect the customer’s experience.
Most of your employees will have some weaknesses in their skills. Give them an opportunity to discover what those are and build a road map that addresses them, so they can understand how and why it needs to be done. When you address their weaknesses, you’ll be able to improve their performance.
Employee Engagement
Training expands your employees’ knowledge base, which gives them the power to be more autonomous, efficient, and proactive. This leads to consistency and improved morale—higher retention and job satisfaction. It also helps them become more engaged with the business and customers. The key here is that training promotes employee engagement, leading to improved customer service.