Improve Workplace Efficiency: Train Your Users

Goals and expectations help guide organizations. But what's just as important is providing employees with the resources and tools to be successful. Whether it's a member of the sales team wanting to better leverage a CRM, or a receptionist needing to get up to speed on Excel 2016, training is vital to any user's success, no matter their role in the organization.

Investing in end-user training is win-win for both you and your employers. Having a well-trained workforce can greatly increase efficiency and productivity within your organization, it can even save you money by mitigating the impact of security threats, all of this, in turn, saves time and money. Here's how end-user training can help your organization thrive.

Get the Basics Out of the Way

You'd be hard-pressed in today's corporate workplace to find someone who isn't using  Microsoft Windows or PowerPoint. However, both applications have evolved tenfold since they first were released. The latest versions of these applications include new features and improvements that can make users' lives easier.

The less time your users have to spend stumbling around through basic applications such as Microsoft Office 2016 or iOS 11, the more they can focus on more business-critical tasks which can increase the quality and pace at which projects be completed.

Your IT team will rejoice at not having to spend time helping a user with something in Microsoft Word — and less support tickets in the system usually means fewer roadblocks to more pertinent tasks.

More Secure Networks Means Less Downtime

We've all experienced the frustration of network issues at the office. They can be a real productivity killer. Something as mundane as not being able to use email for 15 minutes can be a real setback. And guess what? When it comes to security-related network issues, end users often are the culprits.

Security awareness training is a must for your organization, from the top down. It's no longer the sole responsibility of the IT team to keep networks and data safe, all employees need to be up-to-date on the latest threats and best practices for preventing them.   

Providing security awareness training helps your organization by reducing the threat of security breaches, which can cripple your network or compromise your customers' data. Dealing with fallout from a security incident, no matter the size,  is devastating to a company because of  its drain on time, manpower, and stress.  

Trained Up Users = Empowered Employees

Employees who know what they are doing and are put in positions to succeed are going to be more confident. Being able to use the technologies and programs required to do their jobs plays a major role in that confidence.

You can help empower your users by providing them access to the training they need to be successful. Having the right training easily accessible can enable them to perform their jobs more effectively, quickly, and most importantly, more confidently. That's a winning combination.

It's a no-brainer that a more productive workplace helps the bottom line. Online training for your end users can be more cost-effective than traditional methods of training, such as classroom training.

Free Up Your IT Team to Do Their Job

You can't fault your IT pros for wanting to be helpful, but you're not fully using their skills if they spend half their workday jumping in to help users create stronger passwords (Sadly, it's still an issue).  

You need the team to be focused on making sure your network infrastructure is running smoothly. Downtime is never a good thing, and can cost a business dearly. You also want your IT team to able to implement or deploy new tech and services that could benefit not only your users and organization, but your customers, as well.

For example, let's say you want to migrate to the cloud (you should, it's awesome!), your IT team is going need time to research cloud service options, investigate how it could impact the organization's current IT infrastructure, and communicate the benefits to the higher-ups. The team also will need to train up on the cloud tech that gets adopted. All of this takes time.

By having an organization that is trained well in the technologies it uses on a daily basis, your IT team will thank you for freeing them from trivial support tickets — and enabling them to focus on more fundamental IT responsibilites.

The Bottom Line

If your employees are confident and empowered, they will be productive. Training can help them be more efficient at both day-to-day tasks and larger projects. More importantly, when they don't have to worry about the basics anymore, they can focus on what they enjoy doing at work.This is especially true for your IT team.

Remember, a happy person is usually a stronger employee than an unhappy one.

So, if you haven't thought about training for your end users, there has never a better time to start. It could be one of the best investments you make — for yourself, your employees, and ultimately, your business and customers.

Browse our end-user training today.