Training Employees for the Cloud Can Be Challenging - Here is how big companies get it right!

If your company is used to working in a particular way, or accustomed to using certain processes and systems, investing in new technology could seem like an unnecessary expense. Why fix what isn’t broken, right? Sticking with the old is maybe the more comfortable option, but why wouldn’t you invest in something new that is sure to optimize your time, money, and experience? Cloud technology is being used on a global scale. In fact, since the pandemic, the industry for cloud computing has experienced a sharp increase in development. Over 100 zettabytes of data are predicted to be stored in the cloud by 2025. To put this into perspective, just one zettabyte is one trillion gigabytes. In the same year, the total data storage, on a global scale, is predicted to exceed 200 zettabytes of data. That’s half of all the data! By comparison, only about 25% of global data was stored using the cloud in 2015. The cloud computing market had a total value of $371.4 billion in 2020. The market is predicted to reach $832.1 billion by 2025 with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 17.5%.

The proliferation of technological options has allowed organizations to adapt quickly to changing market conditions. A growing number of organizations are beginning to rely on Cloud Computing as they establish their foundation for future growth. As a result, cloud computing has emerged as a novel approach to overseeing data centers. Contrary to popular belief, Cloud Computing is not merely a cutting-edge technology, but also a cutting-edge business strategy. Many people mistakenly believe that Cloud Computing is only used to backup data, however, it serves a variety of irreplaceable purposes for businesses.

In general, new technology can boost productivity in all kinds of enterprises. It reduces costs, improves profitability, and keeps your company up-to-date with the new happenings in the industry.

However…actually going ahead and implementing new technology can seem like a mountain of work and inconvenience. Some major issues come to mind: making sure you have the best product suited to your specific company, seamlessly integrating it with existing systems, and most tedious of all - getting employees accustomed to and enthusiastic about the new addition.

These are all relevant concerns and can easily overwhelm you into disregarding an upgrade to a new system. Employee usage is a requirement for any new employee-facing technology to enable engagement and workforce training. If not, the tool—no matter how great—will never produce the desired outcomes or return on investment. The adoption of new technologies ultimately depends on effective change management and organizational flexibility. It is just human nature to want to keep doing things the way we have always done them. Convincing employees to get on board with a new system or technology can be a major challenge and the primary factor preventing you from taking the leap.

But there are in fact, so many reasons to invest in new technology for your company. Let’s take a look at some of them.

Why introduce new technology at all? Is it worth the change?

1) Save Save Save!

Companies can save both time and money thanks to technological advancements. Employees are able to complete tasks more rapidly with the help of modern technology without compromising the quality or accuracy of their work. This is good news for company owners since it means they won't have to spend as much on labor expenditures thanks to decreased human error.

2) Teamwork Makes the Dream Work

Using cloud technology, organizations may exchange and communicate data and information more effectively, bypassing the more cumbersome and antiquated techniques of the past. Data from cloud apps are stored on servers, which the company in charge of the system can access from anywhere on the globe. It improves teamwork by letting numerous people access and make edits to the same files at the same time. It's a convenient and safe way to access files and data needed for work.

3) All About the Sales

Since we live in the era of social media, it is crucial that businesses constantly put money into improving their internet marketing strategies. One way to do this is to finance tech upgrades that expand your market at affordable rates. Facebook and Twitter, for instance, allow businesses to connect with local and global clients. Because of this, they are able to successfully increase sales. After all, a larger clientele guarantees more revenue for any given enterprise.

4) Safe and Sound

For any company, the safety of its data is of utmost importance. When compared to on-premises servers and data center storage, cloud storage offers far higher levels of security. If your laptop or computer is stolen, the information on it can be easily accessed. In contrast, sensitive data stored on the cloud may be deleted or transferred to a new account at any time. All of your saved information has to be backed up regularly. In a conventional computing system, once data is gone, it cannot be recovered since no backup was created to save the deleted information. However, if you use cloud computing systems, you won't need any supplementary equipment. Safekeeping of data in the cloud is not a concern so long as there is access to the internet.

Investing in technology is wise since it facilitates growth and the reaching of key performance milestones. Hence, if you have not already done so, it may be time to start making investments in newer technology. And when it comes to getting your teams onboard, we’ve got a few foolproof tricks for you to train employees on new systems.

How to Effectively Train Employees on New Technology

1. Ease it in

An organization's culture and mindset must change in tandem with any adoption. Tell your employees how the technology will benefit both them and the company as a whole so they can get on board with it. Prepare your employees "culturally" for the transformation journey before teaching them how to use the new technology. Employees will need to be prepared, so it's important to inform them about the process and get their support early on. Some great ways to do this include: leadership endorsements, mailings, events, leadership films, and questionnaires. It is so important to act at the correct time and keep the momentum going. Make things easy and clear for everyone involved to avoid unnecessary stress and confusion. While the choice to acquire a system is taken at the top and signals the beginning of a process, the success of adoption ultimately rests in the hands of the employees.

2. Be Empathetic

It's easy for company heads to lose sight of the bigger picture in favor of the immediate benefits of new solutions providers, such as better insight into KPIs, lower costs, more efficient management, and so on. But it is crucial to always consider the pain points employees may be facing.

Your end goals cannot be met without the use of technological tools that reduce the amount of effort required from the user. Rather than adding more work, make sure you pick the simplest way forward for your employees. Pick an all-inclusive and well-planned training program like Readynez. Through years of experience and working with more than 1000 top companies in the world, Readynez has created the Best Practice Model for learning and customized training with the goal to get employees to be more open to adopting new technologies by giving them the easiest way forward.

3. Right Place Right Time Right Program

The correct training program is crucial. It must be a well-defined, comprehensive strategy. When teaching on a system or piece of software, use a methodical, well-thought-out design strategy.

Relevant and interesting content are hallmarks of successful software training. This is because employees are more likely to retain and use knowledge if they find it personally relevant to them. When the material is relevant and the skills learned can be used right away, employees learn and retain information best. Users won't look forward to moving to new software if it is presented to them in a dull and difficult format. A way around this is to employ a program that includes demonstrations and explanations. According to the Forgetting Curve, after a month, most people have forgotten 90% of what they learned. Employ a system that allows you and learners to always be one step ahead of the game. For instance, all learner roles are mapped in Readynez365 to track individual progress and to provide a unique dashboard to measure progress and ROI, allowing management and learners to always be in the know about their progress.

4. Be Mindful of Training Time

Training may become a boring and irritating task if it is adding to employee workloads. To avoid making training schedules stressful, make sure to plan and allocate work in a way that allows for the smooth completion of all tasks. Schedule training sessions during times when employees are more likely to be paying attention.

5. Offer Incentives

Incentives are a great way to motivate your employees to learn a new system. Put together an incentive program to motivate and acknowledge employees at different stages of the training process. Even just praise and acknowledgment from the management can go a long way when it comes to motivating employees.

6. Invest in employee certifications

Effective training programs need to be continuous. What better way to get the best results than by investing in certifications? Compared to self-learning, which takes more time and is unstructured, employee training platforms like Readynez365 is a great way for businesses to save time and money on employee training. Instead of hit and trail, it’s a more organized way to train your team members for specific IT roles.

Employees must be committed to lifelong learning in order to keep up with the rapid pace of technological change. Keeping these points in mind will help you provide a training plan to educate employees on cutting-edge technology.

The Bottom Line

Often, we see the digital transformation process hindered by a lack of planning, organization, and resources. To successfully implement a technology shift, it takes more than just distributing new software and hoping that everyone will learn to use it. Organizations frequently ignore the mental shift that must take place. Human beings are essentially creatures of habit. It will take some strategic thinking to get people to accept new technologies when they may be more attuned to the status quo. There is also often a lack of proper and sufficient training and assistance. The quality of training is typically the deciding factor in the success or failure of an attempt at change.

These factors often lead to employees not being able to make full use of new technology. And this is a major reason companies lose out on the benefits of the upgraded systems. If you wish to help your employees earn certifications to prepare for new technology roles, it would be beneficial to employ a more holistic view of technology in a short period of time. However, preparing for certifications requires a structured way to learn about specific cloud technologies for unique business requirements.

At Readynez, we hate to see a wasted transformation opportunity. Hence, we create training programs for the skills-first economy. We integrate all learning assets and analytics for digital skills in one place for sustainable and smooth transformation. Our mission at Readynez has always been to simplify digital transformation by modernizing how businesses work with skill development. We help you develop the necessary skills to make your organization’s digital transformation simple and effective. And we believe that the future belongs to those who are ready for it. Are you ready for transformation?

If you are, get in touch with us, and we can start putting together the perfect training program for your organization.