Yes, You Should Still Train Your Employees in Microsoft 365

What is Microsoft 365?

Microsoft 365 is best described as a productivity cloud suite that’s designed to help business owners and managers run their businesses. It includes a number of different applications and tools, as well as a powerful cloud infrastructure that’s designed to give businesses a cohesive and comprehensive platform for running the entire organization.

Microsoft 365, formerly called Office 365, comes in three different plans. Here’s a basic breakdown of each:

• Microsoft 365 Business Basic. At $6 per user/month, this is the most affordable plan. It includes web and mobile versions of all Office apps, email and calendaring, file storage and sharing, support and deployment, some teamwork and communication tools, some security and compliance features, and select business building and management tools.
• Microsoft 365 Business Standard. At $12.50 per user/month, this middle tier plan comes with everything that’s included in the Business Basic plan, plus more teamwork and communication features, additional security and compliance, the full array of business building and management tools, and desktop versions of Office apps for PC and Mac.
• Microsoft 365 Business Premium. At $22.00 per user/month, this is the most expensive and robust plan available. It comes with everything that’s included in the Business Standard plan, as well as the full complement of standard security and compliance features, advanced security, and device management.

Depending on the plan you have, you can also get audio conferencing, business voice, or Windows 365 added on at an additional cost.

For businesses that only need the Microsoft 365 Office apps, there’s a plan available for $8.25 per user/month.

Why Employees Should be Trained on Microsoft 365

There are several primary reasons why employees should be trained on Microsoft 365. We’re going to explore each of them (and then provide some clarity on precisely how to train your employees on this platform).

Reason #1: Microsoft 365 Skills Are Important

Research from Capital One and Burning Glass Technologies shows 82 percent of middle-skill positions in the workforce require proficiency in a productivity software like Microsoft 365 (particularly the Office portion of the program).

If your employees and new hires don’t have the proper Microsoft 365 skills, then they’re going to seriously underperform in their positions. The ramifications of this might not be seen right away, but the consequences will eventually catch up to you.

Everyone from the receptionist to the executive leadership team within your organization needs basic proficiency in productivity software and accompanying applications and tools. Without this, processes and workflows get bogged down.

Reason #2: Talent Alone Is Not Enough

Talent is something we’re big on here at Readynez. In fact, we believe that talent is far more important than experience or anything else that a candidate can put on a resume or job application. But talent alone is not enough to be successful. Talent must be coupled with the right skills and training in order for potential to be realized.

When you invest in Microsoft 365 training, you give individual team members the gift of understanding. Rather than spending all of their time wrestling with software or trying to figure out how to perform a basic function, they’re able to utilize all of the robust and dynamic features that the platform offers. This leads to greater productivity, less frustration, and faster processes. The indirect benefits are more satisfied employees, which subsequently leads to less turnover and greater continuity.

It might sound like a stretch that something as seemingly basic as Microsoft 365 training can lower turnover and strengthen your company’s culture, but it’s true. It’s often the smallest details that have the biggest impact.

Reason #3: You’re Wasting Resources if You Don’t

Let’s get really practical for a moment: If you’re investing in Microsoft 365 and you aren’t committed to training, you’re wasting your resources. All you have to do is run the numbers and this is clear.

For illustrative purposes, consider a company that has 500 employees and is spending $22 per month for the Microsoft 365 Business Premium plan. That’s an investment of $11,000 per month (or $132,000 per year). And while you might think you’re getting a good deal and empowering your team with the tools and applications they need to excel, the reality is they don’t know how to use the tools. They might only be utilizing 10 to 15 percent of the functionality in the first place. This means you’re basically wasting thousands of dollars per month.

Never assume that someone knows how to use Microsoft 365, or that they’ll take the time to educate themselves. You need to be proactive with your training. That’s the only way to generate a positive ROI in this area of your business.

Reason #4: Microsoft 365 is Updated Regularly

Microsoft 365 is not a static product. It’s dynamic and ever-changing. This is perfectly exemplified in the Office 365 portion of the platform. Office 365 gets updated once per quarter. This means adding new features, changing interfaces, and offering key updates.

If your team isn’t being trained, it’s possible that they’re still relying on yesterday’s best practices. At the very least, this is minimizing productivity and ROI. At worst, it’s opening you up to security vulnerabilities and other issues. Training solves all of this.

Readynez Microsoft 365 Training

At Readynez, we help your team close the digital skills gap with robust and up-to-date IT training courses on a variety of products, including Microsoft 365. When you work with us, you get world-class training that taps into the award-winning Readynez method. We can also help you recruit and train new talent so that your organization is constantly moving forward.

For more information on our training or talent offerings, please feel free to contact us today! We look forward to learning more about your business.