Training staff to use computers efficiently can make your company healthier, wealthier and wiser, says Paul Bray
YOU could be forgiven for thinking that formal computer training is no longer necessary. With more people becoming familiar with computers at home, school and work - and with the development of graphical interfaces, software suites and all-in-one systems - the industry is now peddling its wares as being easy to learn and use.
The software is certainly easier to learn these days, especially once you have learnt one package on a computer. But often the improvements in design have resulted in people learning to muddle through rather than learning to put the packages to full use.
There can be so many features on a package that a user can miss some.
If the user is not aware of the feature designed specifically for a task, he or she will have to do the job in a clumsy way instead.
The main menu structures on today's software packages are designed for learners rather than for experienced users, so much can be gained by learning the short cuts.
It can take many hours to learn a complex package by trial and error, and most self-taught users learn only a small fraction of the features of a package. Training can be much more efficient.
Staff increasingly expect training as part of their career progression. Prospective employees frequently ask about training at interview, and a good programme will help you recruit and retain good-quality staff.
Some businesses try to avoid training costs by recruiting people who are already trained. But it is much easier to learn to use a computer than to learn the intricacies of a business.
It may cost much less to train or retrain an existing employee than to recruit a trained replacement, when you take into account advertising costs, recruitment agents' fees and the time taken for the new person to get up to speed.
An increasing number of computer and software suppliers now charge for telephone support, so it is worth training people properly so they need less help.
FEW businesses assess the value of formal training, but it can be done using a simple equation. Consider an administrator or secretary, paid £15,000 a year. The cost of employing him is about twice his salary so, allowing for holidays, he costs about £125 a day to employ. Training courses can cost £200 a day, so a week's training costs £1,625 in course fees and lost working time.
This sounds expensive. But suppose the person spends half his working day at the computer, and training makes him 20 per cent more efficient at using it. Then he would work 10 per cent faster, saving his employers £12.50 a day. At that rate, it would take 26 weeks to recoup the training cost - not a bad rate of return for a business investment.
If you can assess the productivity gains - no easy task but well worth doing - you can put your own figures into the equation.
If the person no longer pesters colleagues for advice, and if the quality and quantity of his work improve, the savings to the business will be even greater. Training companies claim that efficiency can be boosted by up to 50 per cent.
A word of warning, however: individuals, whether IT professionals or end users, should beware of spending their own money on training without assessing whether it will help them to find a new job or gain promotion.
Increasingly, employers demand experience of a job or a software program, and they discount training courses or qualifications that are not backed up by practical experience.
