E-Sourcing Adoption and Buyer Training

Add comment April 18th, 2006 Agatha Degasperi - Iasta Europe

Training is an integral part of introducing any new technology into an organization. Without it, large scale adoption will be slow and it will be nearly impossible to gain momentum around your corporate initiative.

Many training programs are short lived and fail to generate interest because it is often approached incorrectly. Take into account the following steps and you will begin to see the true value that can be added through training:

1. Determine if lack of adoption is really based on a training need. To do so there are 4 areas that must be addressed:

a) What are my goals/purpose (e.g.: start getting buyers to utilize e-sourcing tools for future sourcing transactions)
b) Workflow/process: What work is done now to achieve this goal? What will need to be modified in order to make it happen?
c) Support systems/tools: what support systems and tools are currently available to allow people to perform the skills? This includes facilities, technology, compensation, management, etc…
d) People skills: what actual skills are needed to achieve the goals, use the tools and do the work? The problem is often not that people do not have the right skills, but rather they don’t have the right tools or processes in place or they aren’t clear. It is therefore important when introducing a training program to take all these elements into account. The first step is to formally train everyone in order to gain the necessary skills on how to use the technology, but then do you have the right processes, workflow, support systems, and corporate objectives to support the learning?

2. How comfortable are people learning a new skill? According to Harvard professor Chris Argyris, there are 2 kinds of learning: 1) Iterative – learning to do the same things better (high performers love this!) 2) Generative – learning to do something new (high performing adults & adults in general are much more nervous about this). There is a lot more resistance to learning a new skill then to give people the opportunity to improve on what they already know. Knowing this, you can take the right approach to introducing a “new technology” into your organization to avoid this type of resistance. Apprehension levels increase when changing the way people do things and imposing a new tool to do so. However, it needs to be clear that what people know will not change, the process of sourcing remains the same and the tool is intended to make them more efficient in what they already do well.

Practice makes perfect! When asking people to develop new skills in the workplace, give them something like a “rehearsal” period for practice, and when the results don’t really count. If you ask people to apply without practicing, they’ll go back to how they used to do things.

So does this mean you need to invest huge sums of money on e-sourcing training programs? Not at all! Do what is necessary to help people gain the basic usability skills, and then ensure the right systems are in place to support the learning and move your goals forward.

Entry Filed under: General, Supply Management Best Practices, Technology