How to Help Your Employees Learn New Software

Innovation and technological breakthroughs are the lifeblood of companies in our modern-day digital age.

We live in a time where it seems like there is a new innovative software being created every other day for every industry known to man from construction and architecture, to mental health therapy and independent contracting freelancers.

Software systems for most companies help them to innovate and grow by using software programs that give access to real paystubs to their employees, control inventory counts, process and store HR documents, etc.

Key Takeaways of This Article

• Cultivate employee potential
• Be open to any valuable constructive feedback from your employees concerning the new software
• Your employees might not all learn at the same speed or in the same ways

If you are a small business owner or independent freelancing contractor in the working market of the USA, then you know just how important learning new software systems are to keep your company up and running and profitable in the digital age.

But to do this, you need to make sure that your employees are capable of using these new software systems that are meant to promote innovation, efficiency and increase employee motivation at the same time.

This can be easier said than done however, as a small business owner or independent contractor outsourcing a job can’t expect your employee(s) to simply be introduced to new software that they have probably never used before and be more than happy to throw out the old systems and learn the new one overnight.

If you do have employees that gladly accept the challenge of ditching software they have become used to and switch to newer software they will need to learn, do whatever you can to cultivate their potential.

Best 3 Tips for How to Help Your Employees Learn New Software

• Understand that there are 4 core styles of how people learn best, and not everyone learns the same.

This is something that we come to realize as we move through high school and see that some of our friends were A+ students due to their late nights of reading textbooks and writing notes while others earned their grades by simply listening or seeing or doing.

Visual (seeing), auditory (listening), reading and taking notes, and kinesthetic (hands-on experience) are the four core styles of learning. If you want to make sure that your employees are capable of learning your company’s newest software system then it’s in your best interest to take some time to figure out how to teach them using these four learning styles to increase their learning success rates.

• Cultivate Employee Potential Properly

While it might be beneficial and necessary for all of your employees to learn your new software system, it might not be beneficial for everyone to know every aspect and detail of the software.

Task your company’s leadership (whether that’s yourself or team leads) to determine which employees are more likely to get a better grasp and deeper understanding of the software system and all its inner workings and which employees are likely to only learn what they need to learn to do the basics and bare minimum of their job duties.

Focus on, cultivate and encourage those who are willing and want to learn every aspect of the new software so they can improve at their job and move up in the company. They are your future team leads and managers.

• Allow Your Employees to Give Constructive Feedback

Yes, this is a double-edged sword but you’ll be better off with the potential for further growth and development because of it. Accept that there will most likely be some employees that will take this opportunity to give anonymous comments in the demeaning, insulting, or complaining manner that you will have to sift through to find the golden nuggets and diamonds in the rough.

Your employees are in the metaphorical trenches of your company’s work every day. They are well acquainted with the processes that are perfect and the processes that are downright broken that should have been fixed or replaced years ago.

When you introduce a new software program into the trenches of their everyday work life, once they’ve learned how to use it and navigate it they will be able to pinpoint all the unforeseen flaws you never thought about initially.

Take their constructive feedback back to the drawing board as you figure out how to integrate your new software system in the best way possible.

The Bottom Line

Companies can’t always rely on the same old software systems that they used a decade ago, or even 5 years ago depending on the industry.

Innovation in the technology of your software for your company is at the center of all of your processes. However, your employees are the ones that will ultimately determine whether or not your new software will be a source of growth or a source of frustration.

Taking the time to make sure your employees learn your company’s new software processes in the best ways possible and then refine those processes will not only allow you to grow and scale your company the way you want, but it will also result in greater employee motivation.