23/09/2014

Fixing Your Social Learning Network Can !Do Although many employees will say that informal learning is more valuable, according to an article published in Clo Media the engagement rate in many social learning programmes is surprisingly low. This article unpacks the elements that are needed in order to facilitate real and meaningful learning i.e. knowledge transfer within social learning networks… Read More Contact Us


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23/09/2014

SAP Software Seeks Road Map to the Clouds Can !Do In an article published in Business Day, we see an exploration of the concept and fast growing trend towards Cloud Computing i.e. shifting the delivery of software via the internet as opposed to physical servers…. Read More Contact Us


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23/09/2014

Some Valuable Lessons From Process Manufacturing ERP Implementations Can !Do Eric Kimberling gives some interesting insights into how “ERP failures” can be converted into valuable insights and learnings. Multiple challenges through complex ERP implementations, create opportunities to continually reflect on and improve the methodology used… Read More Contact Us


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12/09/2014

Agile On the Job Learning Can !Do The idea of on the job performance support is an emerging global trend that is challenging the status quo of training on an international scale. It is built on the premise of offering a powerful alternative to traditional classroom training solutions, by offering staff real time on the job performance support tools. It ultimately ensures that the end product of training interventions survive in the workplace, by providing staff what they need, at the moment the need arises, as they are doing their work. Performance support is not about creating more work, it is about applying what has already been learnt within a practical work context, for more impactful, lasting results. It is about repurposing what has already been learnt in the classroom, so that it can be practically applied to each person’s job requirements and performance targets. Check out our video to get a practical perspective on how performance support is transforming the corporate learning eco-system – a great eye opener for SA businesses! https://youtu.be/PiY4tKsnG1Q Contact Us


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12/09/2014

How to Bring An Organisational Strategy to Life Can !Do Embedding new business processes deeply into their cultures and workflows of a business is the key to bringing an organisational strategy to life. We have found that this approach breaks down organisational siloes and ensures closer integration of the organisation’s departments and functions. It is easy for top management to formulate a vision for a new business system – not as easy to translate this into organisational action. Helping process operators not only to understand how the system helps them carry out their own tasks, but also how their work impacts on the whole organisation is key to ensuring the success of a new business solution. Once users understand their role in the business processes and understand the impact they have on the business, they are better able to perform in a way that enhances the performance of the whole organisation. They understand how their work links into the business’s strategy as well as how it helps other people do their work. It’s the lack of this contextual understanding among users that forms one of the major reasons for new systems failing to deliver on expectations. The reality is that even departmental heads and middle managers often lack insight into how their departments impact on business performance Business metrics that are silo-based need to change as companies put in place integrated systems. Older ways of measuring and rewarding managers based only on their own performance does not help to encourage cross-functional collaboration. It’s also important that business process champions with a cross-functional view of the organisation are empowered to lead business process design as well as user adoption strategies. Their job should be to ensure that the process – as it spans multiple departments – delivers the performance that the business is looking for. They create, approve and measure the process, and then help to embed it in the organisation through training and change management initiatives. Process owners need to be people with a big picture view of the organisation, a strong feel for operations, and strategic insight. They need to be good collaborators who have the language to translate between strategy and operations.A step down from that, operational managers need to be incentivised and trained to focus as much on the whole process as they do on their own tasks. Whether they’re in procurement, finance, distribution, HR, manufacturing or product marketing, they need to know how their business processes link into the organisation’s performance. Check out this video to see how process embedment training interventions work: https://youtu.be/0NLH6Rt8KcM Contact Us


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12/09/2014

There’s More to Training ROI Than Bleeding-Edge Technology Can !Do Although we are living in an digital economy with new waves of technology enveloping the business world on a daily basis – from a practical perspective the gaps presented in existing systems and processes should dictate the types of technology that business invest in. As logical as this may seem, many local businesses tend to get swept away by some of the impressive tech solutions available in the market today and use the technology to dictate their training strategies. From our experience this approach can result in underutilisation of the technology, and with the same business challenges inevitably remaining. Unfortunately most of these bleeding edge tech solutions are often not aligned with the needs of the user. Companies often love the idea of technology-driven training because it promises vast cost-savings on paper and printing, facilitation, training venues and so on. But the truth is that many users are finding the transition to technology-driven training to be very difficult. For example, many still value the opportunity to interact with a human trainer to ask questions, and find that this helps them to learn better than looking through an online FAQ. They also like to be in a setting where they can learn from their peers’ comments and questions. We believe that electronic channels are great to support the learning process, and are also perfect for certain users who value the flexibility of learning at their own time and place. However, many users find it difficult to absorb the information and skills they’re meant to learn through intangible online materials. For them, traditional classroom approaches still have a great deal of value. Today, the trainer isn’t a guru that dispenses all knowledge, but a facilitator who helps to direct learning.If users have not learnt and absorbed what they need to know from their online training, it could have a massive effect on the ROI the organisation is able to get from the systems and processes it has deployed at great costs. Contact Us


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19/05/2014

Are South African ERP Users Lagging Behind? Can !Do A critical issue that we have observed over the years has been the chasm between the skills of SA workers and the competencies that they need to use complex enterprise business applications to their full potential. Many enterprise software packages – for example, CRM and ERP suites – are designed to match the skills of predominantly university-educated workers in Europe and the US. Yet many local companies introduce these business packages to their organisations without catering for the way their employees’ skills profiles differ from the profiles of the people the software was originally designed for. How do we bridge this gap? We believe that the adoption of innovative and flexible user training and adoption programmes will most effectively address this challenge. Such solutions cannot be academic, but must equip people with a hands-on understanding of how to use the technology to do their jobs efficiently and effectively. An interesting and encouraging trend that we have picked up on, predicts that training firms and user organisations are going to adopt more dynamic approaches to training that blend classroom instruction, online learning, on the job performance support and mentoring to deliver value to their end users. All in all, with the pace of business accelerating, we can expect to see training departments become more agile and innovative in an effort to keep up. Contact Us


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19/05/2014

Unlocking Systems Efficiencies: People vs Tech Can !Do It’s so interesting to note the number of organisations who place a higher importance on the technical architecture of a system and process rather than on the people who enable both. Perhaps this is one of the key reasons why so many companies struggle to realise the return on investment they expect from their enterprise application and business process re-engineering efforts. We believe that the key element to effectively unlocking operational performance from investments into new IT systems and business processes, is by providing people with the context, insights, thinking and skills they need to make the most of the tools they have to do their jobs. This then raises the issue of context: we see workers in many local companies being solely focussed on their own tasks with little context, understanding or visibility into how their jobs link into the rest of the organisation’s chain of business processes. But once employees understand their role in the business process and the impact they have, they are able to take co-responsibility for delivering on the organisation’s strategic objectives and customer promises. Contact Us


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12/05/2014

Boosting Customer Service Through Integrated Systems Can !Do One of the most pressing and crucial issues impacting SA businesses is the gap between the sales/marketing promise and the operational delivery i.e. the customer service experience. This gulf between the front-office and back-end of the business often results in a customer journey that is inconsistent, inefficient, and often extremely frustrating for customers. The truth is that the people doing the work in the back-office lack the context to provide good customer service—they simply do not understand how their business process impacts on the customer’s experience. And yet there is a significant opportunity to improve customer service performance by aligning the back office people and processes with those staff who are positioned in the front line. A clear cut solution would be a cross-functional approach to designing business processes so that they take on an integrated approach to training workers across different business functions. A further tip is to build interactive support tools into the systems they use every day so that they can access contextual help and guidance when they need it. The content should be scenario-based and presented in an easy to digest graphical format such as infographics. Once workers have a sound, holistic understanding of how the business as a whole operates and how their role impacts the customer experience, they will be better equipped to ensure optimal customer outcomes. Contact Us


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