Leverage training to maximize User adoption

Take this quiz to assess how important training will be for User adoption for your next go live.  Hint:  If you score above 39, you'll want to carefully evaluate your training strategy.

Watch the video below to see some of the funny and not-so-funny things that can happen with users when you go live with a new system or application.

How to Avoid the Valley of Despair

Research on “go-lives” shows that:

  • 98% of users are no more than 70% competent at the time of go live
  • It takes users 2-3 months after go live to become proficient
  • 57% of users never achieve full competence; they only learn the bare minimum

Why does this matter?

When you go live you get hit with:

  • User frustration
  • Productivity drops
  • User mistakes
  • High volume support requirements and costs
  • Re-training
  • Delayed ROI from your technology investment
  • Users never making full use of the functionality of the new system

It’s time for a change!

100% Proficiency® Training is a new and proven way to do user training that guarantees you will have users who are confident and productive when you go live.  It works with all software application training, including ERP, CRM and EPIC®.  The training can be in person or online. 

After their 100% Proficiency Training in the new application your users:

  • Navigate like an expert
  • Enter and retrieve data rapidly and easily
  • Experience no loss of productivity
  • Don’t make mistakes
  • Make full use of the functionality of the new system or application

This means that you will:

  • Minimize the disruption to your business during your "go live"
  • Realize the full benefits of your new system because users will use it well
  • Realize these benefits faster
  • Recoup the cost of the new system much faster

100% Proficiency Cuts Training Time in Half

Client after client has reported 50% or better reduced training time. 

500 Users cut training time in half

Our post-implementation survey of 500 users proved that using checksheets reduces training time (from 46 to 24 hours) and increases retention. For this reason, and the fact that 98% of those trained using checksheets said that they recommend using checksheets for future training, we have decided to expand our use of checksheets to train 4,000 more users.

New Sales Reps are closing and booking deals in 50% less time

In the past the new sales reps started closing deals after 6-7 days. This time we had the new hires selling and booking orders on day 3! 100% Proficiency cut the time in ½, but I think another benefit was that my ‘Training + Go Live’ went from 2 weeks down to 1 week! Not only was 100% Proficiency easy to implement, it really ensured that when they got to each step they had a really good understanding of all the previous steps leading up to it.
— CRM Trainer

From another client who really measureD

We trained over 400 users with 100% Proficiency. We had a chance to compare it with other training methods. Prior to implementation we conducted a training pilot in 3 different facilities. Two facilities used the classroom approach and the 3rd was the 100% Proficiency pilot.

The average training time in the 2 facilities that used classroom instruction was 18 hours to get through all the material.

With 100% Proficiency self-paced Checksheets, the fastest student completed in five hours, the average was a bit over nine hours and the slowest student took only 15 hours, a full three hours shorter than the classroom method. Even the slowest students, some of whom had English as a second language, achieved 100% Proficiency and all gave rave reviews. I haven’t received a single request for re-training from this group.

During classroom instruction, some people didn’t have time to practice the concepts before having to move on with the class. This meant that the level of frustration for the inexperienced users was very high, which affected how they felt about the system. We’re going to continue implementing 100% Proficiency.

User-Preferred Training

Our client organizations have used the 100% Proficiency® training method to train tens of thousands of their employees and 97% prefer it to other methods of training.  To say they love it only begins to describe their positive reactions.

Why do users like it better?  It dramatically reduces their learning curve so that they are really confident and productive with the new system when they go live.  It makes the entire go live experience so much smoother and better for them.   And they are thrilled to know how to use all of the new features.

What Users Think About their 100% Proficiency Training

The end users overall preferred this 100% Proficiency checksheet method of learning because they felt they really could learn the new system. Comments indicated they didn’t like receiving classroom instruction for technology training because they felt they were always behind, and this method of learning allowed them to fully achieve learning on one step before proceeding to the next. Most importantly, when the new ERP system went live, it was a “non-event” for the end users; they were 100% competent in their new responsibilities and tasks and the training was considered a total success.
— Training Project Manager
Our post-implementation survey of 500 users proved that using checksheets reduces training time (from 46 to 24 hours) and increases retention. For this reason, and the fact that 98% of those trained using checksheets said that they recommend using checksheets for future training, we have decided to expand our use of checksheets to train 4,500 more users.
— Training Manager

Manager-Preferred Training

Management and project managers love 100% Proficiency® because it gives them insurance that their go live will not be negatively hampered by the proficiency gap users typically experience, the skill gap which fuels productivity losses, lost ROI and user frustration. 

It gives them the assurance going into a “go live” that they have helped their users be able to use the new system confidently and comfortably from the moment the switch on the new system is pulled.

Here are just a handful of their comments:

Our recent go live was essentially a ‘non-event.’ This outstanding accomplishment can be directly attributable to our focus on 100% Proficiency Training and for our employees to become competent prior to rollout. Both our efforts with 100% Proficiency Train the Trainer and the ultimate delivery of user training to well over 500 employees received praise from our entire organization. Quite frankly, the training program served as an initial and significant change management step, and it resulted in a very positive employee attitude toward our entire project. Before 100% Proficiency our prior system implementations were extremely difficult and required continuous support for many months by the project team. This was certainly a lesson well learned. The goal of 100% competency of each employee prior to rollout focused our trainers, coaches and supervisors. The checksheets developed for the various courses containing the many training modules was of great value and laid the foundation for the metrics which we monitored from our first training through implementation. The growing employee competency became contagious and our employees enthusiastic with the redesigned processes and systems.
— Project Manager
With this training, you cannot be disappointed.
— CIO
Our users appreciated the self-paced nature of the modules and became their own advocates for understanding. Aligning the responsibility for learning with the user is a brilliant feature of the 100% Proficiency training methodology. Our experiments with alternative instructor-led sessions fell short of the goal of imparting the required knowledge, expertise and confidence that 100% Proficiency learners exhibited. Interestingly, the instructors not using 100% proficiency did not (could not) take responsibility for the effectiveness of their method. Neither did they dare to measure their results. The prevailing attitude was, “Well, we showed them how to do it; now it’s in their hands. All of those shortcomings are addressed directly with the well-thought out system incorporated into the 100% Proficiency program. Our students were clear in their preference. And the fact that it is possible to guarantee results is truly unique to the program.
— Director, Project Management Office Team
The feedback has only gotten better. So far, 98 percent of the people who have done the training agree or strongly agree with the statement that the ‘checksheet was a good tool to help me through the course.’ Ninety-four percent agree or strongly agree that they ‘have a thorough understanding of the basics’ of the system they were trained on — and no one disagreed.
— Project Manager
Before 100% Proficiency it took forever to train people. It was taking 2-3 times as long as it should. And because the old training process didn’t result in 100% Proficiency, we had too many errors being made. Accounting complained because for the amount of money operations was spending, we weren’t producing expected results. The 100% Proficiency training process that we learned from ETS is really great! The results from this training are impressive. We’ve reduced training to less than half the time needed before. We’ve improved quality and productivity dramatically. The feedback we have been getting from the workforce is, ‘We always want to train this way – we don’t want any other way of training.’ Everyone, from senior management to supervisors, and employees, is very positive in their feedback about 100% Proficiency Training.
— Manager
This training created a sense of well-being and competency for our users.”
— Project Manager
With 100% Proficiency Training, employees had full ownership vs classroom training – accountability is so much higher.
— Senior Executive
This training has been a PR tool for our projects.
— Director, Project Management Office

Trainer-Preferred Training

Trainers love 100% Proficiency® Training because it enables them to produce trainees who are 100% Proficient on the job.  It is frustrating for Trainers when they see students left behind or not really “getting it”.  The 100% Proficiency tools give Trainers what they’ve been looking for – an efficient way to make sure every one of their trainees achieves 100% Proficiency.

Here are just a handful of their comments:

I have been a trainer for 23 out of the 26 years I have been in this industry and have had seminars and classes on training. This hands down was the best workshop, and the most valuable time spent, that I have seen in all my years as a training professional. I will add it to things I do well and change the way I train. I thoroughly enjoyed the ‘learning how to learn’ method this training uses. Using the 100% Proficiency method to learn 100% Proficiency in my own training gives immediate credibility to the method and value of this training approach. I found the process of learning to be enjoyable and effortless compared to other classes/workshops I have attended, and even written myself. I believe in keeping things simple where possible, and this way of learning is simple enough to learn quickly and apply to any type of learning. I am impressed with how relevant these concepts are for so many types of learning. ‘Checksheets’ are a fantastic way to guide learners towards learning something new, to full proficiency. These are skills that I will use for the rest of my career as an educator. This is a fantastic training, and highly recommended for anyone in training, or just wanting to learn something new.
— Training Manager
It’s a joy to train with this training system!
— Training Manager
This 100% Proficiency training project was perceived by the business managers and the participants as the most successful Information Systems training program they had ever experienced. As a result, there is now a requirement that all new systems and processes must be introduced using the 100% Proficiency method of training.
— Worldwide Training Manager
This training approach will be especially helpful for new trainees. The training material I developed can’t help but produce 100% Proficiency. The quality of training materials used to train us was excellent. The ETS Trainers knew the material very well.
— Trainer
This training was stimulating to my own creativity. The training – coupled with my trainer’s masterful facilitation – made for an immensely memorable and productive experience. The work learning how to design ‘100% Proficiency Checksheets’ made it much easier for me to unravel the skills I’ve developed and mastered and put them into a form from which others can learn. I look forward to continued work applying what I’ve learned about 100% Proficiency to teaching troubleshooting – an important body of work which promises to transform the way people provide technical support.
— Instructional Designer and Trainer
It just seems like the right way to do training. Everything about it seems right. I can’t see doing training any other way now. You always get a 100% result with this. I know how to construct a 100% Proficiency Checksheet. I won’t leave any student behind now.
— Instructional Designer and Trainer
With 100% Proficiency I am completely confident I can teach anything to anyone.
— Training Manager