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Special Feature - Software Training
If your staff are undertrained and underqualified it's a productivity issue. Properly trained staff can handle a far greater workload more quickly and that impacts on the bottom line. By Graeme Kennedy.
New Horizons general manager Craig Eagle found recently that he epitomised the widespread problem of under-trained IT staff - a costly issue New Zealand business is increasingly addressing to bring boom times to the $50 million computer and software learning industry.
A few weeks ago Eagle decided to sample his company's product and booked himself in for a Miscrosoft Outlook course. An Outlook user for three years, he expected intermediate level training but instead found he was in with the beginners.
"I stayed anyway for the experience, to see what it was like to take part in one of our courses," he says, "but was very surprised to find it was exactly right for me - I learned about 20 things I didn't know.
"That told me there were a lot of others out there who should know more about the systems they are working on, increasing efficiency and productivity by knowing how to use these tools properly.
"Employers invest in the technology but undertrained people are saving neither time nor money and that goes straight to the bottom line."
Ace Computer Training general manager Tony Skelton said his company was encouraging employers to have staff certified with globally recognised qualifications such as Microsoft Office User Specialist (MOUS), International Computer Driver's License (ICDL), Certified Internet Webmaster Qualification (CIWQ) and Certified Lotus Professional (CLP).
"From an HR point of view, these are the standards today's staff should be expected to reach," Skelton says. "Unqualified staff is a productivity issue, while properly trained they can handle a far greater workload more quickly and they are happier workers.
"This does impact on the bottom line but by how much is very difficult to quantify - that's something Microsoft and IBM are trying to get their heads around."
Oracle New Zealand's national education manager Doug Berquist agrees "There...