A warehouse management system (WMS) can save you significant time and money, improving your margins and growing your bottom line, but only if you have people who are trained to use it effectively and efficiently.
Staff members respond well to a variety of incentives, from bonuses and extra vacation time to compliments and pizza. We’re big proponents of applying incentives to business practices that are proven to improve your efficiency and profitability, which is exactly what a WMS can do. Here are four of the biggest reasons why you should consider incentivizing your WMS staff training.
You Get Time to Make Your Case
One of the biggest benefits of creating an incentive for user training in your WMS is that it can significantly increase your ROI because it makes people more likely to use the system. Incentives for training can help you get past the old guard that resists changes or implementing new systems because they feel they know better or are used to the way “it’s always been done.” You’re more likely to get these holdouts to participate in user training when there are incentives, giving you ample opportunity to show them how your new WMS can make their jobs easier and less stressful, plus how those efficiency improvements may intertwine with larger incentives you already offer. Maximizing the buy-in of this group will require you to execute a thorough WMS selection process that matches your final choice with goals, savings, and features these employees respond to best, as Explore WMS notes.Future Expansion Gets Easier
Adding an incentive program to your WMS user training gives you the best chance of having users who know the system beyond the interactions and functions they’ll use each day. A strong knowledge base is your best chance to be able to expand your WMS to new locations, products, or lines of business. You might also be able to use the data and reports your WMS generates to further other business processes when your team has a deeper understanding of what the WMS does. For example, pretend that you have a proprietary or siloed purchase order system. Your warehouse management tools can’t take over and generate purchase orders for you. However, you might be able to create a recurring, automatic report with WMS data that shows when you need to make purchase orders. Your system might be able to alert you when inventory thresholds aren’t met, triggering you to go into your PO system. Or, you might be able to export WMS data into a spreadsheet or common format that your PO system can upload, removing steps in the ordering process and making it easier for you to run your business more efficiently — plus cut out manual tasks that could generate costly errors.
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