There was recognition though that these staff didn’t have the skills to develop and deliver a structured, professional, role-based training programme and materials. They needed the support of a specialist training consultant with specific knowledge of Dynamics 365 ERP. So the firm approached Optimum to take on the role of lead trainer, with a consultant integrating into the internal team for four months. The approach was very much a joint partnership, working as one team and sharing skills and knowledge.
Amanda Fishburn, Dr. Martens head of change, communication and learning, said: ”They provided the expertise to capture all the training needs, help put the plans and strategy in place but ultimately it was all around a really good culture fit.”
The objective was to produce a best practice, job-specific user training programme with relevant, well targeted lessons and consistent supporting documentation. The Optimum consultant’s role was fourfold: to mentor the internal trainers; guide and advise them on the course and materials content; review and quality assess their documents; then train them to deliver in the classroom.
Optimum‘s first step was to complete its RapidScope® process, which mapped out the training courses and materials that the Dr. Martens workstream leads needed to develop. The team produced a range of documents, from quick cards for key, short processes, including in stores at the tills, through to detailed reference guides for more complex back office processes.
Fishburn noted: “We had excellent feedback from the materials that we supplied using frameworks and templates that Optimum supported us with.”
The Optimum consultant tailored the skill the trainer sessions according to the different needs of the people they were working with. The workstream leads from finance, planning and procurement knew the system’s functionality but needed guidance on how to deliver the training effectively. The retail teams were first given support in the best way to learn the new processes and then to share their knowledge.
Becky Hibbert, Dr. Martens training communications coordinator, said: “Our trainers all attended the train the trainer sessions with different levels of confidence at the start but they all left feeling much much better, with lots of tips on how to conduct their own training sessions.”
The end result of the collaboration is that Dr. Martens has built a very strong internal training capability, with lessons and materials that are being used both for new joiners to the company and as they roll out Dynamics 365 to new territories.
Dr. Martens was Optimum’s 600th business systems client and Fishburn acknowledged: “This was an incredibly well executed piece of work that put us in great shape to deliver a really successful training programme.”
Rob Green, Dr. Martens project manager for Project Reboot summarised: “I would absolutely recommend Optimum as a training partner. They have fully trained professionals, they do go the extra mile and there’s no doubt with them on board, you will deliver a successful project.”
