Is It Time to Embrace Shiny New Buttons?

In life, generally, we are always seduced by the prospect of new, more exciting technology. The possibility of having technology that is bigger, better, and smarter than ever before is appealing, and with information technology (IT) being an integral part of modern-day working life, businesses are often tempted to think a new system will change workflow processes in an instant.


Within the Human Resources (HR) department and with any training professional, there has long been a series of resources to help ensure the right individuals are hired; to understand their personalities through various personality tests; and to be able to test them under pressure, as well as being able to provide new learning resources that speed up learning absorption and streamline the whole process. While this sounds great, there is often a considerable price tag attached to these new revolutionary ideas, but how quickly should organizations jump on the bandwagon of change and invest in new resources?
It is very easy to be seduced by timesaving resources, and when a new technical system is heavily marketed, it can be extremely appealing. Any system that promises to reduce manual labor is often greeted with open arms, but before any money passes hands, it is wise to understand what the company really needs before making a final decision. Realistically, there is nothing wrong with using PowerPoint^® presentations or maintaining workshop-style training sessions, so is an investment into online training methods better? Both traditional and new methods will work well and, in fact, will support each other, as there are benefits to both. A decision may be down to budgetary concerns and ascertaining with a balanced perspective as to the potential of any new system.
After researching company needs, it’s important for the decision makers to consider their own intention when it comes to switching to new resources and to deliberate what they expect the organization to gain from them. Sometimes the idea is much better than the reality, but research into any training system should be undertaken before it can be rolled out to the whole business. This is because if the system is not fully adaptable to individual usage (i.e., it doesn’t save time but it creates work), employees will simply not take to it.  Instead of creating a smooth workflow, it will only create obstacles, and employees will have to work harder and longer just to make the system work for them. This can be avoided by bringing experts from each department into the sessions before purchase so it can be viewed from a user acceptance point of view, and they can witness a demonstration and raise questions.
If it doesn’t work fully at this point, a question must be raised as to whether it can be adapted to meet needs; if not, the organization has saved a great deal of money and time.  Always remember that each resource will have wonderful benefits but may bring its own set of limitations, unless it has been custom-made for the business. Even the most heavily marketed, off-the-shelf resource may not meet some organizations’ needs. With this in mind, it’s worth noting that the “shiny new buttons” of technology do not necessarily live up to the marketing hype, in which case, older-style training methods may be far superior. But this is up to each organization to ascertain for themselves.