Save the Children

Save the Children is a non-governmental organisation established in the UK in 1919 to improve the lives of children. When the central body Save the Children International was set up to coordinate the delivery of projects across its ever-growing national membership it also faced the major challenge of rolling out Unit4 ERP to 55 countries and training more than 1000 people on how to use it. Save the Children knew that they would need a tailored, flexible training program with role-based courses that took into consideration the different cultures, languages, and specific financial and tax regulations of the numerous countries.

With limited internal training resources available, Save the Children looked to form a partnership with Onboard ERP to design and create their training packs and supporting materials based on the advice of Richard Blundell, global IT program director: “Onboard ERP has already demonstrated their expertise to deliver a project of this scale for the Department for International Development.”

Two Onboard ERP consultants got to work on a detailed needs analysis as the user acceptance testing (UAT) was fast approaching. 13 different role-based courses were designed and all the associated training materials for Save the Children were created in the short space of eight weeks.

The original brief was that Onboard ERP consultants would train Save the Children super users to deliver the courses to the end-users. However, with go live fast approaching in the first six countries – the UK, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Iraq, Bangladesh and Nepal, and a lack of internal training resources, Onboard ERP consultants took on the initial delivery.

Onboard ERP then helped Save the Children to recruit four internal trainers to take over the training program. Over the following six month, during especially busy periods Onboard ERP consultants returned to help deliver training in Kenya and Ethiopia.

Spanning a two-year period Onboard ERP’s consultants continued to support the Unit4 ERP roll out by tailoring training materials and modifying courses to fit the requirements of the 55 countries and the change request system improvements. The suite of eLearning courses scripted and built by Onboard ERP was an additional training offering for Save the Children staff working in remote areas who were unable to travel into the country’s main office.

Save the Children wanted floor walking support in each country during the first month after go-live to support users with their new processes and to instil the required best practices. To ensure this target was met, Onboard ERP developed and trained a post-go-live floor walking support program which was then trained out to selected internal members of staff identified for their relevant business knowledge. It made sense that Onboard ERP consultants carried out the floor walking in the locations where they had delivered the training.

Blundell commented: “Floor walking requires a more in-depth business knowledge than systems training. Our users were looking for the most efficient way of using the new system to complete their day-to-day tasks. Onboard ERP consultants were adept at picking up the extra layer of understanding our users were looking for or going away and finding it out.”

Onboard ERP provided the original copies of the entire suite of training materials to Save the Children International under a global licence agreement. This means that materials can be shared with all members of the group at no extra cost. Blundell confirmed: “The clean format of the training materials makes them easy to update. We are now using them regularly as part of our ‘business as usual’ training program.

There are always going to be a wide range of cultural differences that need to be considered when devising and tailoring a training program that spans 55 countries but the feedback from Save the Children’s local teams was really encouraging and very positive. Onboard ERP’s previous experience of multinational training projects was a key factor for Save the Children during the selection process as they knew they needed someone who understood the importance of adapting to different audiences and environments.

Blundell remarked: “The Onboard ERP consultants showed a tangible commitment to the success of the project, always going the extra mile to make sure our country office staff were professionally trained and felt supported.” Save the Children went live with GL, AP, Bank Reconciliation and Planner Unit4 ERP modules first with plans to adopt the P2P, Assets and Expenses modules in 2014. Onboard ERP also produce training reference guide and eLearning modules as part of a new SharePoint-hosted HR system roll out.

“The Onboard ERP team were adaptable, versatile and very responsive which made them a pleasure to work with,” Blundell stated. “They communicated in an open and honest way and had the foresight to provide us with long term training solution.”