SAP Training: How to Achieve Sustainable Learning in the SAP Environment

SAP trainings are a key element if companies want employees to work confidently with new processes, SAP Fiori apps, or S/4HANA after a project. How does sustainable knowledge transfer succeed? Eight-hour presentations without practical relevance are indeed common, but not very effective. Companies should choose training programs that convey knowledge in a brain-friendly way and take technological changes into account.

The training needs in the SAP environment are changing

With SAP S/4HANA, not only interfaces change, but also ways of working. Many processes today run completely differently than in classic SAP GUI environments. In the past, SAP training taught employees new click sequences or individual transactions. Today, the training needs are different.

Employees must understand what role they have in the process, how processes are interconnected, what impact their work has on other areas, and how workflows can be managed efficiently. You need to develop a comprehensive understanding of the process and move confidently within the system on this basis. Conveying this know-how is demanding and only succeeds with modern didactic training concepts.

This is what characterizes brain-friendly knowledge transfer

Long theory sessions and seminars that extend over several days have proven to be little effective. Participants fail to transfer what they have learned into their own work routine and forget a large part of the content after a short time.

Modern SAP training is based on current findings in learning psychology. They convey context-based knowledge and build sustainable application competence because they take five basic principles of effective learning into account.

Learning in the SAP system strengthens application security

Recent research shows that training IT systems is most effective when it takes place in the system close to practical reality. However, learners should not have to constantly switch between presentations and application. Otherwise, the mental burden increases unnecessarily and new knowledge is absorbed less effectively.

Short learning phases instead of hours of frontal training

Our brain processes complex content best in small, intense units with regular repetitions. The traditional full-day seminars are therefore anything but ideal. However, companies often request them out of habit, and concepts with short units receive lower ratings, even though they deliver better learning outcomes.

Small learning groups promote active learning

In large groups, many participants remain passive. Questions are asked less frequently, and individual problems are overlooked. Small learning groups of up to five people, on the other hand, promote exchange and active participation of all involved. Especially with complex SAP processes, this significantly improves learning success.

Exercises and reflection are more important than listening

Sustainable learning requires an active cognitive engagement with the learning content. Modern SAP training therefore deliberately creates space for exercises, discussions, and error analyses. They integrate self-learning phases and reflection questions so that learners can recognize their own progress. These aspects are usually lacking in traditional training concepts or pure test script trainings.

People do not retain new content in the long term after a single impression

Only after multiple repetitions are information anchored in long-term memory. In addition, sleep plays a central role in learning. Modern SAP trainings are therefore often structured as learning sequences, with short units spread over several weeks.

Hybrid Learning: The Most Effective Form of Knowledge Transfer

Modern SAP trainings are ideally organized in a hybrid manner. By combining digital self-learning phases with personal knowledge transfer, online with offline phases, the principles of brain-friendly learning can be implemented best.

Example procedure of an SAP training

1. An effective learning journey begins with a two-hour in-person seminar. The group consists of a maximum of five learners, who navigate through the system under guidance and can ask questions directly.
2. Afterwards, the e-learnings developed for the seminar will be made available, so that the participants can independently deepen, review, and apply what they have learned in simulations.
3. Learners can check their progress through online quizzes themselves and ask questions in online Q&A sessions that take place one to two weeks after the in-person session.
4. Group exercises until the next in-person session also promote exchange, deeper processing of the new content, and facilitate practical transfer.

Self-directed learning vs. personal knowledge transfer

E-learning platforms create temporal flexibility: users can integrate further training into their schedules despite many professional and private commitments and learn at their own pace. Purely self-directed knowledge transfer is nevertheless not recommended. Because people learn better from people. Studies show that the personal relationship with the trainer plays an important role in learning success.

Assuming professional qualification and didactic competence, an experienced trainer provides orientation and security in a way that a purely digital self-learning tool cannot. Employees also experience it as appreciation when their employer finances live trainings. The human factor is effective not only in-person, but also in live online trainings. As a flexible and cost-efficient complement to in-person sessions, they are therefore a fixed component of many hybrid concepts.

Which tools support SAP training?

It makes sense for companies to build their own learning platforms to structure the professional development of employees and to use Digital Adoption Platforms to integrate learning directly into the SAP system. Three solutions are interesting:

SAP SuccessFactors

The platform is the flagship product with which companies can centrally organize learning paths for different user groups and provide specific training. Especially in extensive SAP transformations, this allows keeping track of the qualification of employees.

Userlane

Mit Userlane lassen sich interaktive In-App-Anleitungen direkt in SAP-Systeme implementieren. Mitarbeitende können so neue Abläufe schnell und sicher erlernen, ohne große Trainingshürden. Für die Einführung einfacher Prozesse und Fiori-Oberflächen reicht diese Unterstützung häufig aus.

SAP WalkMe

The platform is particularly suitable for more complex processes and larger SAP landscapes. It guides employees step by step through processes within SAP. In addition, it analyzes how users work with SAP applications and can suggest learning content based on this. The platform can significantly reduce support and training efforts. However, companies must ensure that it is used in compliance with data protection regulations and that transparency towards employees is maintained.

SAP Enable Now

The solution was used for a long time to create digital training materials. However, SAP is increasingly integrating the SAP authoring tool into WalkMe, which is to be modernized into a AI-first learning solution. Existing content from SAP Enable Now can continue to be used and transferred to the new platform.

SAP training is crucial for successful transformation initiatives

In view of the S/4HANA and AI transformation, the training needs of companies have not only increased significantly, but the content requirements have also changed considerably. Modern training conveys a comprehensive understanding of processes and confidence in action far beyond individual click paths.

In order for knowledge transfer to also reach everyday work life, companies should not only select training providers based on content but also check in advance whether they follow proven learning methods. Sustainable SAP training focuses on short learning phases, practical exercises directly in the system, repetitions, and a close combination of personal knowledge transfer and digital learning formats.

For SAP transformations to succeed, it is not enough to introduce new software. Training is needed so that employees understand the new processes and actively support the changes.