The Value of Rewarding and Supporting Your Subject Matter Experts

Some time ago we talked about the value of a champion as it relates to successful Microsoft Dynamics GP implementations. But a healthy Dynamics GP environment requires more than just a champion. It needs subject matter experts who lead by example and blaze a trail of excellence that the rest of the users can follow. 

Subject Matter Experts, or SMEs, are employees who understand some critical part of how a company functions and how to translate that function into the best use of GP for their area. For example, an Accounts Payable department might have a number of people, but when a transaction goes awry, there is usually someone in the department who steps in to fix the transaction in GP without having to go to support. That's the SME.

An SME is a linchpin who provides a variety of intangible benefits that management often does not fully appreciate. SMEs reduce support calls. They identify and promote best practices and they teach them to other users in informal one-on-one sessions. They speed processing and help prevent future mistakes.

Support calls are expensive. It doesn't matter if we're talking about internal support staff, partner support or Microsoft support.  All of these support options can cost some serious dough. Training can be expensive too, especially one-on-one training. It's not just the cost of training that is expensive but the hidden costs like down time and limited retention of skills.  If you are a manager and you are not seeing these costs on your balance sheet, then most likely your SMEs are bearing that burden for you.

SMEs also make managers look good. They've got a natural ...