Learning Management Software

What is a Learning Management System?

A Learning Management System (LMS) is a workplace software application used to plan, implement, and evaluate specific learning and training processes amongst employees at a company.

As a facilitator for e-learning, an LMS provides companies (particularly HR teams) with a simplified way to:

• Deliver educational content (pre-made or internally-created)
• Monitor course participation (individually, by team, and company-wide)
• Assess employee performance (individually, by team, and company-wide)
• Ensure proper compliance (local, state, and federal, or simply internal)

A Learning Management System typically features interactive features to aid employee participation and engagement, including how-to videos, follow-up quizzes, important documents, and discussion boards.

A Learning Management System can be utilized across a wide spectrum of HR processes, such as:

• New hire onboarding
• New skill training
• Employee development
• Manager/leadership development
• Skills cross-training
• Employee retention 

Businesses of all sizes and across countless industries utilize an LMS in the workplace. When used effectively, a Learning Management System can improve training and educational processes, while also saving organizations time and money. 

An LMS enables administrators and managers to effectively oversee the entire learning and/or training process online from the cloud. This includes user registration and access, content creation and development, internal communication, tests and quizzes, completion certifications, and various alerts and notifications.

Ideally, for maximum HR efficiency, an LMS would seamlessly integrate with other HR technologies, including things like payroll, time and attendance tracking, and performance management software. 

What are the Benefits of a Learning Management System?

Whatever the scope of your current training program, a Learning Management System can both supplement and expand your training capabilities. Every company must understand the importance of qualified and motivated employees—and training is one of the most practical ways to develop your current workforce. 

Whether getting new hires up-to-speed, developing employees’ skill sets, or updating company-wide compliance, the right Learning Management System can make the process easier, consistent, and more efficient. 

With the right LMS, your company can better develop the skills of current employees and improve ROI for staff training. Here are just a few of the things a Learning Management System can help you accomplish.

Access to digital training resources

Whether your company creates its own training material or relies upon a library of existing content, your employees should have easy access to all your educational content at any time and from anywhere.

Standardized training content 

An LMS promotes standardized training materials across an entire organization, ensuring that all employees receive the same information at the appropriate time.

Reduced costs and improved ROI

In-person training for large groups is a major huge obstacle for daily productivity and often unnecessarily. With a Learning Management System, preparation time is minimal, the material is consistent, and individual employees can complete material at their own pace. With employees working and learning independently at different times, the disruption to daily workflow is minimized.

Ensuring training compliance

Verifying that each employee has completed the training can be a tedious process for HR, requiring attendance records and follow-up emails. A Learning Management System provides a centralized record of training sessions completed by each employee to ensure compliance throughout your company.

Closing the skill gap

Regardless of when during the employee lifecycle it is needed, all employees will benefit from continued education initiatives to close the skill gap. A Learning Management System provides opportunities to train individual employees on professional skills and industry best practices, all without taking significant time away from your company’s daily routine.

Developing your workforce

With a variety of training modules, you can help employees expand their skill sets. You can also help with cross-training to improve collaboration and communication between departments. For supervisors and individuals with leadership potential, a Learning Management System allows the company to develop and explore that potential.

Easy scheduling and presentation

With a Learning Management System, companies can bring everyone together without travel expenses or accommodations. This includes remote employees, staff from multiple locations, and guest speakers from across the country.

From a single sign-on platform, LMS services allow for: 

• Easy scheduling
• Document exchange
• Virtual conferencing
• Pre-recorded material 
• Live discussion

Collect reporting data automatically

An LMS gives clear and objective data about participation, performance, and comprehension. Key Performance Indicators from training sessions like “assignment completion” are useful as objective metrics for employee performance reviews. 

Promote an environment of continuous learning

Continuous learning is a fundamental shift to empower employees in adding new job skills and competencies. By encouraging individuals to expand and improve their professional skills, companies can cultivate not only better employees, but happier ones.

How does a Learning Management System promote continuous learning?

• At its most basic level, an LMS allows you to consolidate and organize all the training materials used across the company. 
• Ensure educational and training content is not only available to all employees at the right time, but that it is up-to-date and consistent ensuring compliance. 
• Additionally, employees can access them online from wherever and whenever—a major plus in the growing remote work world.

Using a Learning Management System: How to Develop an Effective Employee Training Program

A well-developed employee training program creates huge opportunities for your company, closing skill gaps and motivating workers. Ongoing training can be a reward in itself, preparing future mentors and leaders.

Additional training is also necessary as roles continue to change with new technology. Continual employee training helps your workers keep up to date on changes in your industry.

A Learning Management System makes it easier to:

• Adapt training and learning programs to meet individual needs
• Mix and match company-wide courses with department specific material
• Assign and track completion of specific tasks
• Increase productivity and adherence to quality standards
• Eliminate weaknesses before they become big problems
• Improve employee satisfaction, performance, and retention
• Stay innovative and competitive
• Address gaps within the organization
• Create a strong employer value proposition

How Create an Effective Employee Training Program Using LMS

Step 1: Assess current training

How effective is your current training system? Identify goals and learning objectives. If you don’t have much data, you can assemble a panel of trusted workers and managers for qualitative feedback. Long term staff will know at least a few topics that deserve more emphasis in orientation.

Step 2: Develop a targeted training and development plan

Each department and role will need access to different training materials. Are you ready to respond to the skill gaps of new hires? Make sure that workers with seniority can continue growing professionally, whether they pursue leadership skills or cross training.

Step 3: Create engaging materials and courses

A Learning Management System makes whole collections of courses accessible. Your LMS may come with pre-made training sessions on essential topics like harassment and software tutorials. 

You may need to make and add your own training materials on unique company policies and procedures, but try to keep them engaging. A mix of pre-made and custom training courses can be planned for new hires in different roles.

Step 4: Incorporate mentorship and coaching

Employees have different learning styles, and many will benefit from conversations in a mentorship setting. During onboarding, the first days or weeks may include ride-alongs or side-by-side mentorship, but that connection can continue for months afterwards.

Even when working independently, new workers appreciate having a designated mentor to answer questions that arise later. Senior employees also benefit from the opportunity to develop and prove their leadership skills as mentors and coaches.

Step 5: Collect the right data

It’s getting easier to collect and store data, but it takes planning to focus on useful information. A quality LMS can track course completion and quiz scores, reflecting employee participation and comprehension. 

When you want a training program to reduce the number of harassment incidents or missed punches, quantitative metrics make it easier to measure the impact of training. Long term trends need to be compared over the course of multiple years.

Step 6: Evaluate training programs regularly

Training materials from the past can quickly feel dated, especially with changing social norms around gender and inclusion. New equipment and software changes often mean updating training materials. Whenever it’s time to update your employee handbook, review the related training courses as well.

Improving Virtual Training Engagement, Completion Rates, & Success of a Learning Management System

Online training provides great opportunities for employees, but how do you get workers to complete their training? Discover how to make the most of virtual training by addressing the most common problems with the help of a Learning Management System.

What stops employees from completing training?

• REASON #1: Too difficult
• REASON #2: Not enough time
• REASON #3: Lack of motivation
• REASON #4: No support from HR/management
• REASON #5: Poor design
• REASON #6: Forgot about it

Tips to improve virtual training completion rates

Provide purpose of training

Don’t be coy about explaining the motivations behind different training topics. Look for teachable moments, connecting the training material to current and upcoming challenges for employees.  

Set, measure, and track training goals for individual workers by aligning your employee development plans with available training courses. 

Set realistic due dates

Employees need a reasonable window of time to complete training courses. The key is finding a proper balance in time consideration for workers.

• An excessively short deadline asks workers to prioritize training over important tasks
• Set deadlines too far in the future and trainees might forget material along the way

Keep training short and focused

Virtual training material should be delivered in bite-sized servings, not full meals. Package information into smaller portions that are easily digested and applied, then build on that foundation with additional training. 

Utilize easy-to-use training features

You can’t expect full comprehension from just reading and watching videos. Use technology to make courses more accessible and engaging. Both in-person and online training programs are better interactive. Use short quizzes to test knowledge of the course material before and after each session. 

Communicate clearly and regularly

Make sure learners understand the purpose of training courses. Get feedback from trainees during and after virtual training. Make sure that workers feel heard, improving and streamlining courses with their feedback. Use your LMS to foster a culture of continuous learning at your company. 

Reward those who complete training

A little positive reinforcement goes a long way. Recognize workers who complete training, and maybe try promoting a little friendly competition between teams. 

Regularly update material

Training courses need to be updated to reflect evolving policies and procedures. Collect feedback with post-training questionnaires and routine employee engagement surveys. Whenever you update a section of the employee handbook, be sure to check any related training materials for outdated information.

Ensure mobile functionality

A Learning Management System should always provide remote access to courses. If workers choose to complete training on weekends or after hours, a mobile app makes it easier. Plus, remote workers may not always have access to their computers.

Using a Learning Management System to Improve the Employee Onboarding Experience 

A Learning Management System gives your employees (new and old alike) access to all the introductory and training material they need in one user-friendly portal. It’s particularly useful for onboarding new hires.

Here are just a few of the ways to use an LMS with new employees:

Overview organization and amenities

A presentation in a Learning Management System is a great alternative to verbally explaining all the information new hires need from the start. It’s easy to forget key details during meetings and office tours, but an online presentation makes sure nothing is forgotten. Even in a remote working environment, company policies and expectations can be easily explained.

Introduce the company culture

From casual Fridays to seasonal cookouts, newcomers want to know what to expect at the office. Include practical information, such as a brief history of the company and organizational hierarchy.  

Beyond generic mottos, what are the values and priorities that define your company culture? A detailed introduction will help new employees integrate themselves with the rest of the staff, reducing the opportunities for misunderstandings and false assumptions.

Explain benefits, PTO, and other policies

Every employee needs to be informed about employee benefits and other company policies. It’s a lot of information to cover, but highly important. An LMS allows you to:

• Efficiently and clearly convey all that information
• Compare the advantages of different benefit options
• Explain how PTO is accrued and how employees should request to off

Unlike in-person sessions, online material won’t require the constant presence of a manager or HR representative. If questions arise, a shorter follow-up meeting or email can address those individual concerns.

Replace in-person meetings with self-guided lessons

Traditional in-person training has plenty of downsides, including time and bandwidth constraints. Take the presentations you traditionally gave in-person to new hires, and convert them to videos and self-explanatory slideshows. Without the time-consuming meetings, you’ll decrease the burden on management, HR, and new employees. It’s a win—win—win scenario.

When using a Learning Management System, employees log in to watch videos and click-through slideshows independently while working at their own pace. More experienced employees can move quickly through familiar information.

Answer frequently asked questions

With a quality Learning Management System, it’s easy to create your own custom sessions, tailored to the specific needs of your company. When you’re designing your process, any Frequently Asked Questions can be included in your updated training. You may also need a separate “Miscellaneous” module for material that doesn’t naturally fit elsewhere.

Encourage high achievement

Kickstart a performance-based work culture by setting the right tone in early training. First impressions have a lasting impact, and enthusiasm can be contagious. Why not get new employees excited about joining an efficient and motivated team?

Set standards and monitor progress

A quality LMS will include built-in reporting software. Set a course for each trainee, including company-wide and department-specific material. As participants complete each training module and occasional quizzes, be sure to check in and offer encouragement. 

The Value of a Learning Management System in Remote and Hybrid Work

Access to premium training is an employee perk that also benefits the business. An LMS provides value to everyone at your company, including remote workers. Workers appreciate diversity, freedom, and flexibility, while management appreciates the built-in management and reporting.

A Learning Management System is a great tool for managing and motivating a remote workforce. Discover what an LMS can do to help your business grow with remote workers and beyond.

Easy remote onboarding

Onboarding is often a challenge, especially for remote workers. As businesses adapt to the shifting workplace, remote onboarding has become the safer and more efficient option. Save time and ensure consistency by uploading orientation videos and presentations to a LMS that is fully-integrated with your HCM.

Consistency and availability of content

It’s easy to overlook the inconsistencies of traditional in-person training. When every trainee receives the exact same online training, the results are far more reliable. Additionally, a quality Learning Management System includes ready-made material that can provide the backbone to or supplement your company’s own training material. 

Between the home office, parenting duties, and other distractions, remote employees typically work odd hours. Online training needs to be accessible around the clock. While some employees who work from home might keep normal business hours, the goal should be providing as much time and flexibility as possible. When learning new or complex skills, trainees may choose to watch or repeat lessons. 

Custom curriculum for remote roles

Your training should be adapted for specific roles, including remote work. Some info will only be relevant for on-site staff, while other policies will only apply when employees work from home.

With an extensive online training catalog, you can select and schedule courses for each position and employee. Instead of a one-size-fits-all series, your custom regimen will keep employees engaged with useful and relevant information.

Clear reporting and tracking

If employees are sitting through training sessions without learning anything, then something needs to change. Without reporting data, it’s difficult to track the effectiveness of any training program. 

Fortunately, most top-tier Learning Management Systems automatically include reporting data. Here are just a few things you can do with that kid of reporting:

• Track which departments and employees have completed new lessons
• Add quizzes to ensure participants comprehend and absorb the training
• Encourage individual competition for completion percentages and high scores

Close skill gaps

Each new hire brings a different set of skills and experiences. Make sure that everyone is fully trained on the essentials—company policy, workplace safety, compliance. Help employees improve on their weaker subjects and skills. The challenge is making sure that training content is useful and applicable. Those who meet or exceed expectations can be encouraged to pursue further training at their own discretion.

Achieve HR Goals with a Learning Management System

Retention

Upskilling includes employee advancement, continuing education, and skills training factor into employee retention. Upskilling is additional training and development opportunities beyond what’s necessary for a worker’s current role. 

While cross-training employees in different skills gives you a more flexible workforce, self-motivated employees want a pathway to become more qualified for future openings at your company. Upskilling allows you to develop and motivate workers while empowering them to improve themselves, as well as the company.

Reasons to invest in retention through training and upskilling

1. Cost: Recruiting is expensive and time consuming. Promoted employees need significantly less time, training, and paperwork.
2. Loyalty: Employees who work their way up feel more invested in the continued success of your company. Employees are grateful to your company for the opportunity to grow professionally.

3. Familiarity: It’s hard to guess who will mesh with coworkers and not disappear after a few months. Long term employees have a track record with your company, so it’s easier to manage issues.

4. Confidence: Tenured workers have confidence that comes from a better understanding of your company’s processes and workforce.

5. Motivation: Employees who actively move up the ladder have incentives to keep performing at a high level. Internal promotions motivate the entire workforce by rewarding hard work and persistence.

Diversity and Inclusion

Training on diversity and inclusion offers measurable benefits for the company. Utilizing your Learning Management System to infuse diversity and inclusion into your company’s training ensures the process is streamlined, structured, and universal. 

Here are six ways a Learning Management System  can improve your diversity and inclusion efforts: 

• Identify current strengths and goals
• Create an environment of learning and understanding 
• Develop and adopt company-wide diversity training initiatives 
• Ensure minority employees have clear paths to promotions 
• Make sure training material is inclusive 
• Train the entire company for success 

Agile Workforce

Cross-training allows employees to expand their knowledge and abilities while making your company stronger.  

Instead of training in only the skills an employee uses daily, cross-training encourages staff to: 

• Learn about tasks that are performed by colleagues 
• Develop a better understanding of roles and processes 
• Improve collaboration across departments 
• Increase communication among employees 
• Create redundancies and reduce skill gaps

Cross-training employees offers numerous benefits to both the individual and the company, including: 

• Return on investment: Cross-training is the best way to maximize your return on investment for both employees and a Learning Management System. It can minimize the expenses of regular training and onboarding new employees.
• Improved teamwork: As the teams work together and better understand each other’s jobs, it’s easier to communicate and reach mutual understandings. With a better grasp of each part of the process and potential bottlenecks, everyone is better prepared for working toward a common goal.
• Efficient processes: Cross-trained employees have a better understanding of overall processes, without needing frequent check-ins or updates. Additionally, it’s easier for employees to cover for each other and stretch capacity in tight situations.  
• Motivation and morale: Cross-training is a positive way to illustrate and remind staff that no individual is more important than the team. Versatility and willingness to learn should be more highly valued. 
• Improved agility and resilience: With cross-training, your employees are better able to cover and adapt to major changes. Every task and process can still be performed, even when circumstances prevent normal routines.