Employee Training: Learning Management Systems

Your employees perform their best when confident and knowledgeable about company procedures, protocols and expectations. A learning management system (LMS) is a streamlined, effective way of training your employees and giving them their best chance of success within your company. Approximately eighty-three percent of businesses utilize a LMS in 2021. The expanding LMS global market is also anticipated to achieve a value of over twenty-three billion dollars as soon as 2023. Read ahead for an informative guide on learning management systems for employee training and elevate the productivity output of your business today.

Learning Management Systems 101

A learning management system (LMS) is a software program designed to train your company employees from a streamlined, centralized location. Learning experience platform (LXP), learning activity management system and training management system are other names used to refer to LMS programs. A good LMS is simple for your employees to use even though the program’s inner-workings are comprehensive and complex. Your LMS is the frame upon which all aspects of your employee training programs are built, stored, implemented and tracked.

A good LMS is capable of improving individual and overall employee output and productivity, which in turn boosts the overall output and productivity of your entire business. Research conducted by the Association for Talent Development (ATD) shows nearly seventy-five percent of interviewed companies are increasing their usage of LMSs due to LMS efficacy and positive results. Training modules are available for learning company policies, company product lines, improving skills or learning new ones. Learning modules are also created in smaller segments, which are shareable among employees and their peers. Some LMS programs also provide mobile apps so training is not limited to one cubicle, room or session location.  

Understanding the Benefits of Employee Learning Management Systems

A confident employee is a happy and productive employee. What makes an employee feel the most confident at work? Feelings of respect, positive staff interactions, visible appreciation of efforts and a positive (and safe) physical environment all play important roles in building employee confidence. The number one element known to improve employee confidence is adequate training, however.

Employee Training

Employees want to feel good about the work they do. They want to go to work and leave it each day knowing they gave their best efforts and were provided the best tools with which to do so. Employee training is key to making this happen and your LMS is designed to facilitate this type of experience. While all employees essentially want the same things when it comes to confidence in training and abilities, they do not all absorb and process information the same way or at the same speed. A flexible or customizable LMS allows for both instructor-based and self-guided training methods. This not only provides training information in various formats to help improve material retention, but also keeps training interesting for people while learning. Flexibility, which allows an employee to take some aspects of training at his or her own pace, reduces some of the pressures associated with training-based advancement. This in turn makes training a more enjoyable experience.

Employees also like to be challenged. Using LMS programs to teach your employees about new company policies, product releases, system upgrades and industry-wide compliance requirements eliminates feelings of stagnation and presents the potential for continued growth and advancement. Training is also targeted and purpose-driven for specific tasks, jobs, branch locations and departments. Employees know their time will not be wasted when undertaking purpose-driven training. Finally, your LMS allows you to take employee training suggestions into consideration due to program flexibility and customization. This increases your employees’ perceived self-worth and tangible value to your company, which improves your business’ bottom line.

Employee and Company Growth

When your employees grow in knowledge, skills and confidence your business also grows. Your LMS helps more than collective growth from inside your business, however. News and information spreads fast and wide within industries. Positive news about your company initiated by your employees quickly finds its way to public job boards and review sites. This means increased and improved candidate prospects will fill out applications to work in the positive environment you and your LSM helped create.

Employee Retention

Parallel to employee and company growth is employee retention. Confident, happy employees experience longer tenures under your employ. Some employees might grow into expanded positions only available with other companies but will leave behind them only positive reviews and assessments for new candidates to consider. Other employees will grow into district, regional or national managers and even CEOs. Much of this is possible due to your effective LMS program, which gave your employees the confidence, skills and abilities to advance.

Cost-Efficiency

Using LMS programs reduce training times by approximately fifty percent and save you approximately forty-nine percent in training-related expenses. Using LMS programs eliminate the need to send employees to expensive conferences. Time spent not traveling is means more time spent working, which conserves resources and increases profits. Physical overhead costs are also reduced by using LMS programs, such as expenses for equipment and paid trainers. Traveling employees also pose financial and compliance-based risks. Using an LMS program eliminates these risks and uncomplicates the training process, which in turn reduces employee turnover and financial losses caused by potential lawsuits.

Learning Management Systems - Why Employees Love Them

Employees love LMS programs because they increase their chances at advancement. LMS programs also give employees the confidence they need to do their jobs well and feel deserving of recognition. Some employees who are perfectly matched for your company might not speak out about certain things they do not understand, especially when newly hired. LMS programs answer unasked questions and bring out the best in employees who might otherwise have gone overlooked.

Top-Rated LMS Programs Available to Businesses Today

You need your employees to feel confident and be well-trained. Therefore, you need your LMS program to be as effective as possible. You also need your LMS software to be affordable and make sense for your company budget. Some of the top-rated LMS programs for businesses today (and prices when available) include:

• Academy of Mine ($599/mo; $899/mo; custom pricing; free trials).
• Zoho ($1-$9 per user per month; custom pricing; free plans and add-ons also available).
• Cornerstone (free demos; pricing by quote only).
• Docebo (top-10 product globally; pricing by quote only; free trial).
• Absorb (pricing by quote only; free trial).
• 360 Learning (pricing by quote only; free trial).
• SAP Litmos (pricing by quote only; free trial).