Debating incorporating LMS technology in your company's training process? Understanding how it will benefit your organization is the best place to begin.
Learning management systems have a reputation for simplifying training processes and bringing in long-term benefits to the company. One reason cited for delaying or not implementing a LMS is the cost of the technology. But an effective LMS is integral to having well trained employees, happy customers and stakeholders, and it saves organizations time and money.
A well-designed learning management system has seven huge benefits.
1. Save Time and Money
A great benefit of e-learning methods is that it accomplishes training in less time than traditional classroom teaching methods. In fact, it has been estimated that it saves 40 to 60% of your company's time. E-learning takes place at your employee's own pace and at their own schedule. Commute time to the classroom and the hours spent at the training centre adds up to a large amount of time spent away from the daily obligations of their job. This is a big cost to bear, especially if it involves a large chunk of your workforce.
While the technology required for an LMS can be seen as a big expense, in the long run, it is saving your company money. Just tabulate the expenses of setting up and maintaining a training centre and the number of hours your employees need to be in training. Instead of all those costs, you're simply directing your recruits to learn from their own devices at a time that works for them.
2. Organised and Up to Date Learning
E-learning isn't just for new employees or trainees. Sometimes existing employees need to take on refresher courses or update their knowledge to understand new processes. But it can be frustrating if the obligations of their job leave little time for an in-person training session. With an LMS, the necessary training can be taken up at a time that is convenient to the employee. It's a self-driven form of learning, and employees can be directed to only do what they need to; no wasted time or duplicated work.
3. Improve Learner Engagement
A number of interesting features can be added to an LMS based training program to improve engagement. Multiple choice questions, quizzes and gamified features like points or rewards make the learning process more enjoyable and interactive. Some LMS platforms also host discussion forums that improve the experience and encourage the learner to complete the course.
4. Ensure Consistency Across the Organization
No matter how large your company is or across how many countries it spans, LMS platforms are able to deliver the training program consistently to each employee. It is exactly as you design it to be so, the standard is upheld whether your employees are in London, Lisbon, or Las Vegas. You are in control of the tone and nature of the learning material.
5. Allows for Customizations and Flexibility
Everyone has different learning styles. While some understand the material best just by reading it, others are auditory learners and store information better when they hear it. Some may need additional assistance is certain sections of the program and others excel at specific areas. An LMS platform provides for these learning differences by allowing customizations and specific tweaks to be made to the program. You are also able to accommodate language preferences.
6. Generates Valuable Data
Remember that an LMS isn't just delivering training programs, it's also assessing the performance of each trainee and storing away this information. This means it can help organizations in other areas as well. For instance, if an employee leaves, who do you promote to replace them? The LMS will be able to tell you which candidate has the skillset to take on that role. This hard evidence is invaluable in succession planning.
These systems also give you clues on the trainers and instructors who are driving the program. It will become easy to separate the committed trainers from those who are skating by with the bare minimum. With compliance statistics, you'll be able to tell which employees are struggling to keep up in various areas of work so you can either investigate the issue or reshuffle your workforce before it affects the company.
7. Happier Employees Means Less Staff Turnover
A good LMS is able to strengthen the skills of an existing employee. Not only is this advantageous to the company but it's also benefits the employee to upgrade their skills. They perform better at their work and this contributes to increased job satisfaction. All this goes a long way in reducing the employee turnover in a business. Ultimately, these platforms improve employee retention and save large costs on recruitment.
It's a no-brainer. Up to date training delivered on a schedule to those who need it. People can complete tasks in their own time, in a method or language that best suits them. LMS systems track training and employee engagement and can produce valuable information for human resources. And, it ensures all processes within the organization are followed, which keeps all stakeholders happy.
