Training professionals understand that implementing effective ways to train personnel is essential for one simple reason: The world of work changes rapidly, with new cultural trends and socioeconomic tendencies emerging all the time. So where do you start?

Making an informed choice about a learning management system (LMS) is a fundamental first step in the launch of online training in any industry.

Why Consider Purchasing an LMS in 2023?

Many executives know that an LMS is a primary modality for facilitating online training in-house but may not know the exact benefits that it offers their businesses. Let’s explore some of the reasons to opt for corporate learning platforms so you can make a case in your organization.

Cost-Effectiveness

Investing loads in face-to-face training that entails extra expenses like venues, travel, and accommodations becomes expensive and inefficient. This is true for organizations of any size. But if they sacrifice training, they risk stagnation. Training in an LMS enables companies to boost compliance, reskill employees, and onboard new hires at scale—even under financial constraints.

Single Knowledge Base

You can store all memos, training videos, online courses, and assessments in a single place that’s convenient for all learners. An LMS allows you to set up the automatic assignment of courses to certain groups and positions, track how they progress, and keep all training-related processes streamlined effortlessly.

Data Integration and Safety

LMS systems provide detailed and robust reporting. They can be integrated with business and HR software to process training analytics at a deep level and link with a company’s return on investment (ROI). Encryption, advanced password authentication, data backups, and antivirus functionalities in an LMS eliminate the problems associated with data security and compliance.

The Essential Step in Choosing an LMS

It’s important to precisely identify your needs and goals before implementing an LMS. Even if a vendor promises to help with the details, you need to have these broad strokes defined. The most common training needs are to:

• Reduce employee training time.

• Reduce employee training costs.

• Increase the number of trained employees.

Make sure to consult with project stakeholders and establish training goals together. Too many companies skip this step and end up with unfulfilled or misaligned expectations and wasted projects.

Additional Aspects to Keep in Mind

There are two more important criteria to consider: your training audience and budget. Do you plan to train frontline or back-office staff? How many learners are there and how often do they need training? For frontline staff, who are prone to high turnover, you might prefer a cost-effective LMS that’s open source with an inexpensive per-user price. For back-office employees, you might consider a complete solution that’s more suitable for continuous learning. Keep in mind that low-cost, open-source solutions require involved deployment and a competent IT team that will incur extra costs.

Future articles will explore LMS features and functionalities that are critical for specific training scenarios and how they can address the most common challenges that companies face. Don’t miss out!