Corporate Learning Management System Success Tips

The eLearning industry has long focused on the LMS as a solution for educating students in traditional settings, but the corporate LMS is starting to get more attention. A corporate learning management system, while similar to traditional LMSs in most regards, is an application for a completely different audience. And trainers and eLearning experts need to keep that in mind.

Corporate learning management system software fills a few key roles not covered by educational LMSs that can mean the success or failure of your training program. While a lot of these roles are actually determined not by the system itself, but by how the learning strategy of an organization is structured, it is still very important to know the differences between educational and corporate LMSs to make the right decision for your business.

Corporate Learning Management System Attributes

So what makes a corporate LMS so different than a normal LMS? Both software types do the same general thing, provide training content to learners and allow you to track those items. But while educational LMSs just need to be able to keep track of grades and maybe identify areas where students are struggling, corporate LMSs need to do so much more.

Businesses need to not only track employee training, identify weak areas in training, provide certification (and track those certifications), and manage employees’ time, they also need to empower employees to learn more and learn what they want. While on-boarding and general training is normally required, businesses need to have optional and enticing extra training.

This is a key differentiator for corporate learning management system software. While students may enjoy extra learning, that is not the role of an educational institution. They are much more narrow in their content focus than businesses should be. Employees need to be able to grow. And those who take advantage of optional training should be rewarded for their time and effort. Smart businesses know that providing growth opportunities is one of the best ways to ensure retention of their most talented and intelligent employees.

Training Strategy Tips

Now you can’t just provide training and hope that does it. You need to have a plan. And that is where your training strategy comes in. If you are a large company you most likely already have a training department or can hire a training manager to help you out with this. There are a ton of professionals that know tried and true ways to provide great training and help you reach your goals. If you are a smaller company that can’t afford outside help, that’s no problem! You can do it yourself, or even have all your employees do it with you. Team bonding, professional development, and investing in your business all wrapped up in one; triple win!

There are plenty of great guides online as well as proven methodologies for implementing and running a training program. But you can also build one yourself using common sense and clear goals. The key is to make sure you continually refine your training to ensure that it continues to work and move you and your employees towards those goals. And just remember that even though this is great for your business, the true beneficiaries are your employees.

Giving Employees What They Want

Your employees are your most valuable asset, not your product or service or intellectual property. All that other stuff is great, but it would not mean anything without your employees making it work (unless you’re a sole proprietor, in which case, why are you here?). So, back to your employees: give them what they want.

They want to learn. They want advancement opportunities. They want to grow as individuals and be able to advance their careers. Training is tied into all of these, and having a corporate learning management system makes it a lot easier to make sure these needs are being met. An LMS makes it so much easier to deliver training and learning content.

The Difference Between Learning and Training

While at the core, you may be more concerned with making sure your employees are trained, your employees are more concerned with learning. Training just keeps them up to speed. Anyone can be trained to do pretty much anything. What you want to do is promote learning. This means offering content outside of their traditional roles. It’s all about continuous improvement and growth. Give them the tools to do jobs above their pay grade. They’ll thank you and you’ll thank yourself when you promote them and they produce results from day one in their new position.

But what happens if they take all that you have taught them somewhere else? Well, good for them! Be happy that your training has allowed someone to grow beyond what you were able to provide. Investing in training will lead to much more retention than attrition. Great training is one of the best ways to attract top talent. Intelligent people know that they don’t know everything, and if they see that you offer a well thought out and rewarding training program, qualified candidates will be lining up at your door even if other companies offer better pay or other perks.

Success is an Ephemeral Beast

No matter how good your training program is, or how well you utilize your corporate learning management system, you need to remember that you can always do better. While your program may hit all the goals you set, stopping there would lead to failure down the road. Goals are meant to be hard to reach, but you will eventually get there. And when you do, set an even bigger goal.

If you are not continuously improving and moving your success measure, then you will fall behind, because other companies aren’t resting on their laurels. So just remember that success is an ephemeral beast and you have to keep chasing after it. If you need assistance in setting up or improving your training program, RomyLMS is here to help. Contact us to let us know how we can assist you!