While many companies have gotten aboard the learning management system bandwagon, some haven’t. If your organization falls into that category, you could be wondering what is the value of learning management systems and why should you bother implementing such a system. Actually, without an LMS, you’re doing your business and your employees a huge disservice. You’re also putting yourself at a competitive disadvantage. In this guide, we’ll walk you through what an LMS is, what it offers, and what value it delivers to your business.

What Is Learning Management System Technology?

An LMS is just a framework. Think of it like scaffolding – it’s a structure that allows you to build something. In this case, what you’re building is employee competency. However, the technology that allows you to do this can vary significantly.

On-Premise: The original learning management system was an on-premise solution. Your company purchased the system, implemented it, and then owned it. You were responsible for maintenance, updates, and everything else. Not only was this sort of thing expensive, but it was also time-consuming to manage.

Open-Source: Open-source learning management systems promise to help organizations save money and avoid the pitfalls that originated with on-premise, proprietary systems. Namely, the lack of customization available and the high cost of purchasing a solution. However, that came with complications.

Open-source software is great, but it’s pretty generic. It requires customization to your brand, your company culture, ethics, and so much more. That requires time and effort. Besides, you’re also responsible for implementation, maintenance, and management, so you need significant in-house IT resources to handle those responsibilities.

Cloud-Based: Today, there is another option available when it comes to defining what is learning management system technology. Cloud-based systems operate on the software-as-a-service (SaaS) spectrum, meaning that they deliver some pretty important capabilities and advantages over older technologies. With a cloud-based solution like eLeaP, you get:

• Scalability: The platform grows with your organization, ensuring that you only ever pay for the resources and capabilities that you need at that time. You never need to worry about paying too much for features you don’t need or that you’ll outgrow the system. Add what you need, when you need it, and ensure you’ve got an LMS that fits like a glove.
• No In-House Expertise Necessary: With on-premise solutions, your IT team would be responsible for a lot. They’d need to install, configure, implement, maintain, and update your learning management system. With a cloud-based system, those worries are over. The vendor (us) handles all of these considerations and more.

The software resides in our state of the art datacenter, protected from outside threats. Our team of experts constantly updates and upgrades the software, too, so you always have the latest version without any need for patches. This frees up your IT team to do what they do best while we focus on delivering the ideal LMS experience.

• Anywhere, Anytime: Cloud-based technology is also more accessible than other options. For instance, with an on-premise system, your employees were limited to completing courses and modules from PCs in the training center in your physical location. With a cloud-based system, they can access those courses anywhere, at any time.

All they need is an Internet-connected device, like a PC, laptop, tablet, or even a smartphone. Imagine freeing your team so they can complete their training when and where it works best for them!

Learning Management Systems: The Ability to Manage

Of course, if you’re still wondering what the value of learning management systems is, it really comes down to the implicit promise embodied in the name of the technology itself. A learning management system gives you the ability to manage the learning process within your business. Why does that matter? Let’s take a closer look.

Types of Learning

Every organization has at least some mandatory training requirements that apply. For instance, you probably need to deliver mandatory corporate training, right? This area includes things like:

• Sexual harassment training
• Workplace diversity training
• HR/benefits training

There may be any number of other such modules that apply here, too. However, this is just one type of learning. You may also need to provide professional CE for specific employees in your company. You may also want to think about professional development training, which can give your employees the ability to upskill and improve their capabilities, thereby improving their efficiency and expanding their potential.

A learning management system gives you the ability to manage all of these types of training and more. Let’s touch on a few of the key capabilities here.

Tracking and Assessment

One of the key LMS benefits is the ability to track employee progress through training modules and assess their retention of the information taught. Imagine never having to wonder or worry that some of your employees are not up to date with mandatory corporate training. Imagine always being confident that your team has the skills they need for the job at hand because they were taught in the LMS, and your tools told you they retained this critical information. That speaks to regulatory compliance, sure, but it also touches on stability and the ability to compete in your industry.

Path Setting

Paths allow you to create a chain of content that leads from one point to another, culminating in the training that certain employees require. You can set paths based on mandatory corporate training, professional development, or mandatory CE. You can also set paths for large or small groups or for individual employees as needed.

Content Creation

Finally, the right learning management system also empowers you to create your own content. This goes beyond just branding pre-made courses – you’re able to create exactly the content necessary for your learners. With the right system, you can even make those courses available to other companies and generate a new stream of income.

Why Use A Learning Management System: The CURVE of Benefits

Online LMS leads to higher employee retention, skill acquisition, morale and productivity—ultimately blazing the trail towards higher profit. The benefit CURVE is why use a learning management system:

C- Centralization

Learning management systems are a centralized source for information and education. They can be a one-stop shop for all types of trainings, from compliance to job skills to leadership courses. This centralization makes it easy and simple for users to find and access the resources that will help them perform better in their positions.

U- Universality

Web-based learning management systems can be offered anywhere, anytime, and—with eLeaP  – on any device. A learning management system makes training and education more universal and accessible for your employees. They can do training in their own time, in their own way. Because of this, employees will be more receptive to the training and will better retain the information and applicable skills.

R- Responsiveness

An LMS is responsive to the client’s needs. The ability for brand customization is a crucial reason why use a learning management system. For example, eLeap allows you to personalize your training with your specific company logo, theme, and colors. It also enables you to pick and choose which courses to offer to specific user pathways, and you can even create your own simple courses. This enables a high level of customization with minimal work on your part.

V- Variety

The right web-based LMS will have a variety of features, course options, and educational tools. Learners respond well to varied multimedia, like videos, blogs, texts, tweets, and more. A learning management system enables blended learning, so students can best obtain and understand the information in a way that is most fruitful to them.

E- Engagement

A web-based LMS also functions like an educational, social network by enabling your students to interact with online teachers and fellow students and employees. This increases user engagement with their peers and with the material, which lends well to the benefit CURVE of higher retention and morale—your employees have learned new material and made new study buddy friends!

The CURVE

When implementing a new training program, consider the CURVE benefits as to why you need to use an LMS: Customization, Universality, Responsiveness, Variety, and Engagement. Your employees will retain and acquire more information and skills, their morale and productivity will increase, and ultimately your business’ profit will follow suit.

Why use a learning management system? Because your business will see an exponential “curve” of benefits that will significantly boost your business’ education and development features and results.

Finding the Right LMS for You

Now that we’ve answered the question of what is learning management system value, it’s time to choose the right system for you. We invite you to learn more about eLeaP and our capabilities – take the system for a test drive with our free trial and see how well it can fit your organization.

Resources – Additional information?

• Learning Management Suite
• LMS Features
• Online Training System
• LMS Definition
• LMS Implementation – 7-part LMS series.