A staggering 89 percent of L&D leaders believe that proactively building employee skills is vital for navigating the evolving future of work1, however, introducing a new employee training program in a landscape where more than three quarters of employees are disengaged at work2 can be a challenge for any organization — especially without proper planning.
Careful consideration and a strategic approach are essential when implementing an Enterprise LMS for scaling corporate training. We’ve outlined key steps in selecting the right platform, best practices for implementation and engagement, and customization tips aligning with organizational goals, emphasizing the critical role of a solid plan in the success of your new employee training initiative.
Steps for selecting the right Enterprise LMS
Selecting the Enterprise LMS that best suits the needs of your organization is the first pivotal decision that you’ll have to make when scaling corporate training, and it’s a decision that requires careful consideration and a strategic approach. Outlined below are some of the key steps to guide you in choosing a platform that aligns seamlessly with your scalability goals:
01. Assess organizational needs
Understand the. Conduct a comprehensive needs analysis to identify key pain points and areas of improvement. Collecting data on the various aspects of your business is critical during this step. You should include data collected on factors like employee performance and skill gaps to address technical needs, as well as employee feedback and surveys to ensure that your organization’s cultural needs are also taken into consideration.
By harnessing the wealth of data available, organizations can make informed decisions, identify trends, and create targeted training programs that directly address their unique challenges. This approach not only enhances the effectiveness of training initiatives but also contributes to a culture of continuous improvement based on real-time data feedback.
02. Plan for future changes
Ensure the chosen Enterprise LMS can scale with your organization's growth. This means considering not only your current needs but also future projections to guarantee a long-term solution.
This step involves considering the skills your workforce will need in the evolving business landscape, and anticipating changes in industry trends, technology, and job roles to ensure that the Enterprise LMS can accommodate them. An emphasis on future skills such as adaptability, digital literacy, and critical thinking ensures that the training program aligns with the dynamic needs of the organization and industry.
03. Evaluate available solutions
Thoroughly evaluate the features and functionalities of the Enterprise LMS to ensure that it is capable of meeting the needs identified in the first two steps. Start by aligning the features of potential solutions with the findings of your needs analysis. Ensure that the selected LMS directly addresses identified pain points and areas of improvement and will be able to effectively and efficiently meet your organization's unique training challenges.
Going further into the evaluation process, emphasize the importance of scalability and adaptability you need from the Enterprise LMS to meet the future needs of your organization. Scalability is crucial to accommodate your organization's growth, enabling the LMS to handle things like increased user numbers and data volume without sacrificing performance, while adaptability ensures that the LMS can seamlessly integrate emerging technologies and skill requirements.
04. Test out the user interface:
Prioritize a user-friendly interface for both administrators and learners. A straightforward and intuitive design contributes to a positive user experience, enhancing engagement and overall satisfaction.
Be sure to test the LMS interface for simplicity, clarity, and ease of navigation in order to ensure that the experience will promote engagement by reducing barriers to access and participation. By prioritizing user experience, you can ensure that both administrators and learners will be able to leverage the platform with minimal training and maximum efficiency.
05. Check on available integrations
Confirm the Enterprise LMS's ability to. The platform should serve as a central hub, connecting various aspects of your business with organizational learning and development.
These capabilities are vital for creating a unified learning ecosystem, so look for the availability of integrations that allow it to connect with existing tools, such as your HR systems and CRM. This connectivity ensures that the learning experience is able to align with broader organizational strategies, promotes consistency, and enhances overall efficiency across all aspects of your business.
Confirm vendor reputation
Research the reputation of the Enterprise LMS vendor thoroughly. Explore customer reviews, case studies, and testimonials to gain a solid understanding of the experiences of organizations that have previously partnered with the vendor, considering factors like as the ease of implementation, responsiveness to challenges, and the level of ongoing support provided.
A reputable vendor is more likely to provide ongoing support and updates, ensuring the long-term success of your implementation. This means looking into factors that go beyond the initial implementation, like their ability to deliver regular updates, and incorporate new features and enhancements to meet emerging needs. Choosing a vendor with a solid reputation is not only a procurement decision but a strategic investment in the enduring success of your training initiatives.
Think outside the box
Be sure that you don’t limit the way you think of utilizing your LMS. This means envisioning the platform not just as a tool for internal training, but as a part of a broader strategy for fostering connections and improving communication and understanding. For example, while you are likely to be in the market for a platform to provide internal employee training today, enhanced solutions like an Extended Enterprise LMS can allow you to consider examining future possibilities like connecting your entire ecosystem of customers, clients, and other external learners to engaging content.
Likewise, you could consider the integration of emerging technologies into your LMS strategy. For instance, explore the incorporation of Artificial Intelligence (AI) within your LMS strategy. AI-driven features, such as intelligent recommendations and adaptive assessments, can personalize the learning experience for each employee. This allows the solution to go beyond standard training methods, providing a tailored approach that considers individual strengths, weaknesses, and preferences, while also opening new avenues for improvement as the technology develops. Thinking outside the box like this ensures that your Enterprise LMS is able to not just meet your identified training requirements but also deliver additional benefits that take it even further.
Best practices in LMS implementation and employee engagement
Implementing an LMS goes beyond the technology — it's about fostering engagement and creating a positive learning culture within your organization. Once you’ve completed the steps above and made a decision on the Enterprise LMS that best meets your needs, consider the following best practices in LMS implementation and employee engagement:
- Provide clear communication: Communicate the purpose and benefits of the Enterprise LMS to employees in order to foster a positive mindset towards the new solution. Develop and clearly outline your change management strategies by addressing potential concerns, outlining the support available during the transition, and explaining how the platform will contribute to professional development and overall success within your organization.
- Instill confidence in your administrators: Provide thorough training for administrators to ensure effective Enterprise LMS management. Empower administrators with the knowledge and skills needed to navigate the system, troubleshoot issues, and optimize the platform for organizational needs. Collaborating closely with the implementation team on the vendor side can help significantly during this process, providing a valuable source of dedicated expertise and support to streamline the onboarding and ongoing management of the LMS.
- Engage with learners: Offer user training sessions to familiarize employees with the platform interface and functionalities. Address common questions, demonstrate key features, and provide resources for ongoing support. A well-informed user base is more likely to engage actively with your LMS.
- Collect regular feedback: Establish a feedback mechanism to continuously improve your Enterprise LMS based on user insights. Encourage all users — both learners and administrators — to provide feedback on their experiences, including both positive aspects and areas for improvement. Regularly review this feedback to make informed adjustments to the training, ensuring it remains aligned with user needs and expectations.
- Incentivize engagement and achievements: Recognize and reward employees who actively engage with the platform. Consider implementing gamification elements, such as badges or certificates, to acknowledge achievements and milestones. Providing tangible incentives, such as professional development opportunities or recognition in company communications, can further motivate employees to participate in training programs.
Customization tips to maximize impact and effectiveness
While an out-of-the-box platform may be enough for some businesses, most find that some level of customization can go a long way towards increasing its effectiveness and better aligning it with the goals of their organization — especially as their business grows. To ensure that your Enterprise LMS is able to adapt to your changing needs, consider the following customization tips:
Maintain familiarity: Incorporate company branding to create a cohesive and branded learning environment. Customizing your Enterprise LMS interface with your organization's logo, color scheme, and messaging reinforces a sense of identity and familiarity for users.
Provide tailored content: Customize your training content to align with your organization's industry, values, and objectives. Tailored content ensures that employee training materials are relevant and resonate with the unique challenges and opportunities within your organization.
Establish learning paths: Create tailored learning paths based on job roles and career progression. Offering personalized learning journeys allows employees to pursue development paths that align with their specific roles and aspirations, fostering a sense of individualized growth.
Incorporate gamification: Introduce gamification elements to enhance engagement and motivation. Incorporate game-like features, such as quizzes, challenges, or leaderboards, to make the learning experience more interactive and enjoyable. Gamification can boost participation and create a competitive yet supportive learning environment.
Adapt to different learning styles: Customize the training to accommodate different learning styles and preferences. Some employees may thrive in a visual learning environment, while others may prefer hands-on activities. An adaptable Enterprise LMS allows organizations to cater to diverse learning preferences, ensuring that employee training resonates with a broad audience.
Measuring training program success after implementation
Training is all about the results, so once your training program is in place, you’ll need to start gauging exactly how successful it is in delivering them. However, measuring the success of a training program goes beyond traditional metrics. Many organizations grapple with answering fundamental questions about the effectiveness of their training initiatives. Determining whether learners have the ability to apply what they've learned or whether or not the training has enhanced their proficiency levels often pose challenges in evaluation. The difficulty lies not only in discovering whether learners can find the information but also in assessing its practical application and understanding the impact it has on their performance.
To accomplish this, you will need to to gain insight into everything from learner participation levels to the tangible impact of acquired knowledge and skills in real-world scenarios. This in-depth analysis forms a crucial framework for continuous improvement and strategic decision-making that allows for an employee training program to grow and evolve with your organization.
Key Enterprise LMS metrics and KPIs to track
- Completion rates: Measure the percentage of employees who successfully complete training programs. High completion rates indicate that employees are actively engaging with the content and progressing through the learning journey.
- Engagement levels: Evaluate the level of engagement through participation rates and interaction with learning materials. Assessing engagement provides insights into the effectiveness of the content and the overall appeal of the training programs.
- Knowledge retention: Assess the retention of knowledge by testing learners on key concepts after training. Knowledge retention is a critical indicator of the effectiveness of the learning materials and the extent to which employees are internalizing the information.
- Skill application: Evaluate the application of learned skills in real-world scenarios. The ultimate goal of training is to empower employees to apply their knowledge and skills in their roles. Monitoring skill application provides a tangible measure of the practical impact of training programs.
- Time to proficiency: Track the time it takes for employees to reach proficiency after completing training. This metric offers insights into the efficiency of the training program and its effectiveness in preparing employees for their roles.
Don’t forget to collect feedback!
Measuring the metrics outlined above is a great way to measure the success and effectiveness of your training program, however, it’s important that mechanisms and processes are in place for feedback to be collected from both trainers and learners. By analyzing this feedback and measuring it against additional metrics and KPIs collected by the platform, it’s possible to pinpoint areas for enhancement in training programs and your Enterprise LMS itself. Creating a loop of continuous improvement that allow for more effective corporate learning strategies.
What’s next?
Providing effective training to continuously improve the skills of a constantly evolving organization is becoming more important than ever, and a deliberate and informed approach is the surest way to get the most out of your Enterprise LMS implementation. From the initial assessment of organizational requirements to measuring the success of your solution, uncovering the ideal partner is vital in shaping an LMS strategy that seamlessly aligns with the trajectory of your organization's growth.
So take the first step towards a revolutionized approach to corporate training. Book a personalized demo with Absorb LMS today to discover for yourself how our platform can elevate your corporate learning strategies to embrace a future where learning evolves effortlessly with your growth.
