Contrary to popular opinion, the scope of responsibilities of HR departments is not limited to recruiting employees and shaping remuneration policies in companies, but goes far beyond this framework. It includes, for example, shaping development and training strategies, which largely determines company success rate and is an important element of competitive angle. It is in the implementation of this strategy and its ongoing monitoring that Learning Management Systems can help. How do they work and what are the benefits of modern LMS platforms?
What functions do LMS systems offer?
The implementation of training and employment policies undoubtedly requires enormous effort – both on the part of management and HR departments. These multidimensional processes relate to the optimization of employment (in quantitative, qualitative and organizational terms), and result from dynamic changes occurring both inside and outside of organizations. Moreover, the processes include training programs, which are still treated by many organizations as an expense rather than an investment.
Over the last few years, however, constantly improving conditions on the labor market and increased employee propensity to leave current employers caused significant – and necessary – changes in LMS systems. As a result, companies began to notice their greatest and most valuable capital – competent teams properly prepared to perform their functions. Moreover, businesses stopped managing staff in only quantitative terms, but they also noticed other factors – competences, motivation, commitment and creativity. Controlling these factors skillfully, promoting a culture of continuous development, efficiently identifying potential competency gaps, and quickly discovering essential talent should definitely be inscribed in the DNA of every organization.
The implementation of such a strategy may be achieved and supported through a modern LMS platform. It relieves the HR team of many repetitive tasks, and additionally contributes to generating considerable savings for the company. LMS, i.e. a training process management system, is a tool which allows companies to create attractive educational platforms, improve training management and, at the same time, analyze the progress of individual employees, departments, divisions or divisions in real time. More importantly, especially from the point of view of business continuity, LMS concentrates the organization’s know-how in one place. Thus, it can act as an effective platform for collecting and sharing knowledge.
How can HR departments benefit from educational platforms?
HR department employees are responsible, among others, for the ongoing implementation of company training strategy, which involves the need to plan and organize training and courses. This involves both compulsory training required by law, and various on-boarding and position training. In most cases, the courses are stationary, which is undoubtedly very expensive. It takes a lot of time, from both organizers and participants of the training, and also requires the involvement of considerable financial resources to organize a course, employ a trainer, transport staff, or provide potential allowance and accommodation. By investing in e-learning and a modern LMS platform, many of these costs can be avoided.
An HR department equipped with an internal remote education system can independently create and manage training courses and, therefore, adjust their program and scope to the current needs of the company. What’s more, attractive educational paths can be designed to encourage employees to constantly improve and expand their competences. Introducing gaming elements, understood as the possibility to gain certificates, score points, obtain badges for specific achievements, or climb in various company rankings may also help effectively motivate staff.
Great optimization undoubtedly leads to cost reduction. Once prepared, training courses can be used for years, and, if necessary, get constantly improved by the HR department. The possibility to automate the training process is also worth mentioning, as it can further relieve employees responsible for the development of competences in the company. Thanks to the automatic assignment of training, an e-learning platform can automatically provide the necessary materials to each new employee – e.g. a health and safety course, an on-boarding package, or on-the-job training. It will also remind current employees of the possible need to review their knowledge and resume training after a certain period of time (e.g. a year).
Thanks to the availability of training on any device, including mobile ones, employees gain the opportunity to participate in courses anywhere and anytime – e.g. while traveling to the customer or during a break between subsequent tasks. Therefore, they have much wider and more flexible development opportunities, while maintaining a low cost on the part of the employer. From the point of view of knowledge management, it is important not only to provide employees with appropriate growth opportunities, but also to monitor their progress and identify potential needs for new training. An LMS is also perfectly suitable in this area. Advanced reports, often supported by artificial intelligence, as well as the ability to conduct tests, allow companies to quickly identify competency gaps and training needs, and, at the same time, verify the completion level of individual courses.
Remote education systems and their possibilities
When choosing the optimal e-learning platform, a number of factors should be taken into account in order to maximize its adaptation to the current and future needs of the company. Contrary to popular opinion, this choice is not easy, as there are many LMS systems on the market today, and more are constantly developed. This process is caused by, among others, dynamic market development and a constantly growing demand from organizations all around the world. This trend is perfectly illustrated by the data from a report prepared by MarketsandMarkets Research*, which indicates that by 2025 the value of the LMS market will reach USD 25.7 billion, which translates into a cumulative annual growth rate of 14%.
One of the top LMS platforms is Samelane, which focuses on modern technologies, simple and extremely intuitive functionality, scalability, and unique training experiences. To this end, it uses artificial intelligence (AI), which makes it possible to automate many repetitive activities, but also augmented reality (AR) support, thanks to which it takes training to a completely new level. This is a new generation LMS. Its capabilities are already appreciated by many companies, including international corporations with headquarters on several continents.
