Training. There’s 100 ways to do it and 100 outcomes we might want for our staff. But really, when we boil it down, there’s really only one goal, and that’s to help them be better. We want our staff to be better equipped with the tools they need to better achieve their goals, and better achieve goals of the business.
But how do we make training better? and maybe the bigger question, how do we understand training better? Especially when there’s so many methods and products on the market.
In this series, we’ll break down some of the different options out there and give you a Carrot lens on what they can do for you. So let’s start with a big one and take a look at Learning Management Systems to see what benefits it might have in store for your learners and your business.
What is an LMS?
In the e-learning world we love an initialism. LMS or ‘Learning Management System’ is a digital training management platform that can host a wide range of e-learning content. The LMS is the backbone of all online learning, the foundation on which all modules, content and learner journeys are built. They’re jam-packed with benefits for learners and managers alike, here are the main ones to be aware of:
Number 1. It keeps costs down At Carrot we know that whilst you want to put learners first, cost is often the greatest factor informing the training strategy, especially when budgets are feeling the pinch across the board.
We’ll tackle this one first. An LMS is cheaper and more efficient than other traditional learning methods. But hang on, I know what you’re thinking, isn’t this a big shiny piece of tech? Shiny tech is expensive, wouldn't it be cheaper to have the projector and classroom? Well because LMS are built on user-lead learning and can be done from anywhere, you can do away with the classroom and the instructor for good. But let’s think for a minute about not just the cost of classroom training but the cost for the business as a whole.
When learners are learning they’re not performing their key business functions. An LMS minimises disruption to the working day as staff can choose when to tackle the training, in their own time or during quieter periods.
Here’s a few examples from some big names that have cut costs with an LMS:
Ernst & Young cut training costs by 35% while improving consistency and scalability (Hall, 2000)
British Airways announced that their e-learning programme would reduce training costs by £1.1m over 3 years
McDonalds indicated that they reduced training costs by nearly 50% by switching to e-learning
Number 2: Time & flexibility
We’ve touched on this one above but we really cannot stress enough the importance of having time to engage with training when it comes to positive learner outcomes. At Carrot we’ve identified this as one of the, if not the most important factors in determining success. Staff are busy. They’re always going to be busy. So training needs to be easy to access from anywhere. On a phone during a coffee break, on the bus home and the daily commute. An LMS is critical in providing this flexibility that cuts down to size the potential burden of training. With intuitive content, there’s no need to be trained on how to do the training, further trimming the time required. If there’s one thing classroom training isn’t - it’s snackable.
With the right content an LMS is crucial to easily fitting training around the day-to-day lives of staff. It’s about building a training strategy that fits in with them, and not the other way around. And when it fits in with learners, they engage with it, make progress, and well, learn.
Number 3: Centralisation & Analysis
An LMS means everything is in one place. All your different training needs can be housed in the system. Product training, compliance, standard operating procedures to name a few can all be uploaded and handled in one centralised platform. With the Carrot LMS a flexible group structure means not only can different content be served to the relevant learners, it can be easily and cheaply updated as your business evolves. Well, that sounds easy and convenient, and we all like easy and convenient. The real beauty of having everything under one roof comes to life when it comes to analytics.
LMS administrators have access to learner tracking, including data such as the completion rate of modules or the rate of learners who have started training. Unlike face-to-face training, it is much easier to know the progress of learners in real time. This can facilitate iteration and analysis of the learning content itself for continuous improvement. Just like monitoring the progress of learners, LMS can also provide key data allowing you to know the performance of your training device : time of connection, preferred module, number of users, etc With the Carrot LMS there’s even a survey option to hear directly from the learners themselves on their experience with the platform. All this boils down to a data driven single source of truth, providing real insights to inform your training strategy. It’s about predictability, influence and iteration.
Number 4: Integration & Community
We’ve spoken a lot already about learner-directed training, but this doesn’t mean LMS training has to be done in isolation away from the learner's team mates. A Learning Management System makes it easy to integrate social learning into your eLearning strategy. Since the LMS is already online, you can include links to Facebook and Twitter pages, LinkedIn groups, and online forums that may be beneficial for your learners.
What does this mean in real terms? Well it means peer to peer learning. Learners can share insights, sense check work and grow together. Because everything is in one place it’s much easier to build community and discussion.
If you’re interested in hearing more about what and LMS can do for your business, get in touch to book a free demo with the Carrot Learning team: info@wearecarrot.com
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