How many Learning Management Systems (LMS) are used at your organization? As company size grows, learning is increasingly planned at the department level and the number of LMS increases–some companies use up to 30 LMS! Two-thirds of industry leaders admit that decentralized learning strategies hurt employee development, tenure and engagement. In a recent webinar sponsored by OpenSesame, Aberdeen analyst Zach Chertok shared tips about how to maximize your LMS and make learning more relevant by creating a holistic model linking training with performance, employee motivations and overall organizational goals.
1. Consolidate learning strategy
Chertok emphasized the importance of using your LMS to connect with the wider organization. Over 76% of industry leaders use LMS, but less than half are using them for development. To maximize your LMS, it is imperative to create real-time performance management that measures employee contribution to overall organization goals. 35% of industry leaders are consolidating departmental learning strategies to fit the core competencies of the organization.
2. Assess employee goals with the company’s goals
Consider what tasks appeal to specific employees and what their long-term development goals are. Connect personality assessments with performance data and employee goals in order to understand what will motivate employees and help them contribute to organizational goals. Link these goals to your organization’s learning strategy by creating individualized employee development goals and learning programs. For example, McLeod software needed high levels of training for certain positions. How could they create positive ROI when these positions were high turnover? To create a culture of learning and promote retention, they trained employees for their current position and future goals. Additionally, everyone took management skills courses leading to long-term growth for the company.
3. Pass data forward
Chertok urges organizations to look at labor is an investment, not a cost. Employee development can result in a number of long-term benefits for performance. For example, the 18% of industry leaders who focus on employee goals were 2.6 times more likely to have seen retention improve in the last 12 months. Chertok also states that industry leaders are 3.5 times more likely to try to make internal talent as competitive as external talent, making them more likely to see long-term career growth, increased motivation and improved tenure.
By integrating performance with rewards, wellness and workforce management data, organizations can create an adaptive learning program that matches individual career goals with that of the organization. By creating a holistic model, 76% of industry leaders feel that they will be able to successfully motivate employees. 64% felt equipped to resolve having low revenue per work week (FTE). For example, HMS had difficulty linking training with goals and experienced employee dissatisfaction with their programs. They created training tracks to nurture employees from customer service to sales to managers, resulting in a successful learning strategy with positive ROI.
To learn more about strategies and Aberdeen’s research on connecting training to long-term performance, watch the webinar recording here.