Learning Management System (LMS): what are the benefits for your company and your employees' training?

Employee training is a major issue for companies. There are many benefits, both for the company and for the employees who benefit from it!

And if you want to keep on top of everyone's progress and offer high-quality learning content tailored to the specific needs of your business, the Learning Management System (LMS ) is the best solution. Express training on the subject. 📖

See all software Learning Management System (LMS)

What is a Learning Management System?

The Learning Management System (LMS) takes the form of a platform designed for the pedagogical training of learners. This tool, which can be translated as a "learning management system", is mainly used in companies, but can also be used as distance learning software.

The LMS is thought to have made its debut in the early 2000s, at the same time as the democratisation of digital tools. One example is the very famous Moodle platform, launched in 2002 and still active today. Over the years, the corporate world has rapidly integrated the Learning Management System as an essential cog in its internal organisation.

💡 By way of example, a study carried out by Seira Formation shows that 87% of French companies use e-learning solutions.

What is the purpose of an LMS?

Unsurprisingly, the primary purpose of a Learning Management System is to promote learning. By creating and distributing educational modules, this training tool aims to put learners in the best possible position.

👉 For employees, using an LMS platform allows them to :

• improve their skills and qualify for a position of greater responsibility ;
• identify their strengths and areas for improvement;
• discover new areas of interest and develop their missions;
• feel valued and recognised for the progress they have made.

👉 On the management side, setting up a Learning Management System platform is also proving very useful. In particular, it enables a personalised training strategy to be defined and employee skills development to be monitored as effectively as possible. The courses integrated into the software can be :

• developed in-house
• or ordered from training organisations.

In the same way, it's extremely easy for management teams to monitor employees' progress day by day, while guiding them towards the training courses best suited to their professional development. 📈

How does it work?

Generally speaking, there are two ways of integrating a Learning Management System tool into your company:

• in SaaS (software as a service) mode: the data (teaching modules, digital resources, learner responses, etc.) is stored in the cloud and can be accessed anywhere, from any device, using a login and password. Flexible and affordable, this is the preferred type of integration for businesses;

• On-premise mode: data is hosted on a local server, which has certain disadvantages, particularly in the case of distance learning. While on-premise mode ultimately offers greater freedom, it does involve a higher cost, but also, and above all, a technical team dedicated to its maintenance.

🔎 In practical terms, LMS software follows a relatively simple architecture. There are generally two interfaces :

• one for users: the learner navigates through the various learning modules, chooses the courses they want to take, takes part in assessments, consults their progress curve, etc. ;
• one reserved for administrators: trainers create or integrate learning content, choose assessment methods and criteria, monitor employee progress, assign specific learning modules according to current needs, etc.

In addition, most Learning Management System platforms offer a model based on the principle of scalability. When the software is first integrated, only the basic options are available to users and trainers. But as stakeholders become acclimatised to the different tools, new modules can be integrated step by step.

The main features of the Learning Management System

Diversification of learning content

The user experience is crucial in motivating employees. It is therefore essential to offer them a variety of modules, both in terms of content and form. In other words, the idea is to avoid long, sappy courses as much as possible 😴 by focusing on original, fun content. This could include:

• videos ;
• interactive slide shows ;
• webinars ;
• collaborative work; etc.

Of course, the same applies to assessment modules. The more varied and original the content, the more motivated learners will be at the idea of practising!

Freedom and ease of construction of learning modules

The vast majority of LMS software allows you to integrate courses designed by professional trainers. All you have to do is download them, free or not depending on the service provider and subscription chosen, and that's it.

But sometimes companies want to develop their own learning content. In this case, you need to use software designed to simplify the creation of courses and assessments. Integrating graphics, videos and audio tracks are all basic functions, but they are invaluable to trainers.

Integrating artificial intelligence

AI offers countless possibilities. Integrated into Learning Management System software, it is used in particular to create courses and assessments from documents shared by administrators.

🤖 But artificial intelligence can also be used to identify areas for improvement for each employee and direct them towards appropriate, targeted modules to help them progress.

Access to a reporting and analysis system

Another basic functionality of an LMS platform is the reporting and analysis of online courses.

• The first thing that comes to mind is monitoring learners' progress. A reporting system makes it possible to monitor the rate at which each learner is learning and to assess the quality of the work done.
• It can also be used to identify any shortcomings on the part of the trainers. For example, a module with a very low completion rate can alert administrators. It may be that the course is poorly constructed, too long or simply not attractive enough, which will lead the teaching team to rework it accordingly.

Mobile compatibility

Granted, it's very rare to see non-responsive applications these days. But it's always a good idea to make sure that the Learning Management System software has been transposed into a mobile version!

In fact, the interface can sometimes suffer in comparison and discourage users who are keen on distance learning via their smartphone. The inability to play videos, slowdowns, poorly framed texts... these are just some of the minor inconveniences that can be detrimental to learners and encourage them to wander off to other websites.These are all minor inconveniences that can be detrimental to the learner and encourage them to wander off to apps that have nothing to do with e-learning (even though there are a lot of cool tutorials on YouTube and Insta 😁 ). 🎥

Gamification

As its name suggests, gamification involves bringing a playful dimension to learning sessions. With this in mind, there are several possible solutions. These include

• points and trophy systems to unlock ;
• collaborative challenges, which can take the form of escape games or serious games, for example;
• competitive challenges between employees to encourage them to outdo themselves, with perhaps a reward at the end of the day (beware of poor losers...);
• interactive quizzes ;
• etc.

💡 Did you know? A study carried out by TalentLMS suggests that 61% of employees surveyed said they would be more inclined to follow a course incorporating gamification.

Integration with your existing software

To make an LMS tool as easy to use as possible, developers generally try to promote integration with the solutions currently used by companies. For example, certain functions in software specialising in HR, video creation or sales follow-up can be integrated into the Learning Management System platform.

Certification of certain modules

In order to formalise the acquisition and mastery of certain skills, it is sometimes necessary to obtain recognised certification. With this in mind, some LMS software offers users the option of obtaining a certified qualification after completing a course.

Taking account of specific business needs

Depending on the company's sector of activity, an LMS can offer content and training that are more or less tailored to it. There are specialised software packages for the health, hotel, sales and property industries.

The advantages of the LMS

Benefits for the company

Improving employee well-being

First of all, we can look at the positive spin-offs for the company. By offering employees the opportunity to train, and by extension to aspire to positions of greater responsibility, you are helping to improve their well-being at work.

An employee who feels recognised, valued and challenged is highly beneficial to a company. So introducing Learning Management System software into your organisation indirectly helps to :

• encouraging your employees to fulfil their potential
• increase productivity and motivation
• build employee loyalty and avoid high staff turnover;
• strengthening team spirit, etc.

Optimising training costs

Thanks to the Learning Management System, companies have control over the content they distribute to their employees. If they have in-house resources, they can delegate the creation of courses to a dedicated team of trainers.

What's more, all the content created remains accessible to all learners, year after year. While it is of course necessary to update certain courses, the core content remains the same. Clearly, investing in the LMS represents a significant cost at the launch phase, but it is generally a source of positive return on investment.

Refining learning content

• Thanks to the reporting tools built into LMS software, trainers can identify the courses that generate the most interest and the best results.
• And, conversely, they can detect those that are being neglected by learners or that have a low retention rate.

✅ It's then easy for them to rework the content and try to make it more attractive and efficient.

Facilitating the integration of new employees

When you join a new company, it's sometimes difficult to integrate the codes as quickly as you'd like. With unfamiliar software to master and a new work organisation to get to grips with, it's normal to feel a little disorientated.

So onboarding is a crucial stage for the company, and the Learning Management System is an invaluable aid. By preparing a training programme tailored to the new employee, the company can make a major contribution to facilitating their integration. New employees can familiarise themselves with their new environment at their own pace, while management teams observe their progress and help them to take up their new post in the best possible way 😀

Improving the company's image and attractiveness

It may seem obvious, but integrating a Learning Management System solution helps to modernise and give a positive image to the company, particularly when it comes to recruiting new talent.

Indeed, people looking for a new job very often ask about the corporate culture. And the presence of the Learning Management System within the organisation is an argument to be put forward to candidates wishing to join a company that cares about the well-being of its employees.

Benefits for learners

Mastering your career plan

Many employees find it hard to pinpoint exactly what they want in terms of career development. A lack of long-term vision can be detrimental to motivation and well-being at work.

Through regular training exercises and the completion of training courses and certifications, it is easier to better define the contours of one's future project and develop the key skills needed to achieve this objective.

Progress in complete autonomy

This is one of the great strengths of LMS tools. As an employee, it is sometimes difficult to manage your schedule as you wish. Between rush periods and unforeseen events, we can tend to neglect the time devoted to training, all the more so if these are solely face-to-face. 😬

With a Learning Management System platform, the question no longer arises. Each employee is invited to progress at their own pace, according to their workload. If the software is integrated in SaaS mode, it's even possible for employees to train online and remotely. A very practical advantage, particularly for employees who work from home or have to travel a lot.

Increase knowledge retention

Several studies have proven this. E-learning offers a much higher rate of knowledge retention than face-to-face training. According to a survey carried out by the Research Institute of America, the retention rate for e-learning is between 25% and 60%, compared with between 8% and 10% for face-to-face training.

Unlimited access to all learning content in a centralised space

Thanks to the Learning Management System, there's no longer any need to go through an obstacle course to find this or that content lost in the company's offices. All the courses and documents essential to employee training are centralised in a single, shared library that can be accessed at any time.

A few Learning Management System use cases

Now that we know more about the opportunities offered by an LMS tool, it's time to take a closer look at the use cases in which it is most useful.

Example 1: boosting your brand's sales rate

After analysing your results, you notice that the rate of in-store sales has fallen slightly over the past year, yet traffic is still the same. Perhaps your sales staff aren't performing well enough, and you need to find a solution to get the figures back up again. 💪

For example, you can design or download a series of training courses based around sales and customer approach.

• As soon as this training content is put online, you can track each employee's progress in this area.
• Once the training has been validated, it's time to measure the results on the ground.
• An upturn in the sales rate may reflect an improvement in your sales staff's approach to customers, symbolising the usefulness of the training they have been given.

Example 2: Raising employee awareness of serious issues

Harassment in the workplace, inappropriate behaviour, first aid... There are a whole host of subjects that deserve your employees' full attention. And rather than forcing them to attend training sessions that are not always welcome, it is possible to raise their awareness of these important company issues by offering them the opportunity to validate certifications independently via a Learning Management System platform.

With the rise of artificial intelligence, the way in which work is organised in many companies is already undergoing profound change. But this necessary adaptation to increasingly present and powerful technological tools needs to be anticipated. With this in mind, training your employees to master new IT tools via courses designed for this purpose will rapidly become a priority.

Through the Learning Management System, employees are naturally more inclined to learn. They develop and progress at their own pace, and find it easier to master complex tools.

Strengthening team spirit

The content integrated into Learning Management System software is becoming increasingly varied. While there are still interactive videos, quizzes and PowerPoint presentations, the last few years have seen the emergence of educational content that is increasingly exciting for employees, particularly through gamification.

By regularly offering your teams the chance to take part in collaborative games such as Escape or Serious Games, you are helping to strengthen team spirit among your employees. Training times are no longer seen as a chore, but as convivial and refreshing moments.

Work on soft skills

When we think of training in the workplace, we inevitably think of improving know-how and so-called technical skills. But soft skills should not be neglected! To help and encourage employees to develop their soft skills, LMS software is more than welcome.

Conflict management, stress management, self-confidence... These are all points that employees can work on to improve both professionally and personally.

In this respect, we can imagine some employees taking these training courses outside the office, which once again justifies the relevance of integrating a Learning Management System platform for the well-being and fulfilment of employees.

How do you choose the right Learning Management System?

There are a number of criteria to take into account when choosing the best Learning Management System platform for your organisation. Some of the key points to bear in mind include

• responsiveness of the after-sales service: breakdowns and other technical problems can occur from time to time with LMS software. This is not an end in itself. Nevertheless, it is essential to be able to rely on a responsive and competent customer service to resolve any problems;

• simplicity and speed of use: to avoid reluctance on the part of employees, the LMS platform must offer an optimal user experience. This means that the interface must be intuitive and accessible to all, including those employees who are furthest removed from the digital sphere;

• freedom in the design of modules: the more trainers can create fun and original courses, the more learners will respond positively to the training objectives set by the company;

• the integration of a reporting system: to monitor learners' progress and adapt courses accordingly, it is essential to be able to track each learner's progress in real time;

• the presence of a feedback tool: it is important for learners to be able to give feedback on the courses they have taken. Did they find the content sufficiently clear and understandable? Were the assessment methods relevant? This feedback is very useful and enables trainers to revise the courses if necessary, with a view to offering employees the best possible content;

• Hosting in SaaS mode: while storage on a local network may have certain advantages, it has to be said that hosting in the cloud is currently the solution that offers the most flexibility and comfort for a company. All employees have to do is create a login and password to access the LMS platform remotely and at any time;

• the prices charged: the packages offered by LMS platform publishers can take different forms. Generally speaking, they are subscription-based, with prices varying according to the number of learners.

See all software Learning Management System (LMS)

The Learning Management System in brief

As you will have gathered, the Learning Management System takes the form of a dedicated learning platform that is particularly useful for companies.

• On the one hand, it enables administrators to monitor the progress of their teams and direct them towards the most appropriate training courses.
• On the other, learners can progress at their own pace, benefiting from varied and attractive learning content.

Are you currently looking for high-performance software tailored to your needs? Take a look at our guide to the best training and e-learning tools on the market!