An LMS (Learning Management System) is software that helps in delivering consistent, streamlined, and flexible training to the workforce.
Due to budget constraints, a lot of small businesses hesitate to invest in a training platform to train the employees. There are a lot of myths around LMS that stop you from investing in this essential software.
LMSs are not only for large companies; even small businesses can enjoy an LMS. A cloud-based LMS is suitable for businesses of all sizes. Small businesses can customize the course and upload as many or as few courses as required. You can create and upload the online training material that covers your current requirements, add a couple of videos and links, and you are good to go with the course.
You won’t need a full-time technical support member or need a piece of advanced technological knowledge. The system is not at all complex and you can set up the LMS with the least amount of training. You need to open the course, upload the learning material, and enroll the employees/learners.
There are LMS platforms out there that are for free; there is training software for small businesses which are budget-friendly. You need to pick the right one for your business based on your needs and requirements.
There are many LMSs available in the market for you to choose from, some are paid some are on a free trial basis, and on some LMSs you can create and upload your courses. For example, with Convergence Training LMS, you can import eLearning courses, documents, videos, or create custom content.
Below I have mentioned some of the ways LMS helps small businesses:
1) Easy to Access and Store Data
With the help of LMS, small businesses can store data and other business-related information in one central location that is accessible to everyone who has authorization. Whenever an update is to be made it becomes easy on an LMS. The platform can be accessed from anywhere and the platform ensures that every employee has the updated version of the training material at the same time. Once the data is securely stored in a remote server, the chances of losing the same are minimal.
2) Cost-Effective
Training your workforce on an LMS is a profitable option that makes your company paperless and environment-friendly. You will not have to get the training material printed every time an update is made, you can update the information on the online training course. LMS also helps in improving and saving on your onboarding process. When effective training gets provided to the new hires there are fewer chances of the new employee leaving the company and losing an employee takes a toll on your budget. The training course once created can get reused much time; which means you will not have to create the training module every time a new employee joins or even for training the existing employees. Also, the rise of SAAS (Software-as-a-Service) has made LMS affordable to manage training software.
3) Track Employee growth and Progress
When an LMS is in place, you can track the progress and development of the employees with the reports that get generated on the platform. The training managers can track a particular employee’s developmental path, how much time he took to complete the course, points scored, etc. This feature will help in understanding the pattern of the employee and then you can work with them to fine-tune their skills. This way you can also define roles and responsibilities, and the employees can have an opportunity to work in new departments and enhance their knowledge base. Once the workforce gets trained effectively, that will result in increased productivity.
4) Hassle-free creation of the training course
With the help of a course editor, you can create and upload your training material on an LMS as the platform is user-friendly. You can choose the LMS that offers templates of ready-made courses; you can pick the ones you want to start training your employees with. The trainees will have access to a wide range of topics that will help in expanding their knowledge and hone skills which will enable them to excel in the workplace.
Investing in an LMS will let you transform your small company into a flourishing business where your employees will find opportunities to grow their skills and evolve. When choosing the platform that is right for you, look for a platform you can use for free, in this way you can test the features before committing to buy. Always check the reviews of the existing users because they can let you know about the features and how good and user-friendly an LMS is.