Learning management systems have also been a great tool for companies, small and large, to train and educate their employees. However, building a custom LMS is a time-, money-, and resources-intensive process. This is why many small business owners wonder if it’s worth it to implement an LMS for their business.
Let’s have a look at how an LMS has the power to benefit small businesses by giving you the key benefits and also help you decide if the cost is really worthwhile in case of your organization’s particular needs and constraints.
Defining Learning Management Systems
A learning management system (LMS) is web-based software from lms developers that helps companies to create, deliver, track, report on, and manage any type of educational courses, training programs, and development content. LMS platforms provide a centralized portal packed with tools and features such as:
- Content authoring capabilities
- Communication and collaboration features
- Assessments and quizzes
- Gamification elements
- Integration with other HR systems
- Analytics and reporting
The system gives companies full control over the learning experience, all from one intuitive dashboard. Employees can access training materials anywhere, anytime, from any device.
The Core Benefits of LMS Software
There are many advantages small businesses can realize from investing in an LMS solution. The top benefits include:
Improved Employee Productivity
Continuous learning and development opportunities equate to an improved skill set of the employee, which directly translates into increased productivity. Updating their knowledge and expanding their capabilities, employees produce higher-quality work outputs.
Implementing training through an LMS also eliminates the downtime and costs associated with off-site, in-person training events. Employees can progress through materials during small pockets of time each day without ever leaving their desks.
Increased Employee Engagement
It’s the growth of our employees and offering them more training that goes towards building loyalty, satisfaction with that employee’s job, and increasing engagement. An LMS provides employees with autonomy over their learning journey.
So, gamification, badges, certificates, rewards, etc., further motivate employees to fully participate in your training programs. The more engaged and enthusiastic your employees are, the higher the retention and better productivity levels will be, directly impacting your bottom line.
Consistency and Standardization
An LMS delivers company-sponsored training in a standardized format across the organization. This ensures that all employees receive training that reinforces your core values, operating practices, and culture.
Standardized content also guarantees that employees are taught the same procedures, guidelines, and processes. This level of consistency improves compliance, safety, service delivery, and overall performance.
Anytime, Anywhere Access
Cloud-based LMS platforms allow employees to access courses, materials, assessments, and other learning activities from any device, anytime. This allows small businesses with a remote or dispersed workforce to deliver a high-quality learning experience to all employees regardless of location.
Detailed Reporting and Analytics
A learning management system captures extremely detailed data on the learning activities occurring company-wide. Small business owners can leverage this data to identify gaps, track program effectiveness, benchmark progress, pinpoint areas for improvement, and demonstrate ROI on training investments.
Considerations for Small Businesses
While the benefits demonstrate value, LMS adoption does require a well-planned implementation approach. There are a few key factors small business leaders should consider:
Cost
Pricing for learning management systems runs the gamut from completely free tools to enterprise-level platforms with annual costs in the six figures. Mid-range solutions suitable for most small businesses normally carry a yearly subscription fee ranging from $1,000 to $25,000.
You get what you pay for in terms of features, support, customization, integrations, and scalability. Be realistic about your current and future training requirements so you can select the right solution at the appropriate price point.
Some vendors also offer special editions of their platform specifically designed for small to mid-sized businesses at very affordable rates.
Time Investment
Implementing an LMS requires considerable upfront effort. Significant time must be dedicated to researching products, evaluating features, comparing vendors, configuring software settings, and creating course content.
Once live, the system does require ongoing administrative responsibilities like user management, content updates, data monitoring, troubleshooting issues, and managing licenses.
While this lift is sizable initially, efficiencies kick in over time as processes get established and employees become self-sufficient. Automation capabilities also mitigate the ongoing administrative workload.
Staff Capabilities
An LMS only delivers value if your staff has the skills and bandwidth to properly leverage the technology. From an administration standpoint, tasks like building learning content, structuring curriculum, and analyzing data require specialized expertise.
Employees also need basic computer proficiencies and self-directed learning skills to consume and apply training content. Think about how an LMS will fit into the existing software and staff currently in place. If necessary, budget some additional training resources to fill in the gaps.
Change Management
Even when the bottom line just makes good sense, moving to new systems brings high demands from all staff. LMS adoption needs to be championed by the leadership, and the message needs to be conveyed that LMSs help achieve larger business goals. It is possible that employees may require incentives or motivational support to fully commit to self-directed online learning.
Ongoing promotion, transparency, and two-way feedback are key to driving user buy-in and utilization rates. Realize that culture shifts take time. Be patient but persistent through the change curve.
Key Purchasing Considerations
If moving forward with an LMS implementation makes sense for your small business, here are the key factors to evaluate when comparing vendor solutions:
- Core LMS Features. Ensure candidate systems meet all your must-have requirements when it comes to content authoring, communication tools, assessments, integrations, gamification, and more. Prioritize the elements that best align with your business training objectives and environment.
- Ease of Use. The system should be intuitive for both administrators and end users. Complex interfaces slow adoption rates. Look for clean, modern designs similar to popular consumer software. Also evaluate the quality and responsiveness of vendor support.
- Mobile Functionality. Usage is heavily driven by mobile accessibility. Determine the potential and boundaries of smartphone apps and browsers on mobile. Do employees have a good user experience on any device?
- Customization Options. Many companies come with unique processes, terminologies, and priorities. Look for platforms that allow you to brand and make adjustments to better resemble your organization.
- Security. If the processes will involve personal employee information, be sure the vendor uses the latest data security protocols and protects company data that is considered sensitive.
- Scalability. Even if your current training needs are minimal today, you want a solution able to expand in lockstep with future business growth. Seek evidence of clients who have scaled successfully.
- Total Cost. Look beyond just license fees. Understand all expenses, including onboarding, support fees, transaction fees, and potential hardware needs. Ensure ongoing costs align with long-range budgets.
Implementation Best Practices
Once you’ve selected the right LMS platform, smart implementation planning is crucial to driving engagement and charting ROI. Below are best practice tips:
- Set measurable goals. Quantify what success looks like from both a qualitative and quantitative lens. Establish clear metrics upfront aligned to those objectives.
- Build enthusiasm. Incentivize staff to complete training through rewards, recognition, and celebrations for early adopters and power users.
- Start small. Develop and introduce new systems in phases. Before expanding organization-wide, pilot with a passionate team. Activate advanced features only once you master the fundamentals.
- Simplify access. Take all friction out of the way so users can become auto-logged in. Automate enrollment.
- Promote often. Multiple channels of market training opportunities: email, intranet, team meetings, flyers, internal social networks.
- Monitor data. Review reports frequently and make real-time adjustments to drive utilization, completion rates, and proficiency gains.
- Gather feedback. Ask employees for honest input on their learning experience. Maintain an open dialogue and quickly address pain points through policy or tool adjustments.
- Showcase achievements. Publicize individual and team milestones. Tie training completion to compensation and advancement decisions.
Even the most reluctant employees can be gradually coaxed into active learning program participants, provided that there is careful planning and change management disciplines involved. There is a long adoption curve that requires lots of patience through its early innings, but long-term dividends make the effort worth it.
Weighing the Pros and Cons of LMS Adoption
Hesitating on whether or not to invest in a learning management system has its mix of complex considerations and huge consequences. Below, we summarize the major pros and cons small business leaders must weigh:
Pros:
- Centralize and scale training programs
- Reduce the costs of external training events
- Standardize content delivery company-wide
- Improve employee productivity and engagement
- Deliver consistent messaging and procedures
- Track detailed learning data and analytics
- Enhance employer brand and retention levels
Cons:
- Substantial financial investment required
- Ongoing administrative responsibilities
- Potential internal resistance requiring change management discipline
- Must budget for employee training time
- Requires specialized expertise to manage
- Risk of underutilization if the rollout is not properly promoted
Ultimately, it is a matter of your readiness to consider employee learning and development as a strategic priority for which you devote and support dedicated resources.
Before moving forward, take an honest assessment across factors like your company’s training culture, appetite for new technologies, availability of skills and bandwidth, and willingness to commit adequate budget.
If those elements are in alignment, an LMS can transform your organization through expanded employee capabilities, process improvements, and performance optimization. The juice is likely worth the squeeze.
Final Recommendations
Here are our closing recommendations regarding LMS solutions for small businesses:
- Focus on clear business objectives. Link LMS goals to tangible metrics around productivity, efficiency, compliance, etc., rather than just implementing new technology for the sake of innovation.
- Be realistic about the required effort. Understand that properly rolling out and adopting an LMS takes concerted change management and promotional effort over an extended timeframe. Quick fixes are unlikely.
- Cast a wide vendor net. Getting demos from multiple providers gives you tremendous insight into possibilities. Take time upfront to deeply understand product capabilities in the context of your environment before selecting a platform.
- Phase implementations. Bite-sized rollouts allow victories to build momentum gradually. Consider piloting with a passionate team first before expanding organization-wide.
- Buy capabilities aligned to strategy. Don’t make a purchasing decision based on your usual vendor names, but let overall talent development priorities guide your purchasing decision. Don’t invest in the bells and whistles of the LMS; invest in the LMS elements that will be used.
- Maintain realistic expectations. Realize that formal learning is but a piece of the building that is talent development. The best LMS cannot immediately transform your workforce overnight. The key is patience and perseverance in putting the newly acquired skill to work.
While quite heavy lifting to begin with, the benefits of launching an LMS are something that should be considered quite heavily, especially for the more remote staff, as well as distributed workforces.
