How to Choose the Best LMS for HR Training
Gone are the days where employees needed to gather in conference rooms for their mandatory HR training sessions. Due to various technological advances, such as LMS, they can now train at their own pace, either at the office or from the comfort of their own home.
Thanks to various LMS (learning management system) software solutions, HR teams all over the world are helping their employees improve skills and expertise much faster and easier. If you want to follow in their footsteps, you’ve come to the right place.
So, how can you choose the best HR training software for your organization?
Define Your Needs
To find the right LMS software for your business, you first need to define exactly why you need it, and how it will make your organization better. There are three essential factors that you need to consider to understand your organizational needs better.
1. Your Goals and Objectives
You first need to identify your training goals and objectives. What is it that you want to achieve from your HR training? Do you want to make your staff more productive? Do you want to raise their level of competency and build a strong team that will make your company more profitable?
The key is to align your training goals and objectives with your organizational goals. That will help you come up with the right learning strategies and easily achieve all your goals.
2. Your Trainees
You need to fully understand your trainees before selecting an HR training software. Otherwise, you may choose something that isn’t the right fit for your audience. Think of the following questions: who will use the software? How many of your employees will be using it? How old are they? Are they tech-savvy? What are their technical capabilities? Do they have the means to access the training sessions at home?
Getting answers to these and other relevant questions will help you know what to look for in an LMS solution. Understanding who you will train is the key to providing them with beneficial training.
3. Your IT Department
This point comes with its own host of questions as well. Such as, who will host your LMS software? Will it be the vendor you choose or will your IT department be responsible for it? Will your IT team be also responsible for maintaining the platform? Is the team capable of doing so?
If your IT department doesn’t have the necessary capabilities to host, administer, and maintain an LMS, you should find a vendor who will handle all of that. This will definitely narrow down your list.
Decide How You Will Deliver the HR Training
Will you be relying on instructor-led training or will you only deliver the HR training online? Perhaps you’re thinking about blended learning? Your trainees play a big role in making this decision. This is because some learners retain knowledge better when they can interact face to face with their trainers. Others find it easier to learn by themselves, at their own pace.
Self-paced training has more benefits for you than instructor-led training, as it saves you time and money. It can also be more beneficial for learners, as you can create interactive training courses that are engaging and fun. That will help them retain much more information.
Once you know how you will deliver the training, you’ll know which direction to take in your search for the right LMS. You’ll know what features to look for, such as blended learning, mobile learning, and multi-lingual support.
Determine What LMS Features You Need
So first of all, you learn exactly who the software is for and what you want to achieve with the training. After that, you can have a better insight into the LMS features you need. The following are some of the most important LMS features to consider.
User Interface
You need a solution that’s easy to use so that your learners don’t need to jump through hoops to complete their training.
Personalized Learning
Everyone has a different learning style, so it’s vital to find software that allows you to create personalized learning paths.
Gamification
Built-in gamification tools, such as points, badges, levels, and leaderboards, are great motivators. They also spark friendly competition, helping your learners complete their training faster. And since they feel as if they’re playing a game, their knowledge retention is much higher.
Mobile Learning
An LMS with mobile learning capabilities will enable your users to train anytime and anywhere. They’ll be able to improve their skills on the go, at home, while commuting to work, and anywhere else they want.
Blended Learning Support
If you prefer to deliver blended learning, you need an LMS that supports it. If you don’t know what blended learning means, it’s when you incorporate both online learning techniques as well as face-to-face teaching in your training. So it needs to have tracking features for offline training sessions. It also needs support for synchronous and asynchronous learning, tools for combining online and offline learning into a single path, and more.
Collaboration Tools
Your LMS should have real-time collaboration tools, such as discussion groups and live chat. Your trainees need to be able to communicate both with you and among themselves during the training.
Tracking and Reporting
Tracking the progress of your learners is vital for the effectiveness of your HR training. You should also be able to generate reports within the software that will give you a clear insight into the performance of your learners.
Testing and Assessment
As with any training, you need to assess your learners and see all their strengths and weaknesses. Your LMS should have tools for creating tests and exams for proper evaluation.
Integrations
This is a must-have feature for your LMS because you need to be able to share data across various systems in your organization with ease. Make sure the solution you choose can seamlessly integrate with the tools you’re already using. Tools such as the human resource information system (HRIS), a talent management system, and a workforce management system.
Security
Data security is another must-have feature to look for, as you need to keep your sensitive data safe and secure. This is especially important if you choose a cloud-based LMS software.
Technical Support
If you ever encounter a problem with your LMS and need technical assistance, your vendor should be instantly available. Look for someone who can be at your service 24/7.
Explore and Evaluate Software Vendors
You’ve decided on all the features, and you know what budget you’re working with. Now, it’s time to make a shortlist of companies offering LMS software solutions that can meet all your needs. You can start by asking your colleagues and friends in the business to give you recommendations. Perhaps some of them are already using top-notch solutions and can share their hands-on experience with you. You can also check out expert and customer reviews online, as they too will give you a clear insight into how various pieces of software work.
There are a number of websites that feature software comparisons by industry experts, so you should explore those as well. Another tip is to look into LMS ebook creation tools such as Kotobee Author. They can help you package your training material neatly and have it be compatible with any LMS software.
Conclusion
Choosing the right LMS for you and your company can be daunting, as there are a great number of solutions out there. But the above guidelines will be more than helpful in your search for the right HR training software, so be sure to follow them.
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