TOPYX LMS Blog | Learning Management Insights and News

3 Signs Your LMS Software Investment Is Paying Off (Or Not)

Written by Debbie Williams | October 8, 2018

A good LMS centralizes, simplifies and streamlines training. It gives your company a competitive advantage, engages employees, and much more.¹ To ensure your LMS is delivering these benefits, it’s a good idea to step back and take an objective look at how well the software is performing and if your investment is really paying off.

Is Your LMS Meeting Your Company’s Needs?

Before investing in an LMS system, your training and performance team probably compiled a list of short- and long-term goals for your new eLearning program, as well as expectations for the LMS used to administer it. 

After you implement your LMS, it’s important to monitor which of your company’s eLearning objectives and LMS expectations is being met and which aren’t so that you can track your company’s ROI. There are several telltale signs that an LMS is doing well.  

3 Signs Your LMS Software is Succeeding (And 3 Signs It’s Not)

Regardless of what LMS software you chose or how you implemented it, there are several clear signs that your LMS is successful - and several that it isn’t.

  1. Training employees requires less effort from management -- Organizing, tracking and managing employee training can be a big job for companies that still use a traditional, in-person training method. These organizations may have large volumes of employees and stringent compliance training requirements, which means administrators have their work cut out for them. LMS software is designed to help by streamlining training processes, working with hectic schedules, and making learning content more widely available.

 When training employees requires less effort from administrators but is effective nonetheless, you’ll know your learning management system is performing well. Conversely, if your LMS isn’t paying off, ensuring employees get trained will be as difficult as it was before the system launch.   

  1. Training costs are dropping -- When IBM moved corporate training online, it cut training costs by about $200 million.² While this figure will vary widely from company to company, successful LMS software will often lower business’ training costs by:
  • Reducing the need for training-related travel.
  • Making training part of employees’ daily work processes.
  • Eliminating the need for on-site training instructors.

If you aren’t seeing much of a change in your bottom line after a few months of implementation, or if it is rising (which can happen with a per-user-fee LMS system), your current eLearning system is underperforming.

  1. Top benefits of professional development are becoming evident -- The primary reason most companies implement LMS software is to manage employee training and promote professional development. This is because savvy business leaders understand that professional development reduces turnover, improves engagement, and increases performance and retention

While you might not see drastic changes in each of the above areas immediately after an LMS launch, successful LMS software will impact them positively over time. On the other hand, if turnover, retention, engagement, and performance rates remain static or worsen, your LMS software is not paying off as it should.    

When It’s Time to Switch to a New LMS

LMS software that effectively manages compliance training, cuts training costs, and promotes professional development is probably giving your company a sizeable ROI. If your LMS software isn’t delivering, it may be time to switch to a new system that does meet your company’s needs. 

Interested in discovering if a different LMS would be more beneficial to your company than your current system? Here are a guide for comparing LMS features. 

References:

  1. eLearning Industry. Why a learning management system is useful. https://elearningindustry.com/learning-management-system-useful.

  1. eLearning Industry. How to dramatically reduce corporate training costs. https://elearningindustry.com/dramatically-reduce-corporate-training-costs.

3. Better Buys. Professional development and your bottom line: 9 stats that prove its value. https://www.betterbuys.com/lms/professional-development-stats/.