What is Learning Management and why is it essential to modern business?

Employee training and learning management play a key role in business success. It’s not only crucial in employee onboarding but is also essential for an employee’s long-term professional development, for promoting accessibility and filling skill gaps in a timely manner. In this article we answer the question, what is learning management and also consider why it is essential to modern businesses.

What is Learning Management?

Essentially, learning management means coordinating and delivering training and education for employees. It’s about providing an infrastructure to enable professional development in your business.

A learning management system (LMS) is a digital platform for tracking and automating employee training. An LMS can be used for a wide variety of functions for professional learning management, such as:

  • Registration and access to courses
  • Course management
  • Educational resources
  • Skill-based learning
  • Progress reviews

How Learning Management benefits your business

Here are some clear-cut ways learning management can benefit your company:

  • Enabling Better Employee Performance – Training lets people engage with the latest tools and methodologies in a safe, professional environment where they can make mistakes and ask questions. Additionally, formal learning management can prevent the formation of self-taught bad habits which may cost efficiency.
  • Increased Employee Loyalty – A study from Workplace Intelligence and Amazon found that 74% of Millennial and Gen Z employees would change jobs due to a lack of skills development and career mobility.

    Supporting learning shows you care about employee professional development. It increases their merit for internal promotion and reassures them their career won’t stagnate.
  • Greater Recruitment Potential – Having a reputation for enabling skill-based learning can make an organisation much more attractive as a potential employer. Where a competitor might hold the edge in salary offers or fringe perks, you can still win talent over with a better training program.

How to improve Learning Management in the workplace

Here are some steps you can take to improve learning management and focus within your organisation:

  • Tailor learning to the individual – You won’t get far with a ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach. People in different roles have differing skill needs and even people working together may have different strengths, weaknesses or professional preferences.

    LMS user management software makes this easier by automating key functions. You can tag employees by role or stated skills and interests, so the system adds them to relevant courses without needing further input.
  • Make training more accessible – ​What is learning management worth if only some employees benefit from it? For instance, office-based workers in hybrid businesses may have disproportionate access compared to remote colleagues. That’s why you should take a remote-first approach. If your remote workers can access it, anyone can. Integrations like LMS in Microsoft Teams offer the perfect agile learning hub.
  • Centralise knowledge resources – Employees completing the courses they sign up for is great. However, the real sign of a learning-focused work culture is when your employees take independent steps to continue learning. The best way to support this is to collect educational materials that anyone can access. This enables proactive self-learning. If someone has a question, all they need to do is search your company’s knowledge directory.​

Different types of LMS

People learn in different ways; more so now than ever. So, it shouldn’t be a surprise that there are a few different categories of LMS. Some learning platforms, such as Learn365, a learning management system built in Microsoft 365, fit into several of these categories. An LMS can fall into one (or more) of the following categories:

  • Installed LMS (internal system)
  • Cloud-based LMS (third party vendor)
  • Integrated LMS (such as Teams integration)
  • Mobile learning apps
  • Open-source platforms
  • Enterprise LMS for large businesses

How to evaluate Learning Management software

Here’s what we believe should be key considerations for evaluating a potential LMS:

  • User-friendliness: Accessible systems support even the least tech-savvy staff and prevent training abandonment.
  • Progression tracking: Milestones keep people engaged, while LMS tracking data ensures the business stays informed.
  • Custom user experience: Individual profiles let people set their own goals and choose which courses to join.
  • Integration compatibility: Integrating your LMS with existing tools will limit disruption for employees.

Identifying the right LMS will depend on your business and its goals. For example, a hybrid or remote business might prefer a system able to integrate with their tools, while organisations with diverse skill sets may need something more customisable.

Find out more about Learn365 – Learning Management built in Microsoft 365

Built on Microsoft 365 platforms, services and generative AI technologies, Learn365 is a cloud-based platform that enables organisations to deliver learning where people are already logged in and active – in Teams, SharePoint, Outlook, Viva Learning, or on their mobile devices.

Larmer Brown is a Reseller and Services Partner for Zensai, the human success platform incorporating Learn365. We offer specific expertise and support around the implementation of Learn365, including consultancy, training, implementation and technical support. Find out more about Learn365 and request a demo.