The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the lives of many. With widespread social distancing measures and community restrictions to curb the global spread of the virus, the pandemic has not only had a major impact on the health sector but also on the workplace. It has challenged all of us to evaluate how flexible and comfortable we can be when faced with uncertainty.

According to the Cornerstone People Research Lab, 76% of employees, 88% of HR managers, and 91% of management are convinced that the difficulties brought about by the crisis will change the daily work experience forever. While technology adoption in the workplace is nothing new, research by McKinsey & Co. suggests that Covid-19 has pushed digital transformation to a tipping point of historic proportions — and it’s only going to be a requirement as the world evolves.

Thanks to rapidly developing technologies, many have quickly hopped onto e-learning — such as learning online or via mobile — as a complement to the traditional face-to-face training strategies. To design a more directed and interactive e-learning experience, many turned to using learning management systems, also called LMS, for their workplace.

What is LMS?

LMS is a platform that delivers online training and content to the workforce. With a tool that allows distributed employees to learn anytime, anywhere, it helps workers to gain the knowledge and skills required to perform in their roles, and ultimately, advance faster in their careers. Globally, there are about 73.8 million LMS users in 2022, and this number is likely going to grow.

According to eLearning Industry, with the right LMS environment, employees feel empowered to interact and engage within the software platform, learn at their own pace, and participate in each step of every course/training session. Also in a survey on how modern workers learn, 91% say that collaboration is the most useful to help them learn, and 70% get their motivation from mentoring and coaching. From these statements, LMS has proven successful in complementing traditional training, especially when the pandemic has hindered face-to-face learning opportunities.

Advantages of using an LMS include:

1. Accessibility: With the ability to learn from anywhere and anywhere and at one’s own pace, LMS has eased concerns about training and development while working from home, as it gives access to learning without geographical restrictions.
2. Data and analytics: LMS gives a platform to access performance with data and documentation, even when not face-to-face.
3. Make training engaging and easy to absorb: Training content is adapted through various learning aids, ranging from text, sound, images, and videos, to animations.
4. Central library: Making it easier for managers to organize learning materials, LMS is designed to facilitate learning in a structured manner. What’s more, it can ensure that online training and news are distributed to individuals or teams effectively, and accessible to all employees.

However, traditional LMS also comes with disadvantages, especially in the distributed workforce. One of the biggest drawbacks is that it cannot provide direct social interaction between humans, causing employees to feel disengaged and disconnected from their workplace. This is why it is important to look for an LMS that enables social learning and engagement.

How to choose a suitable LMS?

You can consider these questions below:

• What are some business goals you want to achieve with this LMS?
• Can your teams use mobile phones to train and engage with each other at work?
• How can this LMS facilitate training and communications with employees? Will it help you save time, cut training costs, etc.?
• How customizable is this LMS? Is it possible to put the company logo so employees know it’s part of your company’s training?
• How can learning progress be assessed? For example, can various kinds of certification be included in this LMS?
• Are you able to assess the suitability of the product through a demo?

Make sure that your choice will develop your skills as well.

Making Training and Engagement Effective

Since the implementation of work from home, online training has proven to allow employees to effectively develop their skills and knowledge in a flexible way. A social learning-enabled LMS also allows employees to train and communicate with their teams without needing to meet face-to-face or follow a schedule, and produce quality work while collaborating with the team.

Incorporating training programs on an LMS platform that enables social learning, such as Atiom, can effectively increase employee productivity and drive team performance. Whereas traditional training is measured by time, resources, and in-person evaluation, companies can use Atiom to conduct training, evaluation, and assessments before and after training, making upskilling and reskilling effective, measurable, and effortless.

On the last note…

In this new future of work, having an LMS is crucial to ensuring workplace success, especially for employee development. LMS is a great platform for workplaces to learn even under remote conditions; however, traditional LMS often lacks elements that allow for social engagement and the tools to motivate people to learn. While looking into a remote training and development tool, it’s important to consider a platform that enables social learning. Atiom can ensure that your employee training and development strategy is effective and measurable for your distributed teams.

Atiom is a mobile-first training solution that makes training and engagement measurable, efficient, and effective. Request Your Demo Here.