What is an LMS and Why Does Every Organization Need One?

If you have ever taken a workplace training, you have probably used a learning management system or LMS without even knowing it! The definition of an LMS is nuanced, as an LMS can truly be whatever your organization makes of it, depending on the features you leverage and the audience your LMS serves. So, what is an LMS? In this article, we’ll discuss the definition of a learning management system, common uses for an LMS, the benefits of using an LMS, and give you guidance on what features to consider when choosing an LMS.

To see how you can make the best buying decision for your business, scroll to the bottom of this article for a free downloadable LMS comparison checklist!

What is a Learning Management System?

If you’re wondering what an LMS is, let’s start with the most basic definition: an LMS is a software application that allows organizations to manage their training programs within a centralized environment. Learning management systems today are largely cloud-based. But many business leaders want to move beyond the basics to understand what makes a good LMS:

• A good LMS will unify virtual, in-person, mobile, and social learning, rolling them up into one convenient solution.
• A good LMS should give everyone in your organization the ability collaborate, author, distribute, and track training courses for your entire company in one centralized location.
• A good LMS should be easy to use for administrators and learners alike, and should be accessible from any device, online or offline.
• A good LMS that’s AI-enabled, but should provide granular control and privacy settings that prevent its LLM from training on your content.

Learning management systems are vital for any company, big or small. Whether you’re deploying learning materials for a small start-up or helping employee education for a global enterprise of thousands of employees, an LMS is great for automating previously burdensome tasks so you can focus on aligning training with your company’s strategy.

Consider, for example, that your company is about to launch a new product. Or maybe you have a new internal process you need your employees to become familiar with. A learning management system can help you develop slides, videos, quizzes, and more for your teams to access from their individual LMS accounts.

More advanced LMSs go above and beyond to increase engagement and information retention with features like gamification, video assessments, and interactive, hotspot training.

7 Common Learning Management System Use Cases

There are a variety of learning solutions available on the market. Depending on your company size and training needs, your organization may require certain set of features. Regardless of your company size or vertical, your LMS should enable a more modern approach to learning by improving scalability, flexibility, and mobility for your entire organization. So, how can you find an LMS that’s suitable for your business needs? Let’s explore the use cases below to see which features you should be looking for when shopping for an LMS:

Whether your courses are offered internally to employees or externally to customers, partners, contractors, or suppliers, a learning management system is the best solution for ensuring consistent and comprehensive training. Make sure to carefully research which LMS features are most important for the type of trainings you want to offer. Below, we detail some common use cases for an LMS and what features matter most to companies with those particular business needs:

1. Employee training. Many organizations use an LMS to provide employee training like onboarding and professional development. You can use custom or off-the-shelf courses to help employees learn a new internal process, stay up to date on compliance, or gain new professional skills. The tools within your LMS can be used to deploy and track all your internal training materials from one centralized location.
2. Partner training. Just like your in-house sales teams, your channel partners, resellers or agencies require onboarding and ongoing training (perhaps even more so). Your LMS can be used to train external partners on brand messaging, products, and procedures. Using LMS tools to monitor learning metrics will give your team insights into which partners need an extra push to reach competency or achieve certification.
3. Customer training. Did you know that learning management systems can be used for customer training, too? If your LMS has gamification features, consider launching a loyalty program that rewards customers for completing specific training courses. Some companies may even profit from customer training by charging for courses.
4. Gig worker training. The number of gig workers is rising, with an estimated 57 million people in the US now performing their jobs in non-traditional work arrangements, for companies like Uber, Lyft, or Airbnb. An on-demand workplace like the gig economy requires training that can be easily accessed, anytime, anywhere. That’s why gig worker training should leverage cloud-based, mobile-friendly learning management systems.
5. Contractor training. Increasingly, businesses are turning to contract workers to complement the efforts of full-time staff. Organizations that need to ensure proper use of proprietary systems and methods should consider using an LMS for contractor training. While companies can’t by law (in the US) require contractors to complete training, it’s surely needed and can be strongly encouraged.
6. Extended enterprise training. When a company needs to provide training across its entire ecosystem – employees, customers, partners, and more – that’s when an LMS for extended enterprise training is critical. Keeping all your training in one centralized location is especially important for extended enterprise training, to ensure that everyone in your organization can deliver cohesive learning experiences that align with your business goals.
7. Artificial Intelligence (AI) capabilities. An AI-powered LMS can save learners time and energy by allowing them to automate tasks, more easily surface relevant courses, summarize their previous coursework, or discover new content by asking for personalized recommendations. For LMS administrators, an AI Assistant can reduce administrative headaches by instantly displaying learner progress at a glance, recommending relevant training modules, or automatically assigning follow-up courses to learners. AI tools can provide also instant feedback by providing learners with video assessments on pitches and presentations, which can save time for sales managers and revenue leaders.

The 4 Benefits of Using an LMS

1. Centralization of training materials. The centralized nature of an LMS allows everyone with permissions, the ability to edit learning materials, without needing to search for them in dozens of different places. Beyond the fact that this makes editing and distribution more efficient, it also has the added benefit of improving the consistency of quality and subject-matter for your learning materials.
2. Integration into existing tech stack. Likewise, connecting your LMS to your tech stack via APIs can help you seamlessly your LMS with your organization’s existing CRM or HR management software. LMS integrations not only improve the experience for administrators; they also enhance the learner experience by making courses feel like less of a disruption, and more like a normal part of the workday.
3. Reduction of training costs. Using an LMS could also reduce your L&D costs by cutting extraneous forms of training like in-person seminars or training days. If your LMS offers support services, this can also cut down on the costs associated with implementation and scaling. Lastly, an LMS with robust automation features can take time-consuming work like group enrollment and task assignments off administrators’ plates.
4. Improved employee engagement and time-to-productivity. With features like gamification, video assessments, and interactive, on-demand training, a modern LMS can make learning more engaging and improve information retention.

Although every organization uses its LMS differently, having a robust learning management system is vital for any company. Whether you’re deploying learning materials for a small start-up or helping employee education for a global enterprise, an LMS is great for automating time-consuming or labor-intensive tasks, so you can focus on maximizing the impact of your workplace learning.

How to Choose a Learning Management System

As you can see, there are a variety of learning management systems available, depending on your company size and training needs, but all learning platforms enable a more modern approach to learning, allowing for greater scalability, flexibility, and mobility across the organization.

Now that you know what a modern LMS can do for your organization, it’s time to put that knowledge into action. Don’t get lost in endless vendor websites and feature lists.

Download our free, comprehensive LMS Vendor Comparison Chart to simplify your decision-making process. This easy-to-use checklist, designed by L&D experts, will help you:

• Track the essential features your organization needs.
• Compare top vendors side-by-side.
• Select the perfect LMS to achieve your training goals with confidence.

Click Here to Get Your Free Comparison Chart.

If you’re ready to learn more about what a learning management system can do for your organization, explore the many learning solutions offered by Litmos. This award-winning LMS platform is easy to use but powerful and super scalable, empowering leaders with everything they need to manage their training programs from one secure, centralized environment. Plus, it comes packaged with an API that lets you seamlessly integrate it with your existing systems.

Not sure if an LMS is the right fit your company’s requirements? Give Litmos try and see for yourself. Try Litmos free today!