Why Businesses Should Invest In Remote Learning Management Systems

In the current public health crisis surrounding COVID-19, every company has to rethink many, if not most, aspects of its operations. Corporate knowledge growth has always been key to business success. While some companies have taken a very active role in training and developing their employees, others have relied on the passive knowledge gained from casual interactions between employees and their superiors every day in the workplace.

Now, because of COVID-19, the “workplace” has become a distributed, isolated, remote environment where most employees are isolated from colleague interactions most of the time. As most companies enter their second month of this new reality, those that rely heavily on coworker interactions are beginning to see the strain of social distancing on their employees. 

Learning Management Platforms Help Companies Continue To Grow

The decisions companies make during this trying time will determine their long-term health, well after this health crisis has abated. Companies that deliberately invest in maintaining and reinforcing their workforce's knowledge will not only keep morale high but also retain their most valuable staff.

So the decision to invest in corporate learning management is the easy part; choosing the path forward with the right LMS is much more complex. However, the decision can be made easier by evaluating your organization's specific needs.

Three Points Of Consideration When Picking A Learning Management System

1. Audience

When considering “who” to train, it's often a multi-prong approach.

• Professional Staff - Most likely, your skilled staff will be required to work remotely 100% of the time. Your professional staff will benefit from self-paced content from a broad spectrum of sources. Translating corporate-specific knowledge into easily understandable, short multimedia content will allow them to consume it on a variety of devices. Staff will also need some scheduled collaboration time facilitated by either a senior staff member or a contracted facilitator.
• Frontline Workers - Workers who must be physically present still need to acquire new knowledge to work safely in times like these. “Bitesize” courses that can be taken during breaks on a mobile device are a great option.
• Channel Partners - Often, businesses rely on a stable ecosystem of distributors, retailers, operators, etc., to effectively deliver their products and services to customers. Every one of these partners will need to reorient themselves to a new way to use their products effectively.
• Customers - Many businesses rely on a person-to-person orientation and ongoing continuing education to ensure their customers can safely and effectively operate their products. An excellent way to stay connected with your customers is by providing easy-to-consume digital training options with completion incentives.

2. Content

There are just as many training content sources as there are training needs.

• Company Specific - With the proliferation of social media video content, there is a broader acceptance of “non-produced” video. So companies should feel comfortable using their own staff to develop content around their proprietary needs.
• Legacy - Some companies have some prior content currently available in VHS, DVD, and even paper format. It can be relatively easy to convert these into web-based sources for distribution.
• Domain Specific - Whether it’s equipment in use or regulated procedures, there are often external sources that can quickly provide content to get a program up and running.
• Public - When there is a national health crisis or a similar broad-based need for information sharing, a corporate LMS can be a valuable tool to ensure your valuable staff are receiving and understanding the new activities and procedures their local authorities are requesting they follow.
  
  

3. Delivery 

A company needs an effective way to deliver content to its staff for it to be useful.

• “Homegrown” systems - These are an appealing option for companies wanting to maintain finite control without taking on significant ongoing expenses, but their programs can become outdated and ineffective.
• Custom-Built - Similar appeal to DIY systems, but will require a similar level of expense and will not benefit from upgrades funded by multiple LMS clients. 
• Multi-tenant Solution - Is an excellent compromise, providing a custom-branded solution while leveraging a platform that delivers ongoing upgrades.
• Industry Platform - Usually, the least expensive option is to buy “seats” on an industry-based or general public LMS platform.  Most provide content in a fairly generic format and usually require employees to jump between platforms. 

Deciding Which Learning Management System Options Work For Your Brand

All of these options have merits that should be analyzed in light of your specific needs. Brandmovers offers a broad range of options to help any company navigate this new (and urgent) need.

Brandmovers has been operating LMS programs internationally and currently operates within the University system in the United Kingdom, with a USP (Accreditation with Universities). We can bring this pedigree to your organization for a fraction of the cost of legacy providers.

Our experienced staff can consult with your leadership team to review your needs regarding audience, content, and delivery. We can help you develop a budget and a phased approach to get you up and running quickly and address your most pressing needs. 

 Contact the learning management system experts at Brandmovers today!