Is an LMS system what the organization needs?
The need to disseminate knowledge within the organization is not met by merely purchasing an LMS system. That is a misconception. IT providers are put in difficult positions when the installed solution is not perceived to meet the company’s needs. Education is not carried out by the system itself. We find that companies that have purchased advanced solutions often lack the preparedness or knowledge of how the process should be managed.
Is there a map of the organization reflected in the system?
The first and most common mistake made when implementing an LMS system is not reflecting the organization and its competency needs in the structure. We have seen several large companies that, after a while, have lost control over who has attended their course portfolio. This is due to not initially reflecting on the organizational structure where teams, roles, and the managerial structure are not represented. Connecting the HR system to the LMS system to have a continuous update of employees and their organizational affiliation is a requirement to keep the structure up-to-date.
Who creates the content?
The perhaps biggest problem is the question of who will provide the system with content. If the project is driven by the IT department, a governance structure is usually in place where the person responsible for content within the organization is defined already in the project stage. Someone from the finance department is responsible for financial training, someone from the marketing and communication department for internal communication, and so on.
The problem is that these individuals often lack the knowledge of how to prepare and produce content, and in almost all cases, we have found that companies have not allocated time, money, or other resources to develop relevant content. The HR department usually ends up taking over, and an onboarding course is usually the result.
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“3 Steps to Structure Your E-Learning Course into Micro-Courses”
A Learning Organization?
Building a learning organization requires more than just a system. To begin with, course content must align with needs, needs that originate from the organization itself. Not from the management. Attempting to centrally control a learning organization and “push out” courses that people “must take” is destined to fail. The driving force for the organization to want to educate themselves is the starting point, which also requires that the content follows this inherent drive. If there is no readiness to both follow the need and rapidly populate the system with relevant content, the initiative will perish, as we, unfortunately, observed in nine out of ten cases.
Is it worth the investment?
Most organizations do not consider the ongoing maintenance costs associated with an LMS system beyond the initial IT investment. These costs go beyond just the course development expenses. The largest component, apart from course production, is the time the organization spends consuming the content. Let’s say a course takes an hour of each employee’s time who needs to take it. Multiply that by the number of employees and factor in both direct costs and productivity loss. The investment for each course becomes significant.
This also highlights the fact that poorly structured and produced content can become very costly in the long run. Creating an ROI calculation as a template for the organization is a good foundation, and it’s important to include potential benefits in the calculation. For instance, time savings and reduction in quality-related costs could be included in the analysis.
These are just a few of the aspects that need to be considered when investing in building a learning organization. If you’re solely focused on buying a “good LMS system” to address the company’s training needs, it’s time to rethink your approach. Among the LMS systems available in the market, all are capable of managing e-learning courses. However, that shouldn’t be your primary focus.
Patrik Löfvin
NXT Learning
