5 Reasons Why Your Learning Management System Isn’t Working

You did the research, took part in multiple LMS platform demos, and met with your management team. You then presented them with the solution that will solve all of your employee training and onboarding problems, assuring them that the investment would be worth it. All of your existing content has been transferred onto this ‘revolutionary’ learning management system (LMS), but now the results are falling short of your expectations and promises, and you are scrambling to come up with reasons why the system is still worth the money.?

There are many reasons why your LMS might not be doing the trick. Here are the top 5.

Reason 1: Your LMS is being used as a glorified library and it’s gathering dust...?

"The core goal of an LMS should be centred around learning - not streaming."

Learning tech only works if your employees are engaging with it. A learning management system works if you’re only looking to host your existing learning content or simply want your learning content converted from a physical handbook to online reading material. However, this approach doesn’t facilitate learning and rarely creates an environment where people want to learn. If not reinforced, once-off training is easily forgotten. Ideally, learning content should be created and presented to help your employees become active learners and retain the knowledge they are taught.???

Reason 2: Standard E-learning doesn’t equal?effectiveness

Content creation is already expensive, and if learning content is only viewed once - as is the case with most learning systems - it can become an even costlier endeavour.? If your learning system does not nurture the learning journey and transform training to real learning through accountability and repetition, it will ultimately lead to a low Return on Learning Investment (ROLI).? The key to effective learning is repetition - in other words, you need to consistently show your employees content at tailored frequencies for it to be translated into their long-term memory and ignite action.

Reason 3: Metrics based on completion over subject mastery

If the only goal of a training program is that employees complete a course, anyone can easily skip through its modules. Most LMSs don’t offer the metrics that allow for the in-depth insights needed to see how often your learners are engaged, what they’re struggling with, what they’re excelling in or their level of knowledge retention. Rather than having to manually check in with your employees to see if they’re taking the time to learn, data-driven insights can increase accountability and transparency, while setting up tailored automated emails (that call the learner back to the platform) will leave you with more time to pay attention to those who need it the most. If you hope to create an environment in which employees are eager to learn and will truly benefit from what they are learning, keeping track of their individual growth and having the time to nurture it should be your top priority.

Reason 4: Employees are not engaging with the content

Simply put, learners who are not engaged do not learn. LMSs tend to be linear in their structure, leading to learning paths that are neither individualised nor intuitive. Although this may sound normal, when it comes to learning, a one-size-fits-all approach is sub-optimum. Every employee is different and your learning system should have the capability to adapt and tailor the delivery of content based on the existing knowledge of each learner.?

Engagement rates also tend to be higher when the content is fun and exciting. Online learning engagement can easily be taken to the next level by making use of gamification. Throughout the learning process, employees compete against one another for points, badges and higher positions on the leaderboard. Incentivising learning in the workplace can lead to an exponential increase in learning engagement.

Reason 5: It doesn’t bring learning into the flow of work

Most of the world’s workforce today is desk-less and spend the majority (if not all) of their time away from a computer. If online learning is only presented in long-format learning sessions and can only be accessed through desktops and laptops, how will the majority of the world’s workforce fit learning into their busy working lives??

The daily commute to work needs to change into a learning experience. If we want people to spend as much time learning as they do scrolling through Instagram and Facebook, any latent time needs to become microbursts of information, with an opportunity to empower and equip employees with the necessary and relevant knowledge needed to help them succeed. Everyone has the same amount of time and, in the age of information, this means everything is competing for it. If we don’t make learning as aspirational and exciting as everything else that is competing for their time, learning will not win.?

LMSs aren’t always mobile-friendly and content tends to be presented in a long format, meaning that employees won’t always have the time to learn or a computer to learn on, and they get bored quickly, resulting in less information being retained. Learning needs to be mobile-friendly, available on-demand, and comfortably fit into a work schedule through the use of microlearning - a method of learning that saves time and encourages the forming of a daily habit.

Choosing a platform that is both accessible and adaptive and uses engaging micro-content, will not only help change employees’ mindsets towards learning, prevent the end-of-year scurry to complete compliance-based courses and increase your return on your learning investment, but will also help your employees feel supported, confident and motivated to succeed.

Kobus Louw is the managing director and CEO of Digemy. After completing his honours degree in Mathematical Sciences at the University of Stellenbosch, Kobus pursued a career in credit risk, where he later became a specialist in credit risk modelling. With his modelling expertise and passion for education, mentorship and leadership development, he founded Digemy.com, an EdTech company that uses gamified, adaptive learning to increase learning retention, decrease the time spent learning and change human behaviour in a sustainable and scalable way. Kobus is extremely passionate about learning, South Africa and its people, and has made it his life goal, purpose and conviction to change the world through scalable education.?

www.digemy.com