5 Must-Have LMS Features To Ensure Return On Investment

• 4 min read

As with most things in life, you get what you pay for – your learning technology solution is no different. 

Just as you wouldn’t buy a car with missing parts because it was the cheaper option, it’s important to assess your learning technology solution, understanding how its various components work together to provide the most value for your investment (and so you wont regret the decision down the line!).

With 68% of L&D leaders focusing on aligning learning with business goals in 2019*, investing in a top-notch learning platform, powered by a robust LMS with a social learning environment, is the best way to uncover the most value in your learning activities. 

As someone who spends most of your time in the platform, it’s important that it’s both easy to use and will help you reach your organization’s learning objectives. Indeed, the LMS is a key pillar to an effective learning technology offering, so what should you be looking for in an ideal solution?

Here’s a breakdown of the top 5 LMS features you should invest in to maximize ROI and smash your enterprise learning goals.

1) Integration With Existing Business Software Platforms

Regardless of the learning platform you settle on, it’s important to ensure that its LMS supports integrations, specifically with technologies that your organization already uses. Without understanding how the LMS works with existing software solutions, you won’t be able to maximize its full potential, and you’ll create unnecessary logistical headaches. 

Your LMS shouldn’t be a silo – it should integrate with your HR software, CRM, social media, CMS, video conferencing tools, and identity management (i.e. Single Sign On). 

Make sure your vendor provides a variety of out-of-the-box, easy-to-implement integrations that fit within your existing business technology ecosystem.

2) Multiple Domains

As your business continues to grow, your learning platform needs to grow with you, ensuring you have a way to reach various learner audiences, both internally and externally. 

A Multi-Domain feature allows you to build different platforms for different audiences (i.e. customers or partners in extended enterprise scenarios) by assigning customized elements for each subdomain, including custom branding, from a central location.

The ability to have oversight of all platforms, while still providing a distinct interface for your different learner groups gives you more flexibility, while ensuring your learner audiences are getting the best user experience possible.

3) Effortless Reporting Model 

One of the most important objectives of any learning program is to collect and analyze data to best understand how your learners are using the programs you’ve deployed and whether or not they’re achieving the learning objectives you’ve set out. 

But capturing this data is only one part of the equation. The reporting capabilities your learning technology provides, and how that data is expressed, is key to uncovering the insights you need to improve your L&D programs and drive organizational success.

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4) Multiple Learning Formats

All users have their own style of learning, but it’s common knowledge that formal training isn’t always the best way to ensure that those lessons stick. 

Learners now expect their learning experiences to be accessible on mobile devices, to include elements of gamification, and to support social learning, which allows them to collaborate with fellow learners and facilitate learning in the flow of work.

To get the most out of learners, you must build value and enjoyment in the content that they are consuming.

With this in mind, deploying an LMS that plays nicely with an accompanying social learning environment opens up multiple ways for learners to share and absorb knowledge, engage with content and apply it all to their work. Additionally, the social learning component of your learning platform helps you identify internal subject matter experts (SMEs) and understand how their contributions could elevate your formal learning activities by “formalizing the informal.”

5) Personalized Learning

With numerous one-size-fits-all learning solutions available, it can be tempting to opt for the easy route, but personalizing the learning experience to your learner’s needs will reward you in the long run by increasing engagement.  

Though efforts can be made to do this manually, learning platforms leveraging the power of artificial intelligence (AI) will grow to understand each learner’s behaviour and create experiences that are personalized and completely immersive. 

Engagement levels and course completion rates are closely linked, so elevating the learner experience is key to achieving your learning goals. 

The Bottom Line

Not all learning platforms are made equally, so understanding the best LMS features for you is an important part of the decision making process. 

With such advances in technology at your fingertips, make sure to take the time to match your budget with your business needs, and be prepared to get what you pay for. 

See how Docebo can help you smash your learning goals.

*2019 HCM Outlook Survey, Brandon Hall Group