Take an Educated Approach to Developing an LMS Strategy

Build an LMS strategy based on corporate objectives and L&D goals by considering the four pillars: content, people, process, and technology.

ANALYST PERSPECTIVE

Not sure where to start? Take a multidisciplinary approach to LMS.

"We are seeing a fundamental shift in learning and development. Organizations are recognizing the value of L&D, and now more than ever are focusing on employee learning and engagement. This is transforming learning from a ‘nice-to-have’ to a ‘must-have.’ As a result, organizations are embracing technology as a way to achieve corporate and L&D objectives.

The use cases for LMS are evolving. No longer is LMS just a replacement for manual training tracking, but it is a key element of engaging employees in learning. Organizations that are seeing success with LMS are embracing a more unified approach to learn as an organization as well as individually. Integrate LMS with other technology to drive valuable insights and get ahead of the talent war.

A multidisciplinary approach is the answer. Jumpstart your LMS project now by creating a sound strategy infused with best practices."

Jenna Schroeder,

Research Manager, Enterprise Applications

Info-Tech Research Group

Framing the project

This Research Is Designed For:

• IT and application managers that are tasked with supporting the business through the creation of an LMS strategy.
• Human resources professionals, training and development specialists, and organizational development specialists responsible for learning mechanism design and delivery.

This Research Will Also Assist:

• Organizations looking to develop an LMS strategy to achieve organizational goals associated with learning and development.

This Research Will Help You:

• Make the business case for assessing the appropriateness of an LMS solution.
• Audit the inventory of learning and estimate the current learning costs.
• Create a business model to identify project barriers and enablers, as well as HR and IT objectives.
• Evaluate solution alternatives in regards to people, process, technology, and content.

This Research Will Help Them:

• Create a common LMS understanding between IT, HR, and business stakeholders.
• Offer guidance on how to translate learning and development needs into LMS technology requirements.

Executive Summary

Situation

• Application managers and HR professionals are tasked with leveraging a learning management solution to foster a learning culture at their organization. In today’s rapidly changing business environment, the need for more effective and flexible learning and development has become more significant. In the 2015 Mclean & Company Trends Survey, organizations ranked learning and development their number one priority.

Complication

• Organizations often have difficulty with increasing internal course participation, measuring training effectiveness, and increasing training accessibility. Processes are often manual, resulting in wasted time, resources, and a lack of traceability and visibility between departments.

Resolution

• A strong learning and development strategy that leverages a learning management solution will increase L&D efficiencies, develop in-house talent, thus providing a competitive advantage to organizations in today’s talent war.
• Take a step back and create a business model that considers the learning needs of HR, IT, and the business. Strive for a holistic strategy and avoid compartmentalized efforts.
• Understand your use case. Identify your organization’s goals and L&D objectives to choose the LMS use case that is most aligned with your learning needs.
• Identify your solution alternatives across people, processes, technology, and content. Create a comprehensive roadmap, prioritizing initiatives and identifying dependencies.
• Devise a plan for implementation. Effectively communicate changes to and put mechanisms in place to ensure effective LMS governance.

Info-Tech Insight

1. Right-size your LMS solution. Avoid underinvesting or overbuying from the start. LMSs come in all shapes and sizes: don’t buy functions you don’t need.

2. Identify your LMS use case from the start to focus your strategy and filter your needs.

3. A disjointed and departmentalized approach to learning will inevitably fail. Ensure you have a holistic LMS strategy through the necessary convergence of people, process, technology, and content.

Reference our frequently used acronyms

LMS Learning Management System

LCMS Learning & Content Management System

LRS Learning Record Store

L&D Learning and Development

RFP Request for Proposal

SaaS Software as a Service

HRIS Human Resource Information System

Businesses must equip themselves with the tools necessary to build their human capital potential

4 million baby boomers are leaving the workforce each year. (U.S. Federal Government)

Less than half of HR leaders are confident in finding new talent to fill positions at their companies. (Financial Post)

Organizations need new strategies and better ways to develop their existing employees.

The number of organizations that see corporate training as highly important is rapidly increasing.

However...

The number of organizations that are ready to address this pertinent problem are decreasing.

(Deloitte Human Capital Report, 2015)

Increase the effectiveness of learning and development functions by investing in HR operations and infrastructure

Learning and development functions, leadership, management, and employee development, and onboarding, comprise the top three HR priorities by area. HR operations and infrastructure rank the most effective function in contributing to overall HR effectiveness.

Organizations can increase learning and development effectiveness and respond to HR priorities by implementing supporting HR systems and processes.

Top HR Priorities by Area

1. Leadership/Management Development
2. Employee Development
3. Onboarding
4. Coaching
5. Goal Setting
6. Performance Appraisals
7. Engagement Strategy & Assessments
8. Engagement Action Plans

Most Effective Functions in Driving Overall HR Effectiveness

1. HR Operations & Infrastructure
2. Total Compensation
3. Employee Engagement
4. Talent Acquisition
5. HR Strategy
6. Learning & Development
7. Performance Management
8. Talent Management

Source: Understand Top HR Trends and Priorities for 2016.

Respond to trends in learning and development to keep at pace with your competition

Organizations are recognizing the need to engage their talent and develop their next generation of leaders. Don’t fall behind. Leverage LMS to optimize your performance support and competency development functions.

#1 emerging HR trend for 2014 and 2015 was reported to be developing the next generation of leaders.

On the list of most frequently implemented HR trends of 2014 and 2015, the incorporation of e-learning into organizational learning and development ranked #1

"Management often hesitates to invest in learning because they’re worried that after employees are trained, they’ll leave. But what they don’t think of is, even worse, what if they don’t, and they stay? Today’s best CEOs are saying, ‘I’m afraid of losing talent, so I’m going to invest in them.’" – John Roberts, Learning & Development Architect, Info-Tech Research Group

Leverage L&D as a strategic HR function to deliver on organizational priorities

Even though L&D has been at the top of projected HR priorities and spending, according to McLean & Company’s HR Trends and Priorities for 2016 survey, L&D programs often fail to deliver on their intended objectives.

28% of non-HR respondents thought that their Learning & Development function was effective.

32% of HR respondents thought that their Learning & Development function was effective.

97% of organizations reported the increased efficiency of training content and increased employee performance due to LMS.

Learning & Development programs are often piecemeal and are not created in alignment with the needs of the organization. Leverage LMS to simplify workflows, increase learning accessibility, and contribute to L&D becoming a strategic function of HR.

The LMS technology market is growing as organizations, big and small, see the urgent need to streamline employee development

The Learning & Development Market

From 2014 to 2015 the learning and development market has grown by 14%.

Learning Technology Market

From 2014 to 2015 the learning technology market grew by 27%.

Source: Deloitte Human Capital Report, 2015

4 Billion Dollar Market

LMS Isn’t Just for Large Organizations

80% of large organizations and 30.8% of small organizations use LMS.

Large - 80.0%

Mid - 49.1%

Small - 30.8%

Source: BizLibrary

Don’t make the common mistake of procuring an LMS before creating a strategy

When embarking on an LMS project, use Info-Tech’s approach to creating an LMS strategy to address the five critical success factors below. Gain management buy-in to secure funding, define your requirements to right-size the solution, and implement control mechanisms and a governance plan.

KEY SUCCESS FACTORS

1. Secure Executive Sponsorship
2. Define Clear Requirements
3. Secure a Sufficient Budget
4. Create a Communication Plan
5. Implement Governance Plan

Source: Capabiliti

"A lot of organizations get an LMS and think a strategy will emerge from the tool. When they do this, the LMS strategy is delinked from the broader organization’s strategy. Organizations who are using LMS really well ask, ‘how do I link the LMS strategy to the broader objectives of the organization?’ Think about your people. Think about the learning value of the content. Think about your analytics strategy."

– John Roberts,

Learning & Development Architect,

Info-Tech Research Group

Act now to realize the benefits of a learning management system

SAVINGS

Eliminate the unnecessary training costs due to traveling.

Reduce in-class training hours and limit productivity loss.

Manage the cost of training by centralizing training efforts.

EFFICIENCY

Train multiple people at once.

Ensure consistent training throughout the organization.

Reduce manual work by automating the registration, deployment, and tracking of training.

INSIGHT

Pull reports on who has and who hasn’t completed training.

Track learning progress.

Tie training to performance and measure the impact.

FLEXIBILITY

Empower employees to learn when they want.

Empower employees to learn where they want.

Empower employees to learn what they want.

Create an LMS strategy that aligns with the business goals and objectives

Successful strategy creation is determined by the ability to support the business and drive tactical business objectives. Step one is to understand corporate and L&D objectives. Most organizations use LMS for one or a combination of the use cases below. Understand your learning vision to align your LMS strategy appropriately.

LMS Use Case

• Performance
• Knowledge
• Compliance

Compliance Training

Regulatory, legal, or industry-standard compliance training, or certification renewal mandated by the government or organization.

Performance Support

Job-specific training intended to develop soft or hard skills, including management and leadership skills. Performance support training is intended to enhance existing competencies and develop new skills.

Knowledge Management

The sharing, distribution, and curation of knowledge throughout the organization. Centralizing organizational knowledge provides information and insight to help an organization learn as an organization rather than individually.

Take an educated approach to learning: consider content, people, process, and technology

Why this approach?

1. Achievable & Realistic A strategy is critical for the creation of an achievable learning vision through technology. Info-Tech’s strategy will assist you in taking a holistic and educated approach to LMS.
2. Right-Sized Solution Often organizations buy an LMS that is siloed and disconnected. Organizations fail to consider their long-term objectives, limiting the benefits of an LMS solution.
3. Organizational Alignment For a successful LMS implementation, it is necessary to align LMS objectives with corporate and L&D goals. Achieve buy-in and ensure user adoption by aligning your LMS strategy with the business.

An organization built an LMS strategy on the pillars of content, people, process, and technology to save $5 million

CASE STUDY

Industry Air Transport

Source Info-Tech External Research Interview

Situation

Greater Toronto Airport Association (GTAA) manages and operates several organizations, including Toronto Pearson International Airport, and Fire & Emergency Services Training Institute (FESTI). A large driver for the LMS project was cost reduction. The organization was experiencing pains with the current decentralized approach to learning. Accessibility and flexibility were two pertinent issues that created the need for LMS.

Solution

GTAA took a holistic approach to creating an LMS strategy by considering content, people, process, and technology. By assessing their current learning environment, GTAA identified the need to provide 24/7 self-service learning. GTAA delegated content development by department, and centralized process ownership and e-Learning design in HR. GTAA deployed an on-premise LMS that is housed and maintained within IT. To avoid duplication in record-keeping, GTAA strategically integrated the LMS with the HRIS.

Results

It is estimated that the LMS resulted in $5 million in savings, contributed to by reduced costs related to facilitator pay, travel time and cost, reduction of overtime employee pay, and productivity gained.

The Enterprise Information Management Initiative included the following components

Follow Info-Tech’s approach to develop your LMS strategy

Info-Tech offers various levels of support to best suit your needs

DIY Toolkit

“Our team has already made this critical project a priority, and we have the time and capability, but some guidance along the way would be helpful.”

Guided Implementation

“Our team knows that we need to fix a process, but we need assistance to determine where to focus. Some check-ins along the way would help keep us on track.”

Workshop

“We need to hit the ground running and get this project kicked off immediately. Our team has the ability to take this over once we get a framework and strategy in place.”

Consulting

“Our team does not have the time or the knowledge to take this project on. We need assistance through the entirety of this project.”

Diagnostics and consistent frameworks used throughout all four options

LMS strategy project overview

LMS strategy workshop overview

Contact your account representative or email Workshops@InfoTech.com for more information.

Phase 1

Visualize the Project

Take an Educated Approach to Developing an LMS Strategy