By Rohit Bhargava
Many human resource management teams are facing the daunting task of teaching cultural awareness and sensitivity in order to accommodate the growing ethnic diversity taking place in many corporate environments.
In order to make the drastic overhaul of higher level management easy and efficient, a system needs to be implemented that cohesively trains employees without detracting from their everyday duties. Enacting a learning management system (LMS) is a trusted method used by both corporations and academic institutions to relay large amounts of information. In fact, according to eLearning Market Online Learning Statistics, over 70% of U.S. based companies use eLearning for corporate training and professional development.
If you’re wondering what makes an LMS ideal for diversity training, read on to discover the benefits eLearning has to offer your corporate culture.
Access From Anywhere in the World
In many businesses, upper level management and corporate leaders often spend time travelling for their work. In other companies, employees are allowed to work remotely. To ensure that everyone has access to all essential training materials and company data, a cloud-based, versatile LMS is required.
While there are installed LMS solutions, they aren’t as flexible as some hosted systems. With a cloud-based eLearning system, your company can offer training to any employee with an internet connection and a mobile device. Although there is no internal network security, some systems offer a secure connection for easy access from home or work. There is also the added benefit of using the online hosting space to store company data, eliminating the need for physical, on-site hardware.
An important note when installing an LMS for multiple device compatibility entails ensuring that your LMS provider has implemented adaptive technologies, so that courses and training programs are user friendly, even on mobile devices.
Employee Engagement
According to the US Department of Labor, the turnover rate among American businesses was 3% in April of 2016. Over 4 million people quit, were laid off, or got fired. Over 50% of those who left their jobs claimed that insufficient training and employee-management engagement drove them away.
With management level employees, it can be especially difficult to engage them into training. Demand Media asserts that upper management generally opposes training because they are too much of an integral part of business workflow and believe that removing them from the work environment is more detrimental than letting them continue to work without additional training.
To circumvent the arguments of management, employing an eLearning system allows them the freedom to train at their convenience. Moreover, many learning management systems include incentivized lessons, gamified to engage and track users. By evoking friendly competition and providing your team with a sense of achievement, even upper management will acquiesce to further training.
JIT Learning
The flexibility of an LMS training program lends itself to “just-in-time” learning. JIT learning is the belief that taking employees away from work to sit through classroom training is obsolete. Instead, the use of self-guided tutorial courses—like those easily created in an LMS—are a better way to keep employees informed about whatever new responsibilities their job entails.
This newest training method can be especially useful when training upper management, as it gives them the opportunity to learn only what they need to know in an efficient manner. Users can even customize their training to fit their preferred needs, allowing for higher information retention. In fact, with each user’s customized training program, your management employees can more easily share their relevant experiences in a shared library.
A secondary bonus to using an LMS for JIT training includes the reduction of funds spent on employee travel and education costs in remote seminars or conventions. By appropriating educational information digitally, team members can access insights and knowledge previously on available in meetings, seminars, and other business retreats.
Innumerable Applications
While learning management systems can be invaluable when training employees, its other uses are just as beneficial. Many companies use LMS to track employee progress, host all their data in one place, interact with customers, and more. Find the LMS system that fits your company’s needs and witness your company transform into an efficient, well-trained machine.
Rohit Bhargava is an SEO specialist with over 6 years of experience as an industry expert. He has used an integrative LMS to enhance his growth at his current position and facilitate better upper-level communication with team members. When he’s not busy with work, he enjoys reading literature and spending time with his family.
