Learning and development is a big deal. Get it right, and you can increase employee retention, engagement, and overall productivity. But what's the best way to get these critical learning materials in front of your employees?
Digital adoption platforms (DAPs) and learning management systems (LMSs) are two popular software solutions for employee learning and development. But Instead of using one the other, forward-thinking teams are using them together because they're a match made in heaven.
Let's explore how to pair up these products for a next-level digital employee experience.
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What do LMS and DAPs do?
LMS and DAPs are both employee onboarding tools. For the sake of clarity, let's look at
each one in a little more detail.
What is an LMS?
LMS stands for Learning Management System. They are also known as Learning Experience Systems. Businesses worldwide use LMSs to onboard new hires and teach various skills they use for the job. However, they are also helpful for additional learning and training for existing employees.
A typical LMS has three functions. They are a:
Repository of training content
Platform for delivering training
Reporting tool for tracking which employees have taken what training
While learning management systems have been around for a while, they have grown in popularity in recent years. Improved communication tools meant that remote work and geographically distributed teams were on the rise. Then COVID-19 came along, and these tools became more necessary.
These days, about 40% of Fortune 500 businesses use learning management systems to deliver employee training.
What is a DAP?
A digital adoption platform is automated software that is layered on top of target applications. These solutions help onboard new users and provide contextual assistance when navigating a website or application.
DAPs have also grown in popularity in recent years. While the bulk of use cases involve onboarding users and employees, they are also an excellent way to deliver all sorts of training.
Indeed, statistics show that more than one-third of employees leave new jobs within the first year. One of the determining factors is poor training and orientation. That's why employee onboarding SaaS solutions are so popular.
For more about how DAPs can help with employee onboarding, read this article.
The benefits and limitations of LMS software
Employee retention has become a hot-button issue for modern teams. Finding great new hires is difficult and expensive, so holding on to your star players is essential.
There are a lot of factors involved in onboarding new hires and getting them up to the point where they are productive. Good onboarding experiences are crucial for providing the support employees need to bed in and thrive.
But LMS solutions are also crucial for your existing workers. Learning and development are essential elements of retention. The quality and accessibility of training materials can determine the overall digital experience for your employees.
On top of that, there is a big trend toward digital training among increasingly remote workforces. LMS solutions meet these needs.
Advantages of LMS tools
Some of the significant advantages of using an LMS include:
Compliance: Regulatory frameworks are becoming more complex and stricter by the day. An LMS can ensure your employees have the training they need while you have the reports to prove they have completed any necessary learning.
Flexibility: If you're delivering training via video or written material, it can become outdated quickly. An LMS lets you update your training and keep it relevant, fresh, and engaging.
Accessibility: LMS solutions allow for training on-demand. No more rounding up the team for a training day. Your employees can access the training anytime, anywhere. This situation is perfect for an era of remote work. It also means they can continually access learning materials.
Disadvantages of LMS tools
However, there are some issues with LMS solutions that you need to contend with too.
Some of the drawbacks of using an LMS include:
Cost: Some LMS solutions are relatively expensive to license, particularly if they offer many options and flexibility.
Engagement: While an LMS will make your learning and development materials accessible, it's not always the best way for everyone to learn. Passive videos or courses struggle to hold the attention of modern employees.
Indirect: Another problem with LMS is that the training is indirect. Unlike using a DAP, learning happens away from the program. This abstraction means that employees need to learn in a “hands-off” way, which can reduce the engagement, effectiveness, and memorability of the training materials.
Worse still, the process can lead to time-wasting and inefficiency because colleagues with hands-on experience may be required to demonstrate how the software works in addition to the LMS training.
Course creation: Building training courses take a lot of time and expertise. If you operate in a fast-moving regulatory environment, keeping your training materials current can take a lot of work.
How DAPs solve problems with LMS and boost employee training
In some situations, a DAP can totally replace an LMS. However, depending on your business, the complexity of your training, or your compliance obligations, you can use the two tools together to create an excellent digital employee experience.
So, let's explore how you can use a DAP like Usetiful to improve your employee training.
#1. Onboard users to your LMS
So you've rolled out a brand new LMS full of exciting features. That's great, but how do you ensure all your employees adopt the software? The easiest way is to use an employee onboarding solution.
Using a digital adoption solution like Usetiful can help your employees get familiar with your LMS. Some of these learning solutions are pretty complex. For larger teams, it's hard to give good training at scale. A DAP offers a self-service solution that allows team members to understand the flow of their new software tool quickly.
You can use tooltips or hotspot beacons to highlight features or even build an interactive product tour to show new users around. DAPs offer the flexibility and customization options that some of the more cost-effective LMS tools lack, meaning your team can save money on licenses.
#2. Augment your LMS lesson with a DAP
Learning and development are essential. However, one of the big problems that teams encounter is the Forgetting Curve. Unfortunately, we forget as much as 75% of the things that we learn after just a day. However, DAPs offer an excellent solution to this problem.
After an employee has taken a course or watched a training video, you can use a DAP to overlay some of that material within your software stack. Again, you can keep it subtle and use tooltips or offer something more comprehensive. By doubling up this information, your staff can reinforce what they've learned in the LMS within the context of their daily workflow.
#3. Learning by doing
In point #2, we highlighted how the Forgetting Curve means we don't hold onto the things we learn. However, if we learn by doing, we're far more likely to remember things. This is the guiding principle of employee onboarding software.
While specific types of learning and development need to take place outside an app, some of the most useful and memorable guidance takes place as you use it. We've all experienced how getting hands-on can turn theory into knowledge.
DAPs are far more than just tools for onboarding employees. You can also use them to boost training for all your employees. You can use tooltips, checklists, and interactive product tours to show how the features and functions of your software stack connect to the concepts that your employees learn.
The big difference is that they can practice and explore as they learn. This means the information sticks, and productivity goes up.
#4. Use help bots to link to your LMS
If you use a digital adoption tool like Usetiful, you can already connect your app to various additional materials. For example, employees can access FAQs, knowledge bases, or help documents. However, by connecting to your LMS, you can take that a step further.
Let's say you have a collection of training materials on various subjects. You can use a DAP to provide hotspots for certain features. If an employee is stuck or unsure about what to do, they can click a link to be transported to your LMS. This type of on-demand learning is a great way to marry the benefits of a DAP with your LMS.
#5. Get better feedback
Learning and development is a constant process for employees. Similarly, your learning and development materials are never truly finished. There is always something new to add or ways to fine-tune each lesson or guide.
The best way to improve your learning and development materials is by getting feedback from those who use your LMS. Usetiful allows you to create surveys within your LMS and efficiently collect the scores.
You can use the Reports function to learn more about where your users are engaged, where they're switching off, or compile your employee's answers to open-ended questions.
#6. Cater to different learning styles
As anyone involved in learning or education knows, people learn differently. Some people are very visual thinkers, while others prefer verbal instructions. Using an LMS alongside a DAP means that you can offer various learning solutions to meet the diverse needs of your employees.
For example, you can use your LMS for comprehensive deep dives into a variety of subjects, with your DAP catering toward more visual, intuitive learners. There is no wrong way to achieve employee productivity. It's about having flexible learning and onboarding tools for new employees.
Final thoughts
Learning management systems have become a big part of the modern employee experience. You can use these tools as part of your over digital employee onboarding and subsequent learning and development. However, these solutions can require a significant investment.
Employee onboarding software like Usetiful ensures you get a satisfactory ROI from your LMS. They can help you:
Onboard employees to your LMS
Augment learning
Improve your training with feedback
Cater to different learning styles
Drive employee productivity.
While some organizations use a DAP for their entire learning and development process, when you use both employee onboarding platforms together, they can become more than the sum of their parts.
Get in touch today to find out more.