As I keep meeting many of my prospects, I always confront a very common question, “Can you help us to understand how we can maximize the Return on Investment (ROI) of our LMS?” The question indirectly extends to how can we calculate the ROI of an LMS and highlight the positive outcomes of it. Practically, there is no direct method to calculate the exact return on investment of an LMS, but by following certain generic principles; one can surely maximize the ROI. Based on my LMS sales experience and extensive interaction with our clients, I would like to share 5 tips on how can you maximize the ROI of your LMS investment.
Maintaining proper communication about new LMS from top executives to new employees is critical to the success of the LMS. Balancing content delivered and the learning audience is one of the most delicate and important operations within LMS services. First, avoid the pitfall of introducing your employees to the LMS by forcing them to use the system for mandatory training. When employees first experience your LMS for mandatory purposes, it is hard for them to see the value that the system can bring to them. Instead, a feeling of burden to their workload may develop in the employees. Be sure to convey the benefits that the LMS can offer to them, and back that with content that will help them better perform their roles and responsibilities and advance in their career.
Engaging learner through eLearning is always a challenge. To ensure that learner spends quality & productive time on e-learning portal, it is important to implement instructionally sound, easy to navigate content that is relevant to an employee’s job and essential skill set. You can also consider implementing online courses that provide opportunities to earn some credit which can be redeemed later-on, as this will encourage employees eager to advance in their careers to sign up for a series of courses.
The younger generation of learners is more inclined towards Blog, Facebook, Twitter and instant access to information on the Internet, preferring self-paced web-based training, available anywhere and anytime. Providing training comprised of variety of learning styles will be appreciated by employees, resulting in greater interest in the learning content offered. Over the years, employees enjoy the opportunity to choose from alternate forms of training, and multiple ways to access it, ultimately enhancing their post-training performance. Hence, Social Learning plays a vital role in engaging learners more on the portal & justifying the ROI with effective learning & information sharing.
Arm your employees to evaluate and rate their learning experience through the LMS. Encourage them to provide feedback as to how valuable the course has been to their professional improvement as well as how well it provided the knowledge needed to carry out their daily tasks.
Administering surveys are quite simple and render crucial information when used effectively. Questions like - “How important to your job is the knowledge or skill presented in this course?” OR “How often will you use the assigned course(s)?” or can shed light on how applicable the services in the LMS are to your employees. Positive survey results can also be used to encourage other employees to use LMS more actively for improving their learning experience.. Going an extra mile ahead of surveys, you can publish success stories and anecdotal feedback gathered from interviews or interaction, which will depict a well-deserved positive picture of your LMS.
To summarize, putting efforts in the initial phases of LMS introduction and assuring that the LMS is instructionally sound, will maximize the effective utilization of the LMS. A successful LMS is one that maintains a balance between the content that is presented and the learners. Other elements to ensure that your LMS is invaluable to your organization include incorporating course evaluation methods, customization and branding, adding resources and help support information, an effective communication campaign, and capability to collect metrics and measure effective usage. These along with a dedicated organizational willingness and well trained employees is truly the perfect recipe for your LMS program success and maximizing the ROI of the LMS. I would like to know your opinion and experience in maximizing ROI of your LMS.