The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn.
Alvin Toffler (Writer, Futurist, Businessman)
Skill development used to be optional, a fill-in for employees who had free time on their hands. It then grew to become a mandatory aspect of keeping their jobs. Today, L&D is both voluntary and necessary, and the way you make learning available to your employees must keep up with their demands.
The digital nature of learning today calls for solutions that allow organizations to disseminate knowledge efficiently at a large scale. Enter, online learning platforms for businesses. While they have been a revolutionary way of helping employees upskill, they have actually been failing to do it effectively.
Traditional online learning platforms for businesses aren’t designed to be effective in an organizational setting. Let’s explore this further.
Why Would an Online Learning Platform Fail Your Organization?
81% of employees said that the online learning their organization provided helped them be better at their work.
However, 75% of employers were unable to find workers equipped with the right skills
74% of CEOs admitted to skills being the biggest bottleneck in growth.
Clearly, there is a disconnect between what an online learning platform for business is expected to achieve and the results that are actually surfacing.
Implementation of a LMS (Learning Management System), or an online learning platform, is one of the primary reasons for its failure:
Strategy Issues
Modern L&D initiatives go beyond being a blended or instructor-led program. Your business needs to ditch the static learning methods typical of a traditional online learning platform and strategize to align L&D with goals, involve stakeholders, and manage the learning properly for it to bear fruit.
Interface Issues
Ease of use has a tremendous impact on learning and satisfaction. Traditional online learning platforms typically come with legacy interfaces that lack intuitiveness and fluidity of design. It works to increase the time taken to access learning, which is a deterrent to learning motivation.
Integration Issues
Most traditional online learning platforms for Business are designed as standalone systems with limited connectivity. They have their own internal systems and tools, and it is often challenging to have them communicate with other L&D systems at your enterprise.
Support Issues
You typically acquire access to online learning technology through vendors. One of the key reasons for the failure of these platforms is inadequate support for implementation, troubleshooting, integrations, and upgrades.
Content Quality Issues
Readymade, out-of-the-box learning modules may fall short of expected quality for companies that do not create their own learning content. Learning is only as good as the resources, which makes content quality a key driver of online learning success or failure.
Traditional Online Learning Platforms: A Non-Business Design
The limitations of traditional online learning platforms become evident when compared to the needs of modern businesses.
Here’s a breakdown of why these platforms fall short in today’s dynamic learning environment:
Traditional Platform Design: Traditional online learning platforms were initially designed as static repositories where users could access and download learning resources.
Self-Motivation Dependent: These platforms primarily relied on the learner’s self-motivation and willingness to engage with the content.
Limited Flexibility: While these platforms streamlined the process of training, they lacked the flexibility employees needed to manage their learning according to their own schedules.
Static and Non-Adaptive: Static platforms struggle to continuously adapt to the evolving needs of learners or adjust to an employee’s best learning times, making them less effective for modern businesses.
Restricted Interactivity: Although traditional platforms provided some interactive learning, the underlying technology limits the delivery of this knowledge, making it rigid and less useful today.
Incompatibility with Modern Business Needs: Building additional features on these old technologies doesn’t address the dynamic needs of businesses or employees, as these platforms fail to inspire engagement or foster continuous learning.
The Need for Modern Solutions: Modern L&D success requires flexible, dynamic platforms that support skill development and adaptability, aligning with business goals and offering more than static resource access.
Shift in Approach: Instead of viewing online learning platforms for Business as mere tools, businesses should consider L&D as an integrated practice that needs holistic technological solutions tailored for organizational learning and development.
Essential, Cutting-Edge Features Businesses Need In L&D
As traditional online learning platforms for Business fell short of their objective in a business setting, new LMS or L&D systems were innovated.
These solutions now introduce cutting-edge features and hyper-versatility into the learning landscape, which makes them flexible and adaptive to employees’ needs. It helps businesses create and track the impact on their bottom lines.
Alt: Impact of L&D on various aspects of an employee, expressed in percentage
Adaptive Learning and Assessment
With an emphasis on Diversity and Inclusion in contemporary corporate culture, adaptivity tools are an essential feature of the modern L&D solution. These tools empower employees to take training courses and assessments at their own pace and preferences, reinforcing the overall learning impact.
Giving employees an equal stage is crucial for a workforce to function as a single unit, driving an organization forward. Your company’s L&D initiatives need to reflect consideration for special learners and empower them to contribute their full potential to organizational and personal growth.
Analytics and AI
AI has proliferated almost every single business operation today, including L&D. Data collected from ongoing training enables businesses to see, in metrics and numbers, the success of courses, modules, workshops, training programs, etc. individually. These analytics are crucial to removing bottlenecks and inefficiencies from existing content and programs and making them more impactful and relevant.
The integration of AI in the learning ecosystem also enables a regular overview of the training content for its compliance readiness, efficacy, update, etc. It helps keep the training dynamic and up to date with industry standards, practices, skill demands, and innovations.
Integrability
With the increase in digitization, most business operations are now run from a screen. A traditional, standalone online learning platform is not enough to provide a business with the complete picture of L&D initiatives.
Modern L&D solutions provide exemplary integration with enterprise systems such as HRM (Human Resource Management Systems), employee forums, company calendars, resource allocation software, and more. It facilitates data exchange and makes the L&D solution better integrated with business operations.
Management can easily track the cost of training, manhours spent on learning, training progress of employees, etc. through a unified dashboard that pulls data from corresponding systems and collates it with the LMS analytics.
Scalability, Microlearning
One of the most important requirements of a business from its online learning platform is scalability. This capability is not limited to facilitating uninterrupted communication between LMS and other administrative systems but also to managing increased workloads.
Modern-day L&D systems need to allocate server resources according to learning demands smartly. They should be able to provide the computation power required to accommodate modern learning technologies like augmented and virtual reality. You should explore options that are deployable over the cloud and provide microlearning solutions for better scalability.
Microlearning makes Just-In-Time learning possible and comes in a modular package that employees can access for continuous learning. It is both deployable and consumable at scale.
Collaboration
As opposed to traditional online learning platforms, businesses today require collaborative environments on LMS systems where group learning can be conducted without hindrance. Collaboration tools in L&D systems make it possible for employees, employers, and training professionals to participate in group training from any corner of the world.
21st Century L&D: One Step Ahead of Essential Features
What should you look for in a modernized online learning platform for businesses? L&D today needs to be intentional, aligned with business goals, and mobile. There are five essential features you should place heavy weight on:
Learning Experiences
Modern learning solutions refocus away from delivering static courses towards delivering holistic learning experiences. They leverage AI to understand an employee’s learning patterns and provide them with personalized experiences that resonate with their preferences.
Employees can access a wide range of resources through continuous learning modules, including microlearning, on-demand courses, live training, etc. to suit specific learning needs. Modern platforms incorporate gamification such as leaderboards, shoutouts, badges, points, and rewards to enhance participation in learning and motivation towards completing a course.
These platforms also allow you to integrate your own learning content to make it more targeted.
Growth-Oriented Journeys
L&D today is not only about learning on-the-job skills. It emphasizes the overall personal growth and development of employees as individuals by creating personalized learning paths that align with individual aspirations. Using these tools, you can create IDPs that help employees set unique career goals for themselves and work upwards with self-motivation.
Modern tools incorporate milestone planning, tracking tools, and a supportive learning environment to encourage personal development. They leverage the principle of self-directed development that incorporates autonomy in learning, fosters competence and results in better learning satisfaction.
You may also find tracking and follow-up features in these tools that enable managerial teams to ensure their members are following through.
AI & Data
It isn’t enough to efficiently disseminate learning resources to your employees. In order for the learning to contribute towards organizational goals, you need to track the progress and monitor the impacts it is creating.
AI-powered data analytics is thus another essential feature that empowers your decision-making on course design, development, objectives, and progress. A comprehensive analysis of training data empowers the managerial staff and HR professionals to make data-driven decisions on creating a performant workforce.
Data is also crucial to link goals and employee performance through tracking metrics and monitoring progress through a course.
Technology and AI can only provide so much knowledge. For holistic learning and development of your workforce—both as employees and as individuals—human touch is necessary. Learning through experience is necessary. Therefore, coaching and mentoring integrated seamlessly into the L&D landscape can help you connect, develop, and engage your workforce effectively.
Mentoring sessions help your employees see new perspectives and explore new ideas guided by experienced, seasoned professionals of the industry. It drives employee engagement and participation in live mentorship programs or workshops.
Beyond facilitating modern technologies for the L&D ecosystem at your organization, it is crucial to ensure that these solutions tie back to your goals and objectives perfectly. Your organization can extract maximum ROI from L&D systems by aligning the individual features and capabilities to work in tandem with each other.
With that said, there can be several challenges you must navigate along the way. Let’s see what they are.
Challenges to Be Aware Of
Even with the best-fit LMS systems, organizations face certain challenges that require attention:
Fallout Rates are High
Training completion rates are a critical metric of success for corporations using online learning platforms for business. This is because completion rates reflect the relevance of a course and its effectiveness in helping employees reach their potential. Completion rates can decline if the courses introduced aren’t engaging or interactive.
Pay close attention to course completion rates to understand which courses have the highest and require a review. Leverage AI-powered content generators to research current trends and topics to help you create a course that employees would not leave hanging.
Additionally, you can mobilize enterprise-wide feedback forms and surveys to understand the cause behind high dropout rates.
Technology Is Misaligned
Oftentimes, while implementing a new tool, organizations get carried away with the advanced functionality of online learning platforms for business. This can create a significant challenge later on to align the tool with company objectives and make it work for its goals.
To navigate this challenge, it is important to internalize before searching for L&D solutions. Ask tough questions like “Where is the workforce lacking?” and compile a list of action items that you need your L&D solution to be able to do.
It helps to have a walkthrough session with your vendor to completely understand the nuances of using a new solution and to gauge its capability to manifest returns for your enterprise.
The Ecosystem Is Too Vast
In an attempt to create a new learning experience for your employees, it is easy to get overwhelmed by the interconnecting functionalities and features of your new solution. You run the risk of underutilizing a solution’s capabilities, simply because there is a lot that it can accomplish.
To avoid such situations, request vendor support and guidance in the contract for a few months after implementation to get the usage primed. Launch a steady stream of tutorials that demonstrate the correct usage of the tool to your employees in bite-sized modules.
You Have Legacy Systems
While most modern LMSs are capable of communicating with other systems implemented in your enterprise, they may not be friendly with legacy systems.
Older versions of enterprise software typically run outdated connectors and file formats. You may find it hard to establish a free flow of data between your LMS and HR system, for example, if your HR system belongs to older generations of technology.
This may entail more overhaul around your organization than previously planned.
Engagedly: Making Learning Adaptable and Functional for Enterprises
In today’s fast-paced business world, it is essential to implement a learning and development solution that integrates learning, experiences, growth, performance, and flexibility into a single package. Modern online learning platforms for business need to be as dynamic as the evolving skill demand in the market today.
Oriented towards creating a holistic learning environment, Engagedly has positioned itself as an adaptable employee experience platform. It unifies L&D with other key aspects of growth, such as rewards and recognition, talent mobility, engagement, and performance management. The platform allows you to consolidate the entirety of your talent management ecosystem and run them from a single hub.
Build a seamless learning ecosystem with complete visibility and control. Equip your talent managers with Engagedly’s robust L&D features to drive employee growth and performance. Explore more on our website today!
FAQs
Why is personalization important in online learning platforms for business?
Personalization helps employees learn at their own pace and focus on relevant topics, leading to better engagement, improved retention, and enhanced skills.
How do interconnectivity and integration enhance online learning platforms for business?
Integration with other systems, like HR software, provides insights into employee progress and ensures learning initiatives align with overall business objectives. Platforms like Engagedly go further by integrating learning with performance management, engagement, and talent mobility, creating a comprehensive solution that drives employee growth and organizational success.
How do online learning platforms for businesses improve employee engagement?
These platforms offer interactive and flexible learning experiences, which keep employees motivated and engaged in their professional development.
What features should online learning platforms for business include?
Key features include course customization, analytics, mobile access, integration with other enterprise tools, and support for various learning formats (e.g., video, quizzes).
Can online learning platforms for business be scaled for growing companies?
Yes, they are designed to scale with business needs, offering flexibility to add new courses, users, and integrations as the company grows. Platforms like Engagedly also integrate learning with other key areas such as performance management, talent mobility, and employee engagement, ensuring a holistic growth experience for businesses.
What role does AI play in online learning platforms for business?
AI can personalize learning paths, recommend courses based on user behavior, and analyze learning data to improve program effectiveness.
Srikant Chellappa is the Co-Founder and CEO at Engagedly and is a passionate entrepreneur and people leader. He is an author, producer/director of 6 feature films, a music album with his band Manchester Underground, and is the host of The People Strategy Leaders Podcast. He is currently working on his next book, Ikigai at the Workplace, which is slated for release in the fall of 2024.