The Return on Investment for Learning Management Systems

Have you ever wondered how your learning management system (LMS) investment truly pays off? Are your training efforts translating into measurable returns? The answers to these questions will help you justify your organization’s investment and secure more budget for your team. Fortunately, there are a few ways to calculate the ROI on your LMS.

What is the ROI of learning programs?

Determining the ROI of learning programs means assessing the tangible and intangible benefits gained from educational initiatives versus the resources invested. It requires evaluating the impact of learning on various facets, such as individual skill development, employee performance, organizational goals, customer product adoption, and overall efficiency.

So, it quantifies the value derived from learning efforts and helps organizations make better decisions about the effectiveness of their educational investments.

Ways to calculate the return on investment for your LMS

Several methods can be used to gauge the ROI of your LMS, taking into account both tangible and intangible benefits. Below are three key ways to calculate the ROI for your LMS.

1. Calculate the time savings for your LMS

LMSs are designed to streamline and optimize training processes. Calculating time savings involves assessing how much time is saved using the LMS compared to traditional training methods.

When calculating the time savings for your LMS, the following should be key considerations:

• Efficient onboarding: Assess the onboarding time for new employees and customers. An effective LMS should streamline onboarding processes, allowing new hires to quickly integrate into their roles and become productive team members.If used for external training, assess the time saved by a self-serve onboarding system compared to Customer Success Managers manually training each new customer.

• Automation of administrative tasks: Identify administrative tasks related to training management, such as enrollment, tracking, and reporting. Evaluate how the LMS automates these processes and reduces the manual effort required from admins.

• Accessibility and anytime learning: Consider the accessibility of training materials through the LMS. If employees and customers can access eLearning content at their convenience, they can fit training sessions into their schedules without disrupting workflow.

• Quick access to information: See how quickly employees and customers can find relevant information through the LMS. Efficient navigation, search functionalities, and well-organized content contribute to time savings by reducing the time spent searching for specific information.

2. Calculate ROI according to employee and customer satisfaction

This approach recognizes that satisfied and engaged employees will likely be more productive, stay with the organization longer, and contribute positively to its success. 93% of employees are ready to commit to a company for the long haul if it shows a genuine investment in their professional growth. If you’re training customers, the payoff will be seen in traditional metrics such as NPS (Net Promoter Score) and CSAT (Customer Satisfaction) measures.

Here are some considerations for you when calculating ROI according to employee satisfaction:

• • Review employee retention rates: Track employee retention rates over time, both before and after implementing the LMS. Higher employee satisfaction, often influenced by effective learning and development opportunities, can positively impact retention.
  • Collect employee feedback: If possible, conduct employee surveys and collect feedback about their overall experience with the LMS. Direct input from users can give you insights into their satisfaction levels or perceptions of the learning platform.

• Assess the impact on job performance: Evaluate whether the LMS has a measurable impact on job performance. Assess if employees who engage with the learning platform exhibit improved skills. Imagine your customer support team embracing an LMS loaded with interactive training on handling tricky scenarios and mastering product knowledge. Fast forward, and you’ve got a team that’s dialed into customer needs and resolves customer issues more quickly.

• Measure customer satisfaction: By measuring customer satisfaction, you assess the level of contentment and positive experiences that end-users, such as learners or clients, have with the LMS. It involves collecting feedback directly from customers to understand their overall satisfaction with the platform’s usability and effectiveness.

3. Calculate your ROI with a skill gap analysis & customer gap analysis

To calculate ROI using a skill gap analysis, organizations typically evaluate employees’ skills before implementing the new LMS implementation and compare it to their skill levels after the training. So, the goal here is to measure how much the investment has narrowed the skill gaps.

On the other hand, calculating ROI with a customer gap analysis involves assessing the disparity between customer expectations and the actual experience facilitated by the LMS. For example, you can start by really figuring out what users expect — things like easy-to-understand content, the ability to access it easily, and a system that’s simple to navigate

Best practices for using your LMS more effectively

Using an LMS effectively involves considering various factors to enhance the learning experience for users. Here are some tips to get the most out of your LMS:

• User interface: A user-friendly interface helps learners by providing smooth navigation. This improves the learning experience and minimizes frustration since users can concentrate more on the training content rather than grappling with the platform. For example, Skilljar, a recipient of the “Innovation in Customer Education Award” at the 2022 Golden Skillet Awards, is widely acknowledged for its intuitive interface. With a clean design and straightforward navigation, Skilljar ensures administrators and learners can easily navigate the platform.

• Support for multiple content and user types: Deliver a well-rounded learning experience with your LMS by incorporating support for multiple content types such as audio, video, PDF, and SCORM. Consider using Skilljar’s adaptable authoring tools to create diverse learning pathways based on user roles, skill sets, use cases, and more.

• Progress tracking: Another key element of customer training software is monitoring progress and generating reports. These features are vital for learners and administrators alike, as they provide insights into both individual and collective learning journeys through dashboards.

• Integrations: Ensure your customer training program integrates with external apps like content management systems (CMS), to create dynamic courses with multimedia elements. Then, you should prioritize customer relationship management (CRM) integrations, particularly with platforms like Salesforce, to provide immediate access to near real-time training data for sales, marketing, and support teams.

• Learner dashboard availability: Give your users a centralized hub where they can view content and learning paths. The learner dashboard in Skilljar isn’t just a passive display—it’s an interactive space where users can track their progress, view completed courses, and explore personalized recommendations for further learning.

Skilljar is the choice for learning management systems

Skilljar is a customer training LMS solution that organizations use to build and manage online training courses for their customers and employees. It’s equipped with a user-friendly interface along with useful features for onboarding, engagement, and retention. Some of its features include analytics, third-party integrations, custom themes, and support for multiple content types.

Get a Skilljar demo to see how it helps you build an enriching learning experience for your employees.