When companies implement a Learning Management system as part of their employee learning and development programs, it is very easy to focus only on the learning: the necessary continued trajectory of knowledge the employee needs to gain to do their job well.
But what about the development aspect? Is your company doing enough to enrich your employee’s professional lives? Are you providing enough support to keep them intellectually challenged, as well as motivating them to pursue a promotion, manage a larger project, or even a team of their own?
Answering these questions can help you approach your corporate learning strategy and goals in a wholesome and more impactful manner, while truly influencing an employee’s long-term retention, overall happiness, and satisfaction.
To help you out, here are 7 ways you can leverage your LMS to help your employees take their next step in their careers.
1. Build training courses focused on the next role
When building a learning program or course in an LMS, managers often include training content that is only relevant to the employee’s current role and responsibilities.
But developing training content that it is pertinent to other roles in their department or team–especially those seen as a step up from their current role, can spark your employees’ interest in furthering their learning while making your company’s commitment to employee development transparent. It will show them that there is, in fact, a professional pathway they can follow within your company.
For example, if your company has a design team with a diverse group of roles: graphic designers, UX designers, art directors and so on, build training content on what differentiates them, and what skills they need to become a creative director in the future. This will show them all the stepping stones and directions they can take to drive their career further.
2. Use your LMS course library and make your content open for all
Building on our previous example, why not take an additional step and make your LMS courses, and content, open to all employees in your company?
This sounds like a radical idea, but the benefits of democratizing your company’s knowledge and training can be many. You can truly promote a culture of openness, emphasize the importance of cross-training, and demonstrate your outlook on employee investment and their development.
For example, this is one of our favorite features of Auzmor Learn. Admins can select which courses they want to put on their Course Library. Any content added to this library will be open to all learners who can then enroll and take the course whenever it is convenient for them.
Imagine your best employees navigating your LMS to find and enroll in courses relevant to their career aspirations, looking for ways and opportunities that could allow them to be promoted, both vertically and horizontally. Wouldn’t that make your employee more likely to stay at your company?
Setting an open-learning culture and expectations could be the secret sauce in your company’s Learning and Development initiatives.
3. Invest in your LMS third-party content library
If available, take advantage of the third-party content provided by your LMS to enrich your training library and course offerings. Expanding your library to include external content that builds on a diverse range of skills can be a huge way to promote LMS engagement and drive employee retention.
Complementing your L&D program with these types of specialized content hints to your employees that you’re not just about in-house mandatory training.
To help you do that, Auzmor Learn integrates with the biggest off-the-shelf content provider in the world: Open Sesame. Your employees could have access to more than 20,000 courses on topics that range from business skills to IT and more.
So take advantage of having these courses in your LMS! It is a great strategy to motivate your employees to continue growing, and it could be a determining factor in their decision to build a career with you.
4. Highlight what skills are transferable
One of the most common struggles of people looking to switch or grow their careers is seeing how their current skills can transfer to another role, team, or company.
When building your courses structure within your LMS, clearly delineate what skills are transferable to other roles within your department or company. This can be extremely useful to your employees and may even empower them to pursue those roles when these become available.
Remember that experience –the time your employee spends learning and working at your company is not the only contribution and value you can add to their professional career.
Some examples of transferable skills include analytical skills, project management, communication, management and leadership and more.
Also, don’t miss the opportunity to explain to your learners what they will gain from your course by writing a clear course description. Make sure to connect the course’s goals with how it may help them move toward a promotion or change in position. Those courses may be the extra push they need to take their next step in their careers.
5. Offer career counseling courses and internal recruiting tips in your LMS
Your employees – especially in junior and associate level positions will find enormous value in your LMS if it contains courses and resources on job-search techniques, networking, interviewing skills, and resume writing. All of these will help them get ready to take their next step in their careers.
Pairing those courses with occasional in-person workshops would add even more value to your company’s training program.
If this doesn’t convince you, think of how doing this can power up your own recruiting efforts. By making your internal hiring and recruiting processes transparent and setting those expectations, you can help your employee understand exactly what you’re looking for in a role, how it is assessed and what skills they will need to get a promotion or transfer to another role within your company.
6. Award certifications
Having awesome career-empowering content and offering a wide variety of courses in your LMS isn’t enough.
Enhance these programs by awarding digital or printable certificates upon successful completion of your company’s training programs. Offer a way for your employees to showcase these in professional networks such as LinkedIn, and even take an extra step of publicly endorsing them for their newly acquired skills!
Although old-fashioned, certificates are still valuable metrics of professional reputation, especially in an interconnected and increasingly global job market. These certifications demonstrate to the world that your employee has the knowledge or is highly proficient at a specific skill, and that it was within your ranks that this skill was nurtured, flourished and put to action; adding visible value to your company culture and learning philosophy.
7. Use LMS features to truly guide your employees
Many modern learning management systems offer a wide range of tech features that you can use to help your employees further their careers.
One of the best tools in your learning shed is your custom analytics or insights feature. As your learners use your LMS, their answers to quizzes and courses completion are tracked.
You can use and analyze this data to identify training gaps and create detailed employee skill development plans that can help you support them. By identifying what is holding them back from performing their best, you can offer solutions and encourage them to stay on track!
And even if your employee isn’t quite ready yet to take their next step in their careers, you can point them in the right direction and help them to grow and advance in other ways.
You have the ability to influence and support your employee’s career goals
As a major influencing force on your employees’ lives, you can truly help your employees take their next step in the careers following some of these steps, as well as exploring other ways to make your LMS part of your employee’s career plan.
Remember, your LMS is not just a training tool. It can be a powerful multifunctional tool you can use to build the L&D strategy of your company, as well as a great resource of employee support, engagement, and professional development.
It’s how you decide to use your LMS that makes all the difference at the end.
