I have a passion for making work interesting, rewarding, and enjoyable. We’ve all heard the statistics. We spend more time at work than we do with our friends and families. So, we must be aligned with and in love with the work we do. (Although not the point of this post, I recently learned of another essential contrast between our home and work lives. In Stan Slap’s book, Bury My Heart At Conference Room B, he convincingly asserts that a values mismatch between our personal values and the values of the company we work for can cause inner conflict and stress as well. I had never considered this before but certainly agree.)
The companies that see the most significant gains in productivity and profitability are overwhelmingly focused on making the employee experience exciting and engaging. Stated another way, how can they hire the right people and create an environment where their team shows up every day excited and ready to do their best – day after day and year after year?
The question comes up all the time: Should I use a Learning Management System (LMS) or should I use a Content Distribution System (CDS)?
The answer is not the same for everyone.
When determining the best option for you, there are three primary considerations regarding your target audience:
- Job complexity
- Frequency of change
- Regulatory/compliance requirements
Of course, your staff will fall into different categories depending on what job functions or in which departments they operate. In virtually all companies, what works for one set of employees will not work for all employees.
Skill Set Complexity
How complex are the skills required to execute their position?
This does not mean “low-skill” versus “high-skill,” but the complexity of the aggregate of skills. To illustrate, let’s look at two positions that are generally considered “low-skill” jobs. The first is a janitor assigned to the same cleaning area; the second is the late-night hotel desk clerk. The janitor has a fixed set of reasonably specific responsibilities. Once learned, there is almost no new information needed. By contrast, the desk clerk working the midnight shift also has a base set of “desk clerk” skills that are pretty basic. If this were an average desk clerk, the two positions would have a similar low complexity set. The divergence happens because, during the middle of the night, when they are the only hotel staff available, the clerk needs to perform maintenance, handle security, and a host of other tasks that their mid-day counterpart will never encounter. Because of this, the late-night hotel desk clerk has a higher level of skill set complexity.
Frequency of Change
How often do the skills or requirements for this position change?
Regardless of complexity, does the position require regular updates to policies, procedures, and responsibilities, or are these elements generally static? It is hard to draw a clear line, but in general, if these items are changing more frequently than 3-4 times per year, change frequency is an element to consider in your learning plan.
Regulatory/Compliance Requirements
Are there regulatory or other compliance requirements that your staff must be aware of and adhere to? And, as food for thought, do these requirements carry a burden of compliance reporting?
When deciding what to use to educate your staff, if the answer to either of these two questions is yes, more is more.
When you think of your learning plan in these terms, it becomes much simpler to choose the right path.
Example #1 – low, low, no
Staff composition:
- low skill set complexity
- low frequency of change
- (no) regulatory/compliance requirements
Recommended learning program:
- Simple new-hire LMS training will likely suffice
- In many cases, no CDS or refresher LMS training needed
Example #2 – low, high, no
Staff composition:
- low skill set complexity
- high frequency of change
- (no) regulatory/compliance requirements
Recommended learning program:
- Simple new-hire LMS training
- Regular, concise CDS updates to keep them up to date
- Refresher training with up to date LMS content every 12 months
Example #3 – low, high, yes
Staff composition:
- low skill set complexity
- high frequency of change
- (yes) regulatory/compliance requirements
Recommended learning program:
- Simple new-hire LMS training
- Concise, relevant CDS updates to keep them up to date (delivered in real-time)
- Refresher training with up to date LMS content every 6-12 months (including testing)
Example #4 – high, high, yes
Staff composition:
- high skill set complexity
- high frequency of change
- (yes) regulatory/compliance requirements
Recommended learning program:
- Detailed, longer new-hire LMS training
- Concise, relevant CDS updates to keep them up to date (delivered in real-time)
- Refresher training with up to date LMS content every 6-12 months (including testing)
I hope these examples provide an insight into the learning nuances present for different job types. If you do “too much” training, employees become frustrated and being naturally tuning you out. Do “too little” training, and employees feel lost and uncertain. Some industries have training requirements and timelines dictated by regulatory oversight. Even in these cases, it is paramount to balance the diet of information provided to your staff so that they want to digest it. Countless times over the years, I hear people make ridiculous and unreasonable claims about their training plans. When answering questions this morning, a VP of HR (over staff with high complexity, high frequency, and regulatory oversight) said, “We handle all of that through our LMS.” Knowing many of the staff in the industry that she was talking about, I wanted to answer back, “Guess again. Let’s get your staff in here so you can hear first-hand what they think of your LMS.” In this particular company, it’s become so onerous and uninteresting that staff created a game of how they can “complete” training without actually viewing it. That same company received a fine in excess of half a million dollars for their employees not knowing or following OSHA procedures. Yeah, it sounds like your learning plan is working just great. And, to make matters worse, I heard the same response from another company later this afternoon (twice in one day).
By sharing the story above, it may sound like I am criticizing. I’m not. The sad fact is that, with some modifications to their existing LMS and the inclusion of a steady flow of current information to their staff through a CDS, the adoption rate would skyrocket (and the fines would drop).
Final word: LMS and CDS both have their place. In some cases, it makes sense to use one while, in others, it makes sense to use them in combination. The takeaway for everyone here is to be conscious about how you have structured your ongoing learning program. Understand what you are trying to achieve, how you will measure that achievement, and take the time to get honest feedback from your staff. Doing so will pay immeasurable dividends.