5 things you need to know about corporate learning management systems, Part 1

You know the value of training – you wouldn’t be reading this otherwise. You know that training your team is the way to significantly increase retention and build quality and reputation at the same time. You’re probably ready to at least begin considering using online learning as an adjunct to your current training program. Maybe you’ve even taken the plunge and signed on with an e-learning provider.

Whether you’re new to e-learning or just thinking about giving it a try, you can maximize the benefits by understanding a little more how to make e-learning truly yours. After all, you can’t really utilize the benefits of e-learning to help make your company more competitive if you’re just using off-the-shelf courses that your competitors use as well.

Over the next couple of weeks I’ll share with you a few of the key concepts in making e-learning truly effective in helping you build a team that stands above the rest. While we’re at it, we’ll look at some of the terms and concepts involved in e-learning that may be new to you – they were all new to me when we first started out in this business several years ago.

Let’s start with the foundational structure of online or e-learning: the Learning Management System (LMS).

What’s an LMS and why should I care?

A Learning Management System (LMS) is different from a subscription you purchase from an e-learning company like aQuire. The LMS is the structure of the system; the courses are the content. The system should give you tools for quickly and easily managing employee enrollment, viewing grades and reports and even having special needs reporting features.

The aQuire Training Tracker module, for example, allows you to enter training received outside of the aQuire system into the reporting database so that you can, with one report, view all training completed by every employee, including conferences and inservices. You can set up exception reports that tell you who hasn’t completed required training, rather than having to pick through completed training lists to find those exceptions yourself. In short, a good LMS will give you the structure you need to manage the training and records of your whole team.

Having an LMS that you control allows you to build custom course content, too. With some programs, you’re simply subscribing to a set of pre-developed courses. With an LMS that you control, you can add your own courses using whatever development tools you wish – from simply PDF documents to flash-animated movies or games.

When you’re considering a new investment in e-learning – or looking for ways to make the investment you’ve already made pay off - look for a solution that allows you to have your own LMS, or at least your own LMS portal. You’ll gain a significant level of control of the training delivered to your team. And if you’re like most corporate execs I know, control of results is a very big deal.

How much should I expect to pay for e-learning?

If you’ve talked to anyone about developing a custom LMS for your company, you’ve probably heard cost estimates of upwards of $100,000 in development, and perhaps 50% of that on an annual support/hosting basis.

You may think that’s the best solution, especially if you want full control.

Here’s a secret: an LMS doesn’t have to be expensive. Open source LMS products are currently some of the best in the market, rivaling those used by corporate or university systems. You can have a custom LMS built, or license one that has been custom built, but you don’t have to do that to gain the same training advantage.

Here’s my advice: pay less for a basic supported LMS and a little bit more for your content. Think about what you want an online training system to do for you: give you the framework to deliver standard, high-quality, custom training and track every bit of training your employees have received in one simple report.

Beyond that, it’s all just bells and whistles. Where your investment really pays off, however, is in content. Your employees will never see the elegant reporting system or the easy-to-use enrollment portals. What they will see is content. They’ll need content that is engaging and effective.

What you need is a system that allows you to add your own custom content quickly and easily, and gives you the support you need to develop and add that content without costing you an arm and leg in tech support fees.

You may be able to negotiate the LMS into a deal for no cost at all, especially if you’re paying for content for many employees. If you do need to purchase your own LMS set up you should look for fees no greater than $2,000-3,000 on a one time basis.

Course content fees typically are based on the number of employees in your company and can range anywhere from $2 – 10 per person per month, depending on your size and the company you purchase courses from. Like with most products, you’ll pay a little more for courses with more features than for very basic courses that are designed to simply meet compliance requirements. Choose the product that best meets your needs for training. You know that investing in your team is worthwhile; don’t try to skimp when it comes to providing quality training.

Next week we’ll continue with a few more crucial questions and answers about e-learning to help you make the best decisions possible for your team. Better training builds better teams, and that benefits us all.

Best of the best awards

Love those best of the best awards, don’t you? How many did you win this year?

I hope you’re not one of those people that win awards like this year after year – you won’t be able to relate at all.

I’ve never won a “best of the best” award. I’ve never even been a runner-up. But day after day, week after week, month after month I continue to do work that I believe contributes to the quality of care we provide to today's elderly.

Most senior care companies, I’d venture to say, are a lot like me in that regard. They do their work, every day, month and year, focusing on the area where they can improve lives. Maybe it’s just 5 families that they serve; maybe its 40 families, or 400.

What matters, at the end of the day, however, is not how many awards you win, but how much difference you’ve made.

Has someone finally been able to take a guilt-free, stress-free vacation because of your work?

Has someone else had “ahaa” moments that led to more joyful caregiving because of your efforts?

Many of us innovate in our care every day. We creatively solve problems while managing budgets, employee challenges and difficult clients. We see needs and we work to meet them, often by creating new programs or simply adapting existing programs to meet individual needs.

So from me to you – and me to me – here’s an award: The Quietly-going-about-our-business-while-making-a-real-difference Award.

Just around the corner

One of my alternate routes to work takes me on a path through a sizeable green space behind my house. I need a few extra minutes if I’m taking this path, but I try to set the time aside at least once a week.

Last week, the route took an extra hour, rather than the usual 15 minutes. I had to stop every few steps to take another picture (my favorite feature of my new phone). It was astonishingly beautiful, with wildflowers blanketing the meadow and trees in bloom. I even saw a deer wandering through the trees – a very unusual sight in these woods. By the time I whipped out my phone to take a quick picture, he had sauntered back off into the woods.

I’ve been watching for change particularly closely this spring. Our winter was long and harsh. The trees were just big, barren sticks far into the usual season of new growth. But when spring finally arrived, the transformation seemed to happen right before my eyes. Leaves filled out the undergrowth first, then slowly appeared on the oaks and maples, starting as a light green haze and then, within days, expanding to vast canopies of leaves.

I’ve been looking for signs of spring in our business, too. I’ve noticed how just a little change creates a dynamic cycle of growth. Sometimes we seem to spend a lot of energy with no results; then it blossoms into a period of growth and success.

The take-home lesson for me is simply this: our work isn’t wasted. Sometimes it is preparing the ground for the coming period of rapid growth. Sometimes it’s a matter of tending that growth so that it doesn’t overwhelm us. Often, like in nature, we need the right combination of elements to converge before our efforts will yield visible results.

If you feel like your marketing efforts, for example, are not taking you anywhere, think about the spring. Add in an upturn in the economy, more optimism on the part of prospective clients, and you may see your company experience a spring-like growth spurt, all because of the work you continued to do, even during what feels like the dormant season of no results.

Springtime in nature requires several elements to spur the growth. What we see as the results are stunningly beautiful. I have confidence that the springtime in this business cycle is just around the corner – and the results will be spectacular.

Key ideas for marketing to today’s seniors

If you’ve ever heard Ken Dychtwald, founder of Age Wave and visionary gerontologist/psychologist/author, speak about the concerns of mature adults today, you know that he often sees things from a unique perspective.

His latest book, Retirement at the Tipping Point, followed more than 2,000 people over time, resulting in a look at people’s attitude and experience before and during the current financial crisis. It contains some insights that may prove interesting to all of us who provide services to baby boomers and the elderly.

Financial concerns top the list of issues. This certainly isn’t a shocker, but realizing the depth of people’s concerns is certainly enlightening. With 60% of American’s losing money in their retirement funds, concerns about delay in retirement or unexpected expenses is at the forefront of today’s boomers. Interestingly, 81% of the people studied said that the most important piece of financial advice parents can give their children is to “live within your means;” up from only 69% who responded in this way before the market drop.

Lesson for providers? Emphasize, more than ever, the financial wisdom of your product or services. You not only need to demonstrate that you provide value for the dollar; you need to be prepared to discuss how your product or service will comfortably fit within the means of the prospect.

Values are shifting from wealth to relationships. Relationships within families are becoming increasingly important as families support members financially and emotionally. Twice as many respondents identified that “loving family and relationships” are more important than being wealthy.

Lesson for providers? Include family members in conversations whenever possible. Point out ways that your product or service can enhance relationships, especially if you offer personal care services that can allow the family to focus on relationships instead of tasks. Point out how your service can offer family peace of mind, as well, especially if you can emphasize areas where you exceed the usual standards, for example in the training or qualifications of your employees. Frame your benefits in terms of building and nurturing the relationships among the family or friends of the prospective client.

Retirees are seeking to make a difference. They want meaningful work or volunteer opportunities, even into later life. They’d rather not just be stuffing envelopes, either.

Lesson for providers? Be sure your activity and enrichment programs, if you offer them, include opportunities for clients at all levels to continue to contribute. Crocheting hats and scarves for kids or the homeless is something nearly anyone can do, for example.

Overall, Americans are resilient and resourceful, reports Dychtwald. Today, they’re more focused than ever on benefits that have meaning – and fit financially – in their lives.