Gaining a Competitive Edge by Using Enterprise LMS for Extended Workforce Training

Several organizations consider their internal employees as the biggest asset, but now the external workforce is also providing effective marketplace opportunities. The business world has never been competitive and modern organizations are in constant struggle to stay ahead of the curve. Over the last few years, organizations have transformed the way they use Learning Management Systems (LMSs) to train their extended workforce. Earlier, they were meant to fulfill an instant need, but then training external employees, partners, suppliers and customers became an essential component of corporate strategy. This shift has provided businesses to achieve agility in the learning environment and access talented pool of professionals.

Features of an Extended Enterprise LMS

In today’s digital era, organizations deploy an extended LMS by using an efficient Sales Performance Enablement system for suppliers, franchisees, customers, employees and partners. Conceptualized with the focus to cater to specific learning needs, the Sales Performance Support & Enablement tool aids to empower the external network to perform better. Some of the incredible features of the extended learning platform are outlined here:

• Delivery of varied LMS solutions after integrating with Dealer Management Software (DMS) to improve the overall knowledge retention and workforce productivity. Consequently, it helps to boost the overall learning uptake of the extended personnel, without any additional implementation glitches.

• Sales employees use data from the DMS to automate the entire learning process. That data triggers the extended LMS to provide relevant data to the learner. As a result, it helps the external employees to learn more, retain for long and perform better.

• Video player feature is also supported by extended LMSs which allows the delivery of content as short nuggets, which are easier to access and quick to digest. For learners who are mostly on the go, it is convenient for them to access short bursts of information at their fingertips.

• LMS solutions for contingent workforce are also available as mobile apps for both Android and iOS. With thousands of downloads, content delivery across personalized mobile devices support easy navigation, responsive design, offline assessments, scrollable feature and more.

Depending upon the needs and functionality of the LMS, customizations are performed to ensure that the system performs as per the needs of learners as well as organizations. Investment in e-learning technology helps the organizations to take training to new learners, thereby generating improved ROIs and increasing the brand presence beyond the reach. Learning for extended enterprise signifies that an organization is ready to provide training courses beyond internal training and member, via extended distribution channels. Training the extended employee network is a daunting task, but using the right LMS, it is possible to increase profits, mitigate costs and improve the overall business growth.

How to Create Effective E-Learning Content with Rapid E-Learning Development?

Learning & Development is a continuous process in the corporate training environment, considering the immense pressure due to the latest developments across diverse industries. This explains the increasing demand for e-learning at the workplace. Rapid authoring is the preferred route for e-learning development to save costs, time and effort, while catering to the customized needs of diversified audiences. To effectively utilize the existing training material, PowerPoint presentations are created for an engaging learning experience- with very less effort with the help of rapid authoring tools.

Today, rapid e-learning development method is widely adopted by organizations to cater to the customized needs of all. Apart from converting the content with ease, various types of rapid authoring tools help to build interactivity into e-courses. Interactive images, audios and engaging videos can also be added to the training material to leave a highly impactful learning experience. Outlined below are the essential tips for turning a PPT presentation into an e-course:

• As the training course is not the same as a presentation, an e-course is created with 5 or less number of modules. For detailed course, multiple courses are developed to promote optimum learner engagement and retention. Short courses are less time to consume, easier to digest and improve the overall learner efficiency.

• For web-based training courses, it is important to ensure that the pages are of any size. So, two or more slides can be included on one page to reduce the overall course length.

• With the support of rapid authoring tools, graphics are chosen from the presentation and can be placed as per their allocated position on each slide.

• The ‘notes’ section of the PPT slide can be used to provide external links, detailed instructions and other exercises. By giving these extra details, the learner as the choice to approach the subject in detail or skip through the basics- as per need.

• For an effective learning experience, it is necessary to include regular tests during the program. A plethora of tests or assessments can be created in the form of true-false, multiple choice, fill in the blank or even drag-drop images.

Rapid Authoring Tools like Adobe Presenter and Presenter 09 can be used to convert PowerPoint Presentations into effective training courses. Most e-learning developers have a keen interest in the field of rapid e-learning and using the existing content, the process of developing engaging training courses can definitely be more efficient. Rapid authoring development ensures the uniform flow of relevant content, without spending huge amounts of time and money.