Choosing a Learning Management System can be an overwhelming process.  At the onset, you may simply be looking for a place to post learning materials that are easily accessible to employees for on-demand training. However, along with the convenience of an LMS comes a new set of issues you may not have thought about.  While there are many, here are the top four concerns you should consider when selecting an LMS:

1. Will I have to manually update it as employees come and go?  Make sure your HRIS is compatible with the LMS that you choose so that updating employee profiles is not only automatic, but it is quick.  Even as employees are promoted to managers and supervisors, the permissions should update quickly so that their new privileges in the system (such as setting up training for their own team) can happen without delay.
2. Is it easy to keep Supervisors up to date on their Team Progress? Reporting is huge.  If you have more than 100 employees on different teams to keep up with, automatic reporting could be your saving grace.  Choose an LMS that has an easy set up for automatic reporting to different teams and leaders in the organization.  Automation is key. You will need the ability to set up a weekly report for supervisors to view the progress of the courses their employees are taking.  Along with number 1 (where employee information is updated), this is the second most important element for a successful LMS experience.
3. Does it create courses for us? Most LMS systems boast an ability to post training rather than create it.  So, most systems will require you to have your course already created.  If you do not have an on-staff Instructional Designer, consider purchasing courses.  For this, you need to make sure your chosen system is SCORM compatible.  SCORM is a common programming standard that most e-learning is comprised of.  Most courses or curriculum for purchase use SCORM standards for programming.  Making sure your system is SCORM compatible will ensure that most curriculums you purchase will show correctly and operate correctly (such as interactive courses that require the user to click on certain areas to continue).
4. Is it user-friendly? This could easily be number 1 as well!  One of the reasons many organizations choose an LMS is to manage a lot of learning in a compact format.  In other words, they are expecting employees to use it in droves.  However, employees may resist using it if they find it too difficult to operate.  Make sure to get a demo of the user experience.  Many companies will focus on the administration side and show you only how you set it up and not what the employee will go through trying to access training.  Also, given the renewed focus on remote work after the pandemic, having a great mobile friendly version of the software would be a bonus so that the employees are not tethered to a computer or laptop to complete training.  Think, sitting outside in the summer on break and knocking out a quick 15-minute training on email etiquette!

Regardless of what software you choose, planning out your needs and wants for having an LMS system is paramount before you start calling companies.  Educate yourself on how they work and be prepared to talk about features with companies when you call them.  You will find in your determination of needs that these four are essential!