Choosing an employee training platform involves more than finding somewhere for staff to complete courses. For many organisations, learning extends into onboarding, practical tasks, company policies, role-specific development and ongoing communication.
If you're comparing employee training software, the course catalogue is only one part of the decision. The more important question is whether the system can support the wider learning needs of your staff.
This article looks at the features businesses should consider when choosing a workforce training platform and what to look for beyond course delivery.
Why course delivery is only part of the picture
Online courses are an important part of employee learning, but they rarely cover everything an organisation needs to manage. Managers may still need to monitor progress, confirm that knowledge has been applied in practice and identify further development needs.
These activities do not all take place within a course.
Depending on the organisation, an employee learning platform may need to accommodate:
- Role specific learning
- Structured onboarding
- Company policies and procedures
- Practical checks and routine tasks
- Training records and completion data
- Employee reviews and development
- Internal communication
- Ongoing skills development
This broader perspective is particularly relevant when assessing an online employee training platform. The course catalogue is only one part of the overall solution.
What should an employee training platform include?
There is no universal feature list that will suit every business. Requirements will vary according to workforce size, industry, working environment and existing training processes.
However, there are several features worth considering when comparing a staff training platform.
1. Flexible course delivery
Courses remain central to most workplace learning programmes, so the learning experience itself needs to be practical and adaptable.
Depending on your requirements, look for a platform that allows you to:
- Access ready made training where appropriate
- Create or customise your own learning content
- Incorporate video, documents, images and quizzes
- Deliver learning across different devices
- Monitor individual progress and completion
The ability to develop your own content can be particularly valuable when employees need training that reflects internal procedures, systems or ways of working rather than generic information.
2. Automated training administration
As a workforce grows, manually allocating every course can quickly become an administrative burden.
An employee learning platform can streamline this process by allowing learning to be assigned according to factors such as job role, department or location. This means employees can receive training that matches their responsibilities without managers having to repeatedly allocate the same content.
It is also worth looking at how a platform handles reminders, notifications and recurring requirements. Good administration should reduce repetitive work while still giving managers a clear view of what is happening.
3. Structured onboarding and learning journeys
New starters may need a combination of training, documents, practical activities and reviews as they become familiar with their role. If these elements are managed separately, it can leave managers coordinating each stage manually.
A platform with structured learning journeys can bring these components into a defined pathway. For example, an employee could complete initial training, work through a checklist and reach a review at a particular point in their onboarding.
Expert LMS Career Paths can combine courses, reviews, checklists and documents into structured learning journeys, with content becoming available at different stages.
4. A central home for company information
Not every resource an employee needs will belong in a training course.
Policies, handbooks, procedures, guides and other company documents may need to remain readily accessible after formal learning has been completed. Keeping these resources in a separate system can mean employees have to remember several different places to find information.
A staff training platform with document management can bring learning and supporting resources together.
Access permissions are another consideration. A policy relevant to one department may not need to be visible to everyone, so businesses should look for ways to control access according to their organisational structure.
Expert LMS includes a Document Library where businesses can organise resources, manage access according to factors such as job role or branch and use sign-off features where confirmation is required.
5. Practical tasks and accountability
Completing a course does not necessarily demonstrate that someone can apply what they have learned.
Some roles involve routine checks, practical activities or competency-based tasks that need to be recorded separately from formal learning. A platform that accommodates this can connect training with the realities of the workplace.
Checklists, for example, can be used to record whether specific tasks have been completed and flag issues that require attention.
This can be particularly useful in operational environments where learning needs to translate into consistent day to day practice.
6. Development beyond mandatory training
Employee training software should not be viewed solely as a way of managing compliance requirements.
Employees may also need opportunities to broaden their skills, prepare for additional responsibilities or work towards longer-term career goals. Bringing development into the same environment can create a clearer link between learning and progression.
This might include:
- Role specific development programmes
- Career pathways
- Goals and objectives
- Performance reviews
- Additional learning opportunities
This wider approach allows learning to continue after mandatory training has been completed, rather than treating development as a series of isolated courses.
7. Communication and engagement
Learning does not happen in isolation from the wider employee experience.
Managers may need to communicate updates, share important announcements or reinforce information connected to training. Employees may also benefit from having communication tools alongside their learning resources rather than switching between several systems.
A platform does not necessarily need to replace every communication tool a business already uses. However, it is worth considering whether learning can sit alongside the conversations and information employees already need to access as part of their role.
8. Reporting and visibility
Training records offer more value than simply showing whether someone has completed a course.
Managers may need to identify:
- Who has completed required learning
- Where training gaps remain
- Which employees require further support
- What learning has already been completed
- Whether particular requirements have been met
The Health and Safety Executive recommends keeping records of employee training to help track what has been provided and identify gaps.
GOV.UK also identifies training taken as information that employers can keep as part of an employee's records.
The precise requirements around training records will depend on the type of training, industry and circumstances, so businesses should consider the rules that apply to their own organisation.
How Expert LMS supports more than course delivery
Expert LMS brings different elements of employee training and development together within one central platform. Alongside ready-made and custom course content, businesses can use Career Paths, Document Library, Checklists, Reviews, Feeds, Chats, automations and reporting to manage training, development and day to day activities.
This gives businesses a single place to organise the resources, activities and processes that sit around formal courses.
Employees can also access Expert LMS through mobile devices, making it easier to complete training and access relevant information away from a desktop.
Look beyond the course catalogue
An employee training platform should make it easier to manage the complete learning journey, not simply record course completion.
When looking at an employee learning platform, consider how training is allocated, how new starters are guided through onboarding, where company information is stored, how practical learning is recorded and how managers maintain visibility of progress and development.
A suitable solution should reflect the way your organisation actually works and give employees a straightforward route to the training, information and resources they need.
If you're looking for an employee training platform that brings training, development, practical tasks and company resources together, you can see Expert LMS in action with a free trial and explore how we could fit your organisation.
