What is a Training Management System? Understanding the Key Features & Benefits

A training management system (TMS) that meets your organization’s needs and empowers employees to continuously learn and grow can be a valuable tool for your L&D program. Often confused with a learning management system (LMS), a training management system centralizes employee training so you can organize necessary resources for instructor-led learning. 

Discover the features and benefits of a TMS and how to use one with the right all-in-one learning platform to empower your team members to succeed.

Employees with ample opportunities to learn and grow are 2.9x more likely to be engaged, and 91 percent of employees say it’s very important for their managers to encourage learning. 

Learning and development (L&D) also leads to higher employee engagement and lower turnover, which increases productivity and saves businesses millions of dollars in hiring costs. 

How do training management systems work?

Training management systems let you combine multiple tools to schedule instructor-led training, whether in-person or online. You can ensure that classrooms are scheduled, instructors are available, and all attendees have received calendar invites. 

A training management system streamlines training administration. You’ll save time using automation, and you can track training-related costs. Best of all, you don’t have to enter the same information into multiple software systems.

Training management system features

Different training management systems have different features, so you must consider what’s best for your organization.

Here are a few things to look for as you compare options.

Resource organization

Do you need a classroom, a specific number of chairs, a screen, or other resources? A TMS lets you see which equipment and space are available so you can reserve them for a specific date. 

Scheduling and automated reminders

Once you have the resources, it’s vital to ensure learners and instructors remember to attend. 

Whether it’s in-person or virtual training, automated scheduling and reminders allow your L&D team to focus on more important tasks.

You also reduce human error and ensure no team or individual is forgotten during scheduling.

Tracking trainers and experts

You need the right instructors and subject-matter experts to implement your training plan. A TMS lets you coordinate training providers for a subject area. 

If you need to recruit additional instructors or draw on expertise within a specific department, you’ll know well before the training session and won’t need to scramble at the last minute.

Read more: What is a Training Facilitator?

Monitoring budget

Your L&D team needs to know the costs for instructor-led training, from employee hours to curriculum and resources.

An effective TMS gives you a central place to track expenses and profitability, and you can also plan your budget for future training events. 

Reporting

No training management software is complete without a way to track your results. So whether you need to report on spending and ROI from L&D or track how much you’re using a particular instructor, a TMS will give you the data you need. 

You can also report on attendance, training per department, and more.

Training management system benefits

A training management system provides many advantages for businesses that use instructor-led training and need to manage their L&D resources efficiently.

Here are a few examples of the benefits a TMS can offer.

Streamlined scheduling and enrollment

With a TMS, you can quickly and easily create and schedule training events, assign trainers and classrooms, and manage enrollments and waitlists. 

These features can save you time and effort compared to manually coordinating these tasks and reduce the risk of errors.

Improved use of resources

Your L&D team isn’t the only group that needs resources like classrooms and equipment; double booking can lead to frustration for everyone.

When you use a TMS, you’ll know which resources are available, and you can choose the best training date for your team.

You can also use trainers effectively with full knowledge of their expertise, availability, and costs. When your resources are used efficiently, you’ll save time and money while reducing conflict with other departments.

Better communication and collaboration

A training management system can facilitate better communication and collaboration among trainers, learners, and other stakeholders in a number of ways.

For example, a TMS with built-in messaging or forums allows trainers, L&D team members, training admins, and stakeholders to communicate about specific initiatives and troubleshoot as needed. For example, trainers can provide feedback about a course or let the L&D team know where learners are struggling so the curriculum can be updated.

A TMS also allows multiple stakeholders to see reporting on how training initiatives are going and the impact on key performance indicators. Finally, a TMS is a central location for scheduling and coordinating resources.

Show the effectiveness of L&D

As we mentioned earlier, the impact of high-quality training and career development opportunities can help your company improve productivity, reduce turnover, and increase employee engagement. You’ll also improve proficiency in specific departments, such as sales reps’ ability to close deals.

With reporting and tracking features, you can demonstrate the impact of instructor-led training programs. This gives you data to make decisions about future programs and helps you demonstrate the importance of supporting L&D initiatives.

The difference between a TMS and an LMS

What’s the difference between a training management system and a learning management system? Do you need both?

The answer depends on whether you use instructor-led training regularly or rely mostly on eLearning. If you have a lot of back-end needs for scheduling and resources, a TMS can make a big difference when used alongside your learning management system.

On the other hand, if you rely primarily on eLearning, you can use the robust capabilities of an all-in-one learning platform, which allows you to create, store, deliver, and track learning content.

Read more: Make eLearning Engaging in 7 Steps

Does your company need a training management system?

Your team may or may not need a training management system. Still, every organization can benefit from a learning platform to train everyone, from new hires to internal employees to customers. That’s where WorkRamp comes in. 

The Learning Cloud from WorkRamp is learning infrastructure to power employee and customer learning on a single platform.  Create and deliver engaging learning and development programs and promote a learning culture in your organization. 

The Learning Cloud lets you centralize learning and empower your customers and teams. Contact us to schedule a free, personalized demo.