What is Training Management Software? Streamline Learning & Development Efforts

Investing in employee training helps retain talent and improves productivity, morale, and innovation. That’s why more and more organizations are turning to training management software to streamline their training programs.

Training management software is designed to improve the training process and make it more efficient and effective for trainers and trainees. It generally includes scheduling, tracking, reporting, content management, and more features.

By understanding what training management software offers, you can take advantage of its benefits and deliver a better training experience for your teams.

Benefits of training management software

Why do so many companies use training management software? The L&D team and learners get a lot of benefits from this resource.

Saves time and money

Organizing your training operation takes a lot of time and energy. You need to schedule classes, resources such as rooms and equipment and let learners know where to be and when. Training management software helps you automate the entire process.

You can quickly assign resources to specific training classes, and the software will show that they are unavailable for other purposes. Reminders automatically go out to instructors and learners without your team’s involvement. And you can integrate your learning management system (LMS) with your training management software so that your electronic and in-person training is all in one place, easily accessible to your team.

Delivers consistent training to employees

A training management system helps ensure that your employees receive consistent training, whether they’re being trained remotely, in person, or a combination of both.

Trainers are only human, and delivering the same information multiple times isn’t easy. Having training recorded, stored in training management software, and accessible to your employees whenever needed means everyone gets the same experience.

Having digital training has a variety of other benefits as well: it’s easy to show what training your teams have received, your teams can learn at times that are best for them, rather than being confined to the times a trainer is available, you can add multiple types of media and impact more than one learning style, and more.

Simplifies compliance training

Compliance training is essential to maintain a safe, inclusive workplace and avoid penalties and fines. Keeping a training record using training management software can dramatically simplify the process.

First, you can offer on-demand training and know everyone is getting the same information, as mentioned above. Secondly, training management software makes coordinating training sessions on a recurring schedule easy. You can automate the scheduling process and assign employees and trainers more easily.

Compliance training isn’t something you can make mistakes with, and training management software helps you get everyone in the right place at the right time.

Improves employee engagement through training

Using training management software allows the L&D team to offer training consistently, which is one of the top priorities for employees. According to the 2022 Workplace Learning & Development Trends report, 48 percent of employees said that training opportunities were a factor in choosing their current employer.

On top of that, learners like digital training. The SHRM report found that 70 percent of employees prefer online training, and a combination of online and instructor-led training is preferred by 63 percent. Training management software allows you to offer online and hybrid training much more efficiently.

Employees with access to professional development and training are 15 percent more engaged, leading to a 34 percent higher retention rate. Training matters to your team members, and training management software allows you to deliver it.

Protects your organization from liability in maintaining compliance

Training management software has one more significant benefit—it allows you to prove that you followed through on compliance training requirements.

For example, if there are questions about what type of training your employees received or whether a specific team member had a particular compliance training, you can prove that everyone had access to the same information and show who completed it.

The best software also includes security features to protect your training process, which helps keep sensitive information safe.

Key features of training management software

What does training management software do? There are specific features that your team can use to manage your organization’s employee development. These features make managing your people and resources easier to deliver training effectively.

Resource management

Training management software organizes your resources to make training more efficient, saving your L&D team time, money, and stress.

Resources you use for training may include:

• Trainers
• Curriculum, whether digital or printed
• Classrooms
• Equipment, including projectors, computers, and more
• The availability of the employees that need training

When you can manage all of these resources from a centralized place, there will be less miscommunication, double booking, and other mistakes that can leave you scrambling at the last minute. Your scheduling will be efficient, and training will be more effective with training management software.

Read more: From Chaos to Clarity: Streamlining Training Content Curation

Course management

Some training management software solutions also include some learning management system (LMS) features, including the ability to create, schedule, and deliver training digitally within the platform.

This makes it easy to deliver on-demand training, which makes it much easier for employees to get the development they need. The flexibility and ease of delivery make it simpler for your organization to focus on developing employees, which benefits everyone.

Finally, course management tools within training management software make it much easier for the L&D team to update courses and even break more extensive training sessions into microlearning opportunities.

Workflow automation

Automating email reminders, scheduling, and inviting employees to train allows your L&D team to focus on tasks that are core responsibilities.

With training management software, you can automate the workflows involved in scheduling training classes, classrooms, equipment, and combined virtual/in-person training. This reduces human error and helps ensure that everything goes smoothly.

Learner management

How do you keep track of your employees who need training and ensure they receive it? Having training management software allows you to centralize the training process, track completion rates and performance, and more.

You can also use training management software to let employees know what training courses are coming up so they can enroll if they’re interested. This saves the L&D team from manual work sorting through employees that need development, working with their schedules, and filling classes.

Marketing and sales enablement

Having an all-in-one training platform like the Learning Cloud from WorkRamp can streamline not only the L&D process but also other training programs as well.

Sales enablement is an essential part of helping the sales team succeed — the 2021 State of Sales Enablement report found that organizations with a dedicated sales enablement person or department had higher win rates, quota attainment, and better customer retention.

You can also use an all-in-one platform to manage customer education, vendor training, and more.

Payment and invoices

If you choose to charge for some of your education options, such as advanced customer training or certifications, you need a way to accept and track payments.

Some training management software options allow you to accept payment for digital training without a separate payment portal, making charging for training more efficient.

How to choose the best training management software?

Now that we’ve explored the many advantages of training management software, it’s time to consider how to choose the right one for your organization.

There are many options available, and it’s essential to evaluate each one to find a platform that meets your organization’s needs.

Here are some of the critical factors to consider.

Ease of use

The ideal software should be easy to understand, navigate, and operate without requiring extensive training or technical expertise. The easier it is for the L&D team, trainers, and employees to use the software, the more likely they are to engage with it fully and reap its benefits.

Look for a platform that provides a user-friendly interface, simple and streamlined workflows, automated processes, and clear instructions on how to use each feature.

Flexibility

For training management software that offers LMS features, be sure to create a flexible, easy-to-use training process. Flexibility in designing and implementing your training programs allows your organization to tailor training programs to your specific needs and goals and adjust to industry or business environment changes.

The software should also be adaptable, enabling you to change the training program as needed, such as adjusting the schedule or updating course content.

Customization

Customization is another key feature to look for when selecting training management software. A robust system should allow for easy customization of all aspects of the training program, from course content to reminders and notifications.

The ability to customize courses, emails, and reminders can help keep employees engaged in the training process because they know courses will be up-to-date and relevant.

Collaboration

The best training management software should have collaboration tools built in that allow trainers, course designers, and other members of the L&D team to work together on creating and delivering training programs.

This could include sharing documents, collaborating on course content, and discussing feedback and revisions. The software should also provide a centralized platform for scheduling training sessions, managing attendance, and tracking employee progress and results.

Language support

If your organization includes employees that speak different languages, it’s essential to look for training management software that supports multiple languages.

By providing multilingual support, training management software can help create a more inclusive and engaged workforce, improving productivity, job satisfaction, and retention. Additionally, it can help your organization demonstrate its commitment to diversity and inclusion.

Assessment creation

As you evaluate training management software, looking for a system that allows you to create assessments to check competency and measure performance improvement after training is essential.

An ideal training management software should provide tools for creating assessments, such as quizzes, tests, and surveys, as well as the ability to track the performance of individual employees over time.

Compliance tracking

If compliance is a crucial driver of training in your organization, ensuring that your training management software includes compliance tracking is essential.

Compliance tracking should be easy to use and customizable, allowing you to tailor the tracking process to your specific needs. For example, look for automatic reminders and notifications to ensure employees complete their training on time.

Certifications

An all-in-one platform can give you the ability to train multiple audiences, including your customers.

Certifications can help customers and partners find additional value in your products and services as they learn more about the benefits and use cases.

Pricing

Of course, you want to choose training management software with pricing that fits your organization’s budget.

One thing to keep in mind is that a more robust system that gives you multiple training options gives you significantly more value for your money.

Customer support

Excellent customer support is a key factor to consider when choosing training management software. Implementing a new software system can be a complex and time-consuming process, and it’s vital to have the right support as you transition to your new software.

An ideal training management software should provide robust customer support, including assistance with implementation, training, and ongoing assistance.

What is the difference between training management software and learning management systems?

Training management software and learning management systems are not the same, although there can be some overlap in terms of features and functionality.

A TMS manages instructor-led training, whether virtual or in-person and allows the L&D team to assign physical resources, such as classrooms and projectors, to specific classes. Generally, a TMS is focused on back-office activities.

An LMS focuses on allowing the L&D team to create and manage eLearning and is built so that your employees can log in and access courses directly.

Both functions are essential to most organizations; an LMS and TMS work well together. You may also find software that gives you enough TMS features for your needs and includes robust LMS resources, like the Learning Cloud from WorkRamp, which lets you create engaging training programs, track training completions, automate aspects of the process, and track analytics to improve your programs and report on training effectiveness.

The Learning Cloud is an all-in-one LMS and TMS solution

The Learning Cloud lets you schedule training sessions, create courses, and cater your training to multiple audiences. You can create and manage employee and customer training in a single platform and fuel employee development customer retention, and drive results for your entire organization.

If you’re ready to streamline your training, we’re here to help. Contact us to schedule a free, personalized demo.