What is Training Management Software?
Training Management Software sits at the core of an e-learning revolution that is sweeping the globe. Annually, billions of dollars are being traded as part of a new information-based society. Increasingly, it falls to the shoulders of systems like Training Management Software to streamline employee learning and provide the advantages necessary for success in our emerging knowledge economy.
But what is Training Management Software and how does it represent a change from traditional training programs?
Superficially, the software is a portal for the distribution of learning information, giving employees a digital platform to interact with instructors, learn training material, chart progress and manage work-related information. But the shift to e-learning also represents a shift in how we’re learning. The introduction of tools like video and interactive tests are pushing the boundaries of how employees and employers interact, creating value through dialogue and incorporating employees into company decision-making in a way inconceivable before the Internet.
At the heart of Training Management Software and the digital learning revolution lies the principle of scientific management—a theory of workplace management that seeks to improve organizational efficiency through the analysis of workflow[1]. By recording performance metrics and analyzing the flow of work between all an organization’s stakeholders—employees, customers, management, suppliers, b2b partners, etc.—employers are able locate sources of inefficiency and use information management to yield greater profits.
When it comes to workplace learning, a Training Management System establishes instructional design, a system that goes beyond the one-way distribution of information to control the instructional experience through an online medium. This new, interactive medium increases the appeal of the learning process for employees[2]. This interactive element has the added byproduct of increasing learning retention and, consequently, return on investment for training.
These learning principles, developed in the pre-digital age, are more relevant than ever as managers adapt traditional training programs for digital distribution. Analogue databases are being converted for computer analysis, meaning trends can be analyzed in seconds. Because of the efficiency created in business analysis by these digital frameworks, such systems have become indispensable for organizations seeing to acquire and maintain a competitive edge.
Training Management Software functions on the system of “design with intent,” a system of learning that recognizes there is more to learning than just the transmission of information[3]. Successful training programs embrace a deeper, conceptual understanding of learning principles, allowing employees to integrate and use acquired information, not just regurgitate facts[3]. By using a learning design process to structure employee interaction during class sessions, employers can match content with their learning experience to maximize information retention. Training Management Software makes this process easy, giving employees access to video for the explanation of manual tasks and text-based learning for supplemental knowledge or intangible learning concepts. This system, coupled with the resources and consistent information delivery of training software creates an active learning experience that combines principles from experiential and discovery-based learning with traditional instruction.
Combined these principles create a system of training delivery that matches course content with a variety of visual learning mediums (video, games, audio, etc.), which, when paired with regular feedback and learning evaluation tools, creates an adaptable system of learning. While traditional training programs are static and require time and effort to revise, new training software adapts to learning needs as it is used.
By embracing these new technologies and learning methods, any organization can use a Training Management System to create an employee training program that is not only more effective, but delivers content with more consistency and opportunity for dialogue, while reducing overall program cost.
Citations
1 – Beissinger, Mark R. (1988), Scientific Management, Socialist Discipline, and Soviet Power, London, UK: I.B. Tauris & Co Ltd, ISBN 978-1-85043-108-4.
2 – Schoenholtz Judith (2013), E-Study Guide for Handbook of Online Learning, Google eBooks.
3 – Smith, Richard; Lynch, David (2007), Learning management Transitioning Teachers for National and International change, School of Education, chapter 2.
