Found the LMS Platform You Want? How to Make the Business Case for It

To secure funding, HR and L&D leaders must demonstrate how an LMS investment addresses real business needs – whether it’s workforce transformation, internal mobility, retention or closing skills gaps.

That means building a business case that connects learning strategy to company performance.

Learning Management Systems — LMS platforms for short — have undergone a major shift, moving from content warehouses to precision tools for workforce development.

Ten years ago, they were “sold on the premise that if [they contain] 10 million pieces of content, there must be something for everybody,” said David James, chief learning officer at learning and development (L&D) solutions provider 360Learning.

How AI Is Revolutionizing LMS Platforms

But instead of taking that broad approach to employee L&D, modern LMS platforms with built-in AI technology are now enabling employers to fill knowledge gaps more precisely and easily create skills maps.

Modern LMS platforms can automatically surface the skills required for specific roles and career paths, James said. “With AI-powered skills engines, you simply select the department and role, press Enter and see the actual skills needed to do the job—plus what it takes to move from novice to mastery.”

Today’s LMS platforms also have the flexibility to create training content that’s tailored to your business and allow input from internal and external subject matter experts.

As these AI-driven capabilities evolve, the need for investment in an advanced LMS becomes even more critical for staying competitive in the talent development space.

Convincing Leadership: The Business Case for LMS

Once you’ve defined your organization’s talent development goals and selected an LMS platform to support your strategy, the next step is to present data to your CEO or CFO to justify the investment in a new or upgraded solution.

James said that it’s important to show the cost of inaction and the potential benefits of fully supporting the investment to address skills or performance gaps. Focusing on the value of the LMS investment helps L&D stay aligned with organizational priorities. Making this clear to the organization helps everyone understand the role L&D plays in driving solutions.

One fun fact you can include in the conversation: The World Economic Forum stated that if workplace skills gaps are addressed by upskilling and reskilling by 2030, global GDP is likely to increase by $6.5 trillion.

In addition, research indicates that employees are definitely aware of workplace skills gaps. Strategic Education Inc.’s workforce survey of more than 2,000 American full-time workers found:

• 50% are concerned about gaining the skills they need to advance at their current job.
• 85% know what skills are needed to advance in their current job.
• Nearly half feel they could improve their technology skills to advance in their job.
• 85% have taken advantage of upskilling opportunities provided by their employer, indicating an appetite to learn.
• 91% believe employers should invest in their continued education.
• 93% say learning new skills keeps them motivated at work.
• Nearly half say they’re motivated to stay with an employer that supports continued education or the opportunities to cross-train/explore other areas of interest at work.

How to Prove LMS ROI: A Practical Approach

The 360Learning e-book “Do More With Less: How to Defend Your L&D Budget to Your CFO” is a valuable resource with important LMS platform talking points, and even includes an email script you can use to set the stage for the conversation.

James provided an example of how to address questions about the return on investment in an LMS platform. “You can make these statements: ‘We will keep our top talent and that will save us X. We will transition people from these old roles to these new roles. This will save us Y. And we’ll also bring in these people from outside and that’ll help us capitalize on this opportunity,'” he said.

Minimize the Learning Curve With Robust Customer Support

Once the business case for the LMS is built, executives will likely raise concerns about the learning curve associated with new software, particularly the potential productivity dip that often accompanies its implementation.

However, James emphasized that selecting an LMS platform with robust customer support can help mitigate this challenge and minimize any temporary drop in employee productivity.

“Your vendor shouldn’t just be based on the functional capability,” he said. “When meeting with the vendor, you should … meet your customer support teams [and] your implementation teams so that you know who you’re working with.”