Found the LMS Platform You Want? Here’s How to Influence Your Boss to OK It

Learning Management Systems — LMS platforms for short — have changed a lot.

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.

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.

“With AI-powered skills engines, all you need to do … is type in your organization, select the department you’re speaking to, get down to the specific roles, press Enter and you’re [looking at] the actual skills [needed] to do the actual job [in the future],” James said.

“You can even highlight proficiency levels … what it takes to move from novice to mastery in any given role,” he said.

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.

Getting Approval for an LMS Platform

After you’ve discerned what your organization’s specific talent development goals are, and identified an LMS platform to power your strategy, the next step is to present data to your CEO or CFO to justify the investment in a new or upgraded solution.

“A value can be attributed to … what it will cost to do nothing and what the opportunity is to fully back the investment to plug what might be a skills or performance gap. And if you’re prioritizing your needs on the value it brings to the organization … you keep L&D focused on solving real problems,” James said. “If you make that transparent to your organization, then they can also see what learning and development has been invited in to help with.”

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 2024 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, and
• 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.

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 offered a sample 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.

What About the Productivity Dip?

There’s always a learning curve when any new software is implemented, and senior leadership is sure to ask about the resulting drop-off in employee productivity.

According to James, the right LMS platform for you will be the one that comes with robust customer support.

“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.”