Learning management system (LMS)

What is an LMS?

An LMS (learning management system) is software for creating, delivering and tracking training. In an LMS, a company or school publishes courses, videos, quizzes and guides, assigns them to people, tracks completion and issues certificates. Learning in an LMS can be asynchronous, when everyone takes a course at their own pace, or synchronous, such as a scheduled webinar.

Businesses use an LMS for onboarding, mandatory training, skills development and upskilling. It is one of the tools within a company's wider learning and development (L&D) function.

How an LMS works

1. Content creation: an admin or course author uploads materials or builds a course from lessons, videos and quizzes.
2. Assignment: courses are assigned to individual employees, departments or all new hires, with due dates.
3. Learning: people take the course in a browser or mobile app, and the system sends deadline reminders.
4. Assessment: quizzes and tasks check whether the material has been understood.
5. Reporting: the admin sees who completed the course, with what result, and whose certificate is about to expire.

Key LMS features

Types of LMS

Benefits of an LMS for business

• Lower costs: a course is built once and reused for every new hire, without trainer fees or printed materials.
• Consistent quality: everyone gets the same information about processes, the product and rules.
• Faster time to productivity: new hires take core courses before or during their first days.
• Control over mandatory training: health and safety, data protection and internal policies with proof of completion.
• Flexibility: learning is available anywhere, which matters for remote and hybrid teams.
• Development and retention: access to learning improves the employee experience and helps close skills gaps.

How to choose an LMS

1. Define the goals: onboarding, mandatory training, skills development or all of them. A training needs analysis helps here.
2. Consider who will create content: can authors build courses without developers?
3. Check SCORM and xAPI support if you already have ready-made courses.
4. Look at reporting: can you see progress by person, team and course?
5. Check integrations with your HRM software so employees and the org structure sync automatically.
6. Test mobile access and how easy the system is for learners.

LMS standards: SCORM and xAPI

SCORM is the most widely supported standard for packaging e-learning courses so they work in any compatible LMS; it was developed by the US Advanced Distributed Learning initiative. xAPI, also known as Tin Can, is a newer standard that can also record learning outside the LMS, such as simulations, mobile apps or on-the-job tasks. If you buy courses from external providers, check which standard they use before choosing a platform.

In PeopleForce, learning is tied to employee development: individual development plans in the Perform module track learning goals and progress, competency management shows skill gaps, and the knowledge base in Core HR keeps guides and policies in one place for the whole team.