5 Ways in Which Strong L&D and LMS Can Set SMBs up for Success

Even if your business is smaller in size, you are surely dreaming big!

This means that you need to take the right steps in order to achieve these dreams and one way to do so is by investing in employee training. Given the increasingly competitive landscape and rising rival numbers, it’s imperative that you make the most out of your time, budget, and people to increase your revenue and business productivity.

A strong LMS can play a key role in helping SMBs accelerate their growth and compete with larger enterprises by making learning and development an innate part of their organizational culture. Besides boosting employee performance and productivity, a strong L&D strategy can improve employee satisfaction and reduce workforce attrition.

Unlike conventional eLearning solutions, SMBs can benefit immensely from cloud-based LMS solutions because they can be accessed without recurring infrastructural costs. Additionally, LMS solutions can easily be scaled and customized according to the exact learning needs of a small business.

So, if you are an SMB that is yet to invest in an LMS, it is time for you to understand the growing importance of such solutions in knowledge economies.

Here are 5 ways in which an LMS can set SMBs on the path to success:

1. Employee Onboarding

Employees are an asset to every company regardless of its size. However, for smaller businesses, they are especially important considering that retention can sometimes be a challenge. New hires adjusting well in the company has a direct impact on their satisfaction, commitment, turnover, and performance.

By adopting a successful onboarding approach, SMBs can enjoy a higher rate of employee engagement and retention. A well-planned onboarding program plays a key role in imparting goal clarity to the new hires and lays out clear-cut objectives for them.

The right LMS for employee onboarding can make the process more efficient and effective from the get-go. An LMS can help your company store, deliver and track the onboarding training process whether it's done in-person or remotely.

The right LMS can help update relevant content, be it changing practices or policies, through digital resources quickly so that employees get the correct information right from the start.

2. Talent Development

Talent development is not an issue that’s unique only to SMBs. However, it certainly is a greater issue for SMBs because they have fewer employees, sometimes, even a single employee in one position. This is why SMBs need unique solutions to develop their employees quickly and cost-effectively.

An LMS that is easy to use and deploy, with the ability to expand over time, is a perfect solution for SMBs to continue growing, innovating, and getting the best possible performance from every employee.

An LMS can help employees acquire new skills and expand their knowledge. It provides them with learning opportunities that result in an engaged and loyal workforce. It not only helps the workforce grow professionally but also ensures that the company is able to keep up with the ever-evolving trends and developments in the industry.

3. Sales Enablement

For smaller businesses with a small sales team, it can sometimes be challenging to consistently generate and convert qualified leads. Sales enablement is a strong tactic that can help SMBs shorten the sales cycle and increase revenue.

A robust LMS can facilitate strong sales enablement programs to provide salespeople with the strategic tools, training, content, and knowledge they need to drive sales. Sales enablement programs powered by an LMS supercharge the sales process from beginning to end, track analytics and identify growth opportunities for the sales team.

4. Extended Enterprise Training

For companies of any size, it is necessary to ensure that the complex web of partners, suppliers, dealers, and franchisees are happy and share the right brand messaging. Therefore, it is not enough to limit training to just employees.

Your business will receive an added boost if the learning is taken beyond the business and the right kind of training is delivered to partners, vendors, customers, re-sellers, and franchisees as well.

With an LMS you can train and engage your extended network more efficiently, in turn, driving visibility for your brand. By making their training a priority, you will see satisfaction rates rise to great heights.

By doing so, you will mitigate the risk of your partners underperforming or misinterpreting your brand, and will also turn them into brand advocates.

5. Compliance Training

One of the most trying challenges for a small business is keeping itself updated with compliance laws to avoid paying huge fines. Many SMBs lack the necessary resources and know-how to conduct compliance training in the right manner. However, compliance training is necessary to minimize risks to your company, while also sending out a strong signal to the outside world.

Choosing a good LMS will ensure you have the necessary access to a broad range of compliance training courses. You can seamlessly deliver your compliance training program with an LMS and can regularly evaluate and update your learning content. With an LMS, your team can stay updated on the latest regulatory changes thus helping your business avoid penalties and promote positive brand recognition.

Key Takeaways

An LMS, especially a cloud-based one, is a scalable solution for businesses of all sizes. For SMBs, especially, an LMS can offer access to as many or as few courses as required. There is no need to create exhaustive training programs. It is enough to simply upload training material that manages current learning needs, and you are good to go.

Investing in an LMS is the right step towards transforming your small company into a workplace where employees, as well as business, can grow and flourish. As the demand for these programs grows across industries, UpsideLMS has launched saksham - Free Forever – a feature-packed and integration-ready LMS to take learning, especially for SMBs, from good to great.

Saksham is a learning solution to enable organizations of all sizes to establish a learning culture; scale up their capability; be smarter, agile, and future-ready.

Click here to learn more about our innovative learning solution.