LMS or LXP – What fits your organization?

More and more companies are starting to invest in e-learning, as shown by the industry’s growing value. If your organization decides to implement training programs, you’re bound to come across the terms LXP and LMS. Both are employee development platforms, and it’s up to you to determine which one is more conducive to training your staff.

Many questions arise concerning their benefits and challenges. Essentially, LXPs and LMSs are similar – they both aim to provide corporate training and learning content to your workers. However, the platforms help you accomplish slightly different goals and selecting the right one is crucial for steering your team in the right direction.

What is an LMS?

LMS is short for learning management system. It’s a type of software designed to administer, document, track, report, and deliver training programs. To qualify as an LMS, a platform must meet the following conditions:

• Training materials must be stored in centralised location employees can access.
• The course must contain individuals’ performance records used for a professional evaluation.
• It must enable administrators to personalize and customize training materials according to employee needs.
• It must offer third-party integrations or built-in authoring capabilities.

The administrators control the content in an LMS course. Many people can take on this role, such as members of the HR department, leadership team, or a professional trainer. The administrator uploads content into the course and distributes them to learners.

Another duty they perform is approving user-generated posts that show up within the program. Additionally, if learners ask questions, the administrators must approve them before other members can view it. Basically, the admin serves as a dam – they govern the content volume and flow, holding back anything irrelevant to the course.

What is an LXP?

An LXP (learning experience platform) is user-friendly business training software that delivers a personalized learning experience for employees.

To qualify as a learning experience platform, a program must fulfill the following criteria:

• Offer corporate training solutions, including content providers and niche solutions.
• Develop, manage, and keep track of learning experiences.
• Facilitate engagement, retention, and performance.

LXP platforms consolidate diverse resources into a single repository designed to enhance learning and development. You can find three kinds of LXPs:

• LXPs that focus on delivering personalized content with algorithm-based recommendation engines.
• LXPs that center on facilitating collaboration and social learning.
• Hybrid LXPs that combine social aspects and personalized content.

Most LXPs are part of the first group. One of the most famous examples of this approach is how YouTube and Netflix suggest which content to view next.

In addition, all members in LXPs help curate the learning content. For example, nearly any person within your organization may post pictures and videos, such as your sales rep or HR team member. This is because such platforms are designed as content aggregators. They work as a catch-all for any valuable content.

What are the advantages of an LMS?

LMS courses are prescriptive learning platforms. All training content is assigned (prescribed) to your team members.

This degree of control provides numerous advantages to the administrators. First, these programs include reporting and auditing completions that are integral to keeping up with guidelines and laws. Thus, LMSs are a perfect match for banking and insurance organizations that want to conduct compliance training.

For instance, suppose you perform an audit and discover you only have training completion records for around 20% of your workforce. The loss of data probably occurred because you only kept track of your employees on paper. But with an LMS doing most of the work, you won’t lose precious information and you’ll be able to easily go through completion reports.

Another benefit of an LMS is that you can integrate it with proprietary content. If your organization has its own software, you can seamlessly incorporate it into an LMS. Accordingly, you’ll get a custom-made library that contains all learning tools right where you need them.

What are the advantages of an LXP?

The most significant benefit of LXPs is that they offer highly personalized content relevant to the participants’ interests. These platforms consider all your team members and come up with learning materials that suit them best. This saves you a lot of time because the learners no longer have to scour the course to find the desired content. It’s integrated into their work seamlessly and doesn’t contain tedious tasks.

Another reason why LXPs are a great choice is that they foster teamwork. Social-focused microlearning and other projects deal with group training and focus on various collaborative aspects. The participants work together, share their content, and reflect on previous learning experiences. This way, your employees can track their learning journey and check out their progress.

Moreover, LXPs are terrific because they keep the members engaged. All the content is relevant and raises the interest your learner’s display. This ensures a smooth transition from one segment to another, leading your staff into new topics that can hone their skillsets.

Overall, the LXP approach puts learners at the centre of corporate training. It creates an engaging, high-quality environment that helps develop a productive workforce.

Which platform should you choose?

Since there are some major differences between an LMS and LXP, you need to decide which one fits your organization best. For example, if you’ve placed a considerable emphasis on compliance training, you might be better off with an LMS. It has all the features you need to ensure your staff is up-to-date with the most recent guidelines.

You should also decide on the learning approach you’ll take. On the one hand, an LMS gives you full control of the training, meaning that you’ll be in charge most of the time.

On the other hand, LXPs are learner-centered, allowing your team members to manage their growth on their own.

Finally, if you’re running a large organization with over 30,000 employees, your best option is to combine the platforms. It will simplify the process of managing skills and providing engaging content in such a large environment.

LMS or LXP: Choose Wisely

Running a successful company requires you to make many tough choices. One of them is deciding between an LMS or LXP to boost your employee training, and now you know the benefits each platform brings to the table.

If you’re still not sure what your organization needs, just reach out to Learnsure. We are well-versed in all aspects of e-learning, allowing us to determine what suits your business. We’ll point you in the right direction and lay the foundation for optimized corporate training.