7 top learning experience platforms for employee development
The benefits of learning experience platforms are many, especially in a COVID-19 world. Here are some top learning experience platforms to consider right now.
In a post-pandemic world, keeping newly remote employees engaged, productive and well-trained is critical. The top learning experience platforms may be able to help.
Learning experience platforms (LXPs) are the newer entries into the corporate learning market, building on the idea of a learning management system (LMS), a software that organizations can use to implement and track their learning and development initiatives.
The difference between a learning experience platform and a learning management system is relatively easy to sum up.
An LMS focuses more on the administration of learning than the experience, while the strength of an LXP lies in the ability to facilitate and personalize learning, said Mark Vickers, chief research analyst at HR.com. It also simplifies linking to external resources and fostering social interaction among employees.
In other words, LXPs make learning content more accessible.
Learning experience platforms enable users to access content through social media, blog posts, videos and other channels, and tap into information from sources around the internet. The platform uses social tools, such as online forums and communities, to encourage information sharing among workers.
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Learning experience platforms have grown in popularity as employees and employers attach more importance to learning. Many job seekers place a high priority on development opportunities as they decide whether to join or leave a company. In recognizing that trend, employers have come to see learning as a retention tool.
Those factors, combined with a general preference for slick, consumer-like experiences, have caused more organizations to expand their vision of learning.
Selecting the right LXP involves both HR and learning departments, as well as IT staff involved with implementation and line-of-business managers who want their employees to develop skills.
Different LXP providers emphasize different strengths in their messaging, but all of them offer core features that help create and compile content, ensure that employees receive the training they need and keeps records of who took courses and how they fared. These top learning experiences platforms all offer mobile apps as well as web-based access.
This guide should help give you a sense of how some of the leading systems stack up.
Axonify Learn
Axonify focuses its message on microlearning, which it defines as an approach to training that delivers content in focused bites, according to Axonify's website. The platform tracks workers in their day-to-day jobs to determine where they may benefit from training, targeting front-line employees at retailers, call centers, sales organizations, financial firms and warehouse and distribution facilities. The platform then serves up important content in brief segments based on those findings.
Axonify's administration tools aim to help learning teams define when exactly in the workflow employees need training and then tailoring content according to both the employees' and business's needs. Axonify's main platform offers real-time analytics at the individual and organizational level. It also warns front-line managers when training gaps appear and recommends actions they can take to mitigate them.
Cornerstone OnDemand Learning Suite
Cornerstone OnDemand Learning Suite offers administrative tools designed to facilitate instructor-led training, microlearning courses and video. Its Express Class feature allows users to create impromptu training, then enroll and manage attendees. Employees can keep up with their own areas of interest by creating playlist subscriptions.
Behind the scenes, machine learning technology recommends content based on each employee's profile, needs and previous training.
Cornerstone's mobile app enables users to download learning content for offline use and delivers push notifications, such as approved training requests. Social learning features enable employees to ask questions, share documents and collaborate on training. The Learners Home dashboard aims to help employees stay organized by putting content, search capabilities and learning prompts in one place.
Degreed
Degreed compiles courses, videos, articles and other content from a variety of sources. It aims to simplify the curation and delivery of content, and help employers benchmark their employees' skill sets and identify skills gaps within the organization, according to Degreed's website. Degreed queues up multiple pieces of learning content, which the software then organizes and delivers according to each user's expressed preferences.
The platform also provides tools that enable users to create playlists, share content and create groups to facilitate information consumption and collaboration. Degreed also keeps records of each employee's learning and allows individuals to take those records with them if they leave the company.
Degreed offers access through desktop browsers and mobile devices via web and app. Employers can use the platform to measure and benchmark their workforce's skills and knowledge.
Docebo
Docebo offers an AI engine to provide personalized learning for workers. Administrators have the ability to create pages with drag-and-drop widgets without needing to know coding skills, according to Docebo's website. The platform indexes learning content to help improve search results and match content to each user's needs. Managers have access to their team's learning activities and can assign, enroll or suggest learning activities for individual team members. As for employees, they can both discover content and share their own to contribute to a community of continuous social learning, according to Docebo's website.
The platform aims to provide preconfigured or customized reporting based on certifications, groups and dates. Dashboards are available for both individual users and teams, while the platform stores the activities of employees and admins for compliance purposes.
The company's mobile app enables users to access training even when they're offline.
EdCast
EdCast's learning experience platform aims to help small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) create and share videos, blog posts and articles, according to EdCast's website. Employers can create customized learning experiences and organize content by topic. The platform integrates with a number of HR technology suites to help HR manage skills-based certifications.
EdCast offers analytics through prebuilt and customizable dashboards so users can access learner activity data in near-real time. The platform then stores the data in a central repository in an effort to simplify compliance.
Saba Software
Recently acquired by Cornerstone OnDemand, Saba Software offers its own learning experience suite. The platform emphasizes self-driven learning programs supported by administrative and compliance tools, according to Saba's website. Saba Software delivers content over multiple channels including social media, video and mobile. Saba also helps with the production of microlearning lessons, automating the process of adapting existing and planned content into bite-sized pieces, according to Saba's website.
Saba provides a variety of preconfigured dashboards and reports to help HR teams monitor program effectiveness and predict learning needs. Using its learning management tools, HR can define target populations for learning, such as by location or job, push assignments to employees and set schedules.
Skillsoft/Percipio
Skillsoft's Percipio enables employers to collect content from external and internal sources, then integrate learning with HR systems or an LMS. The system enables users to personalize their experience and access lessons from the office or via a mobile device, all while working with the types of media they prefer, according to Skillsoft's website. A browser plugin streamlines access to learning information as part of the employee's workflow.
Skillsoft's reporting tools can track user completions, exemptions and equivalencies. Administrators can also review information on assignments and courses, and track results according to a group or individual.
