If you're reading this, we’re sure we don’t have to wax poetic to you about the merits of a Learning Management System. But if you’re stuck with an LMS that your people don’t love, making a strategic switch can have a huge impact on your budget, employee engagement, and productivity.

Although switching providers and jumping into the (relatively) unknown can be a daunting prospect, allow us to count the ways it will benefit you.

But first, how do you know it’s time to take the next step?
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How do I know it’s time to switch my LMS?
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1. Your employees don’t use your LMS. It sits, gathering digital dust, with your carefully-curated learning content going unnoticed and unused.
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2. Relevant content is hard to find. If your Learning Platform is difficult to navigate with a clunky UX, the chances are your employees struggle to find the relevant learning materials when they need them.
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3. Your employees aren’t completing the necessary training. A bland and uninspiring LMS leads to a team that simply doesn’t use it, which in turn leads to mandatory training not being completed - let alone trying to drive a learning culture of self-led development and curiosity.
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4. It’s one-size–fits-all, and one-note. Your learning platform only suits the needs of certain learners, and doesn’t take into account the individual ways in which real people learn. It also only provides compliance training, instead of bringing in skills, comms, and other engaging features. An effective LMS should be adaptable, dynamic, and cater to a diverse range of needs.
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How can I make sure the implementation is smooth?
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Okay, so you’ve decided to switch your LMS.

We know that migration can traditionally be one of the most stressful parts of the process; transferring years of learning history from one platform to another is no small feat, especially for large teams. So how can you ensure this process goes off without a hitch?

1. Work with your vendor to establish your needs. Early on in the process - as early as the sales stage - you should be upfront with your potential vendor about your needs as a business. This will allow them to establish a realistic time-frame and lay out the steps to get there, as well as the success metrics by which to measure them.
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2. Be prepared. Starting to think about implementation early on in the process is the key to a smooth and seamless transition. If your vendor can provide a preview of the platform before you close the deal, this will help you get to grips with the navigation - saving you an immeasurable amount of time post–launch.
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3. Look for a vendor with a dedicated Implementation Specialist. Our number one tip for a smooth implementation is to find a vendor who provides a dedicated Implementation Specialist. They’ll help you navigate the complex steps with ease, guiding you through the entire journey from onboarding to launch.
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4. Make sure your vendor makes migration stress-free. For a smooth and seamless switch, your vendor should combine a migration tool with real, human expertise to support you every step of the way. Well-designed migration tools carry over your legacy learning history to your new platform, along with all your various files and users, so that you can pick up right where you left off.
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How can I drive results by switching my LMS?

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1. Employee engagement: It goes without saying - even though we’re saying it multiple times - that if your current LMS is clunky, hard to navigate and uninspiring to use, your employees just won’t use it. This leads to an apathetic approach to Learning and Development, uninterested learners, and a distinct lack of employee engagement. (i.e. the diametric opposite of what an LMS is actually supposed to do.)
   
   Switching to an LMS that excites and inspires your learners will lead to much higher adoption rates, and make a marked difference to your people's relationship to workplace learning.
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2. Efficiency and effectiveness: So, your learners aren’t engaging with your current learning platform - therefore, they’re not really learning.
   
   Again, we don’t have to preach to you about the impact of Learning and Development on productivity, but just in case you need further convincing: IBM found that their employees’ productivity levels increased by 10% when teams were well trained.
   
   When it comes to effectiveness, look no further than Thrive customer and home improvement giant, Homebase. They gained a 35% higher customer satisfaction score in stores who were trained to “expert” level on the platform.
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3. Cost: Put simply, your ineffective LMS is costing you money. There are a few reasons for this, chief among them the fact that strong L&D strategies lead to employee retention, and replacing employees who have left due to a lack of opportunity is a costly exercise.
   
   Instead of taking this risk, get ahead of it by investing in a good Learning Management System. Your employees (and bottom line) will thank you.
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Thanks for reading our guide to making a change for the better. Have we convinced you? Why not see if Thrive could be your next LMS, and learn how it has helped businesses like yours drive results by booking a demo?

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