Training tracking software guide

Employee training will always be necessary. It’s just a fact of life. In the days when employee training programs were composed of one-on-one skills teaching, paper tests, or presentations in front of new employees, it was pretty easy to keep track and record who completed training.

However, with today’s ever-present technology and the increasing speed of business, some kind of software to track employee training goes a long way to assign training and track employees who meet training requirements. There are plenty of tracking software platforms out in the world, but the more recent development of tracking software devoted to ensuring that employees know what they are doing on the job is one that everyone can appreciate.

What is training tracker software?

So, what exactly is training tracking software? In a nutshell, an employee training tracking software platform is a program that easily conveys information to company managers, trainers, and owners regarding information that they need their employees to know. However, training tracking software for employees can be limited because certain training record management tools usually don’t allow for content to be created within the same software.

Why you should track employee training records

Measuring training is hard, which is why so many leaders let these tasks fall by the wayside. But when teams need real answers about the success of their training program, guesses and estimates won’t cut it. The reality is that every team needs tangible metrics so they can not only report on training success but also make decisions on how to do Better Work. Still not convinced? Here are a few more reasons why you should track training with training tracking software.

1. Easily identify who needs training on what and when: To tie training to employee performance, training tracking software works wonders. Teams who use employee training software can quickly identify if and when an employee needs additional support if they’re not performing up to par.
2. Create a training calendar: Training tracking software also makes it easier to create and plan your team’s training calendar. From onboarding to ongoing training, you’ll quickly be able to prepare training materials and automatically send out lessons when your employees need them most.
3. Track required employee safety and compliance training: If you work in a regulated industry, chances are your organization has to adhere to specific training and certification requirements. Employee training records can help ensure that every single team member is up to date on the latest safety and compliance regulations.
4. Manage and share training data across the company: At some point, you’ll most likely need to share updates on your training efforts with your boss or executive team. Training tracking software provides transparency to training records and so you can easily share data with people outside of your team.
5. Eliminate extra work: Say goodbye to excel spreadsheet templates for tracking your training program. This manual method takes a ton of time that you could be using to improve your training program.

What to track with an online training system

Unfortunately, many companies track training success purely based on engagement and asking themselves if employees are completing training. The problem with this method is that there’s no real measurement of the correlation between training and the business outcomes we all want. It also doesn’t take into account knowledge retention or feedback, which are two major ways to monitor improvement. Simply put, basic completion metrics just aren’t enough. Instead, here’s what we suggest using a training tracker for.

Learner engagement

Training tracking software gives teams a clear view of which employees are taking ownership of their training and completing lessons on time.

Learner satisfaction

We strongly believe that your online training system or e-learning software should give your employees the chance to share their feedback on your program. Look for ways that your learners can rate training with a simple thumbs up or thumbs down. This will help you see how employees feel about training.

Training comprehension

If you really want to see if your employees understand what they’re learning, then we suggest integrating quizzes and tests within your lessons. Then, review the scores to see if they are comprehending and retaining newly learned material.

Lesson visits

Do you know which training content is most popular with your team? What information do they keep going back to? By tracking this type of information, you’ll be able to identify topics they care about and skills that they want to improve.

Search queries

A great LMS features search capabilities. This gives everyone the chance to easily search for training content in just a few clicks. Consider tracking what your employees are looking for to see if you have any gaps that you can fill with lessons and relevant content.

Skill mastery

Much like training comprehension, it’s also important to track how well employees are mastering crucial skills that they need in their roles. Employee training trackers can help you review how well employees can leverage their skills on the job through practice exercises and interactive assessments behind the scenes.

Certifications

It’s also becoming more common to combine training lessons and content to create certifications for employees. These certifications are a way to know who has completed a number of training lessons to become more knowledgeable in a certain skill or role. Training management software makes it easy to keep track of who has received certain certifications and who is actively pursuing training to earn a new certification.

How to create a training matrix for employees with training tracking

Keeping a training records database is a great way to take stock of the skills that your team already possesses. This also gives you a great starting point for what areas need additional attention for improvement. Employee training logs can help you visualize who has mastered which skills with a simple glance of their training profile, and it’s the quickest way to focus your training efforts on knowledge gaps.

Once you’ve created an up-to-date skills inventory for your team, you’ll want to build an employee training matrix for individual team members and your team overall. A training matrix is a tool that compares required training, skills, and competencies of certain employees. It’s extremely helpful in managing training and development, but would be nearly impossible to create if you didn’t use training record software. So, if you’re ready to optimize your training efforts with an employee training matrix, make sure you’re also prepared to use training tracking software.

Comparing training tracking software to a total training management solution

It’s also easy to confuse training tracking software with a complete training management system (TMS). While a TMS isn’t the exact same thing as a training tracking software, it is a close parallel and can help teams create and manage an effective training program. These software solutions are often very adept at delivering information in a timely and organized manner, but one thing to keep in mind is that training tracking software typically needs a separate authoring tool to prepare content, training documents, and lessons for the employees. Here are some distinct differences between training tracker software and training management software:

• Training management systems are all-in-one tools that enable organizations to create, manage, and track all things training.
• Training tracking software does not support content development or storage; it is usually limited to just tracking training that’s completed, in progress, or overdue.

While there are some benefits to free training tracking software, a total management solution like Lessonly combines tracking with intuitive authoring tools, so you can create content that is personalized to your company and your employees. By putting these creation tools alongside the delivering and tracking software, you can ensure that nothing is lost in translation and that your employee training tracking program gives you the data that you need to see, while still remaining usable for the learners. We’re a one-stop-shop for both training management and tracking.

One of the biggest downsides to learning modules made for older learning management systems is they often aren’t very learner-friendly. Slides will have a minimum time limit on them to “ensure” that the learner retained the information when in reality people would sit and wait until the timer was up before clicking forward. One of our core tenants at Lessonly is to make our product easy and enjoyable for the learner to use. Without that, we believe that a lot of valuable information showing employee tracking is lost.

How we can help track training

By being transparent with your employees and describing the reasons that you want to train them, and want to track that training, you build trust and invest in your workforce. Our training tool turns tracking, reporting, and measuring training efforts from a complicated affair into no big deal. Our Insights feature brings all of your training data into one, easy-to-use dashboard so teams can visualize how their training program is doing, find areas for improvement, make informed decisions, and communicate training progress to other teammates. Companies can track everything from learner engagement and satisfaction to quiz scores and feedback. We also make it simple to create and download custom reports, so you can track the metrics that matter the most to your business.

Keep all of these thoughts in mind as you are on your quest to find the best training management software. Your decision will be more informed and well suited to fit your company’s needs the more research that you put in beforehand. If you’d like to hear how Lessonly by Seismic can help track your employees’ training, schedule a demo.