Localised businesses are very rapidly becoming a thing of the past as companies take full advantage of progress in communications and infrastructure to enter new markets and create new opportunities. Whilst these opportunities are seen as positive by many, globalisation does have a sting in its tail creating new challenges for business leaders. So, how can you stay ahead of the game?
There are many challenges associated with expanding your global reach. For example, one of the biggest risks is ensuring global brand consistency and cohesive communication strategies. It can be extremely difficult to make sure that all departments across borders work in harmony, but a learning management system can assist with this. Prenhall suggests that the 3 main challenges for Human Resource Departments are:
- Having the right skills where they are needed.
- Spreading knowledge and practices consistently throughout the organisation.
- Identifying and developing talent on a global basis.
So how can an LMS help?
A key theme emerging from these points is the importance of consistency. For the right skills to be deployed in the right place within an organisation, there must be a companywide consistent approach in place and preferably one which records all information into a learning management system. An LMS can be used to identify future needs, and identify skill gaps, otherwise recording information is simply a subjective exercise.
The foundation of any good HR strategy is an LMS which can be utilised to ensure such consistency throughout a business. Why have multiple systems when you can implement one uniform solution with the communication tools to reach a larger audience? Why settle for a bland LMS which doesn’t integrate your brand message when you can brand learner portals on multiple levels to re-enforce brand messaging consistently?
Brands are increasingly global in nature; consumers expect to receive the same service from your brand wherever they are globally, therefore training and brand identity has a requirement to be consistent to achieve consumer demands. So how can such consistency be achieved through a learning management system?
A sophisticated LMS can provide multilingual capabilities to allow ease of use for all. This is increasingly becoming a necessity as businesses expand their employee base and international reach. An integrated online booking system should also permit payment from a wider range of international currencies to offer flexibility to users. Another advantage of learning management software is that course information can be centrally updated and distributed to allow for more consistent training.
These tools are all invaluable to any HR department, but without doubt the most powerful feature is reporting. Information is power – it gives an instant overview of your organisations profile, including outstanding course completion from a compliance viewpoint as well as financials which are invaluable for budgeting. This can be used as a management tool to monitor business performance, forecasting and compliance.
A sophisticated LMS is a simple, cost-effective method to meet all three challenges faced by HR departments. If you would like to find out more about the features of an LMS and the hidden benefits why not download our case study? Take a closer look at how leading retailer Musgrave Group manage learning and development for over 55,000 employees throughout Europe.
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