Looking for employee training software for your business? This full guide will help you choose the right one. Let's get into it.

Employee training has become a non-negotiable aspect of operational workflow for forward-thinking organizations. After all, a well-trained employee is typically more productive and can contribute meaningfully to business success; in fact, a McKinsey study found that companies with effective training programs can see 218% higher revenue per employee. But did you know that recent statistics show that 59% of employees still receive no formal training at work?

Shocking data, yes. But it also provides you with a unique opportunity to gain a competitive advantage by giving your employees training courses that'll boost their efficiency and operational outputs.

But here's the million-dollar question — what employee training software should you use?

In this guide, we'll give you a comprehensive introduction to employee training software and our top recommendations, including their features, pros, cons, and more.

What is employee training software?

Employee training software is a digital platform that automates and streamlines employee learning programs, from onboarding and compliance training to skill development. These digital training solutions improve knowledge retention and training efficiency for L&D teams.

However, employee training software does more than just facilitate the delivery of training materials. They also offer add-on features such as:

• Interactive learning modules

• Course creation

• Assessments

• Segmentation

• Progress tracking

• Metrics and analysis

These features can provide organizations with insight into the effectiveness of their knowledge advancement programs. These solutions can also help highlight areas for improvement within their operations.

What are the benefits of business training software?

Business training software offers employers an efficient way to prepare their teams for increasing operational demands. Here are the key benefits:

• Enhanced employee development: Streamlines content deployment and boosts engagement for more effective upskilling

• Improved training efficiency: Interactive methods, progress tracking, and analytics optimize learning outcomes

• Consistent training delivery: Ensures uniform quality across all employee learning categories

• Seamless scalability: Easily accommodates growing teams and expanding training content needs

• Higher engagement rates: Interactive elements like gamification improve completion rates

So, what factors combine to produce these numerous benefits? Keep reading as we explore the essential features of typical employee training software.

What are some employee training software use cases?

Employee training software addresses diverse organizational needs across industries:

• Employee onboarding: Automates new hire training and company culture introduction

• Upskilling and reskilling: Keeps teams competitive through continuous skill development, which is why upskilling or reskilling the current workforce is a top priority for 53% of organizations.

• Sales enablement: Updates teams on product knowledge and sales techniques

• Compliance training: Ensures policy adherence with automated, interactive workflows

What are the three types of employee training software?

Employee training software is not one-size-fits-all. Depending on your workforce’s learning needs and preferences, your HR or L&D team may require tools with specific features.

Thankfully, you have options. Here are three types of training software you can leverage:

LMS (Learning Management System)

• Best for: Onboarding and compliance training

• Key feature: Course delivery and progress tracking

LCMS (Learning Content Management System)

• Best for: Creating custom training materials

• Key feature: Robust content authoring tools

LXP (Learning Experience Platform)

• Best for: Self-directed learning

• Key feature: AI-powered content recommendations

1. Learning Management System (LMS)

This is probably the most popular type of employee training software, with statistics showing a global adoption of 73.8 million users.

An LMS is a platform that allows you to compile and assign relevant training materials to the appropriate learners. This platform also allows you to track each participant's learning progress and completion status.

Generally, an LMS acts like a central hub for knowledge where employees can come to access and undergo training. However, it will typically not offer authoring or course creation features.

Key features

• Course management and delivery

• Progress tracking and reporting

• Assessment and certification tools

Best use cases

• Employee onboarding

• Compliance training

2. Learning Content Management System (LCMS)

An LCMS gives you the functionalities of an LMS and then more. With an LCMS, you get authoring capabilities, which allow you to create training content, in addition to compiling, managing, and delivering it.

In addition, the content on an LCMS is typically digital, which offers HR and L&D teams a wider range of tracking and analytical functionalities. For instance, you can track how much time an employee spends getting through a module.

LCMSs are go-to organization systems that produce a large volume of training content and need more versatile tools for content creation and management.

Key features

• Content creation tools

• Content storage and organization

• Interactive media (videos, simulations, etc.)

Best use cases

• Custom e-learning content development

• Rapid course development and deployment

3. Learning experience platform (LXP)

Like an LMS or LCMS, an LXP also acts as a hub where employees can access training materials. However, the primary difference between an LXP and an LMS or LCMS is that employees have to discover the content they need for themselves.

In other words, your L&D team does not assign any training content or learning materials to employees. Instead, they create a comprehensive knowledge base of training courses where employees can find information.

Many LXPs also integrate AI and data analytics to recommend content and create a personalized and user-focused approach to learning.

Key features

• Personalized learning paths

• User-generated content and peer learning

• On-demand learning

Best use cases

• Personalized employee development

• Social learning and knowledge sharing

What are the key features of employee training software?

Several features combine to make employee training software a good solution for knowledge development and retention. Below are some of these features:

Course content authoring

An essential feature of employee training software is content authoring. This functionality allows HR and L&D teams to create their unique training materials tailored to meet the specific skill and knowledge requirements of their organization.

Content management

Compiling and creating the training materials necessary for organizational growth is one thing. But how do you organize and deploy them? This is where the content management feature of employee training software comes into play.

Learner progress tracking and assessment

Unlike traditional training methods, employee training software allows stakeholders to keep track of the progress of each learning and assess employees' improvement from one central point — the training platform. Typically, this feature of the software offers data visualizations and custom reports to streamline this process.

Personalization

Employee training software allows employees to have personalized learning paths as they navigate the training courses they need, a feature that is crucial for better engagement and knowledge retention, as 80% of employees believe personalized learning is important in training.

Gamification

Gamification has become a popular feature across many digital platforms and employee training software is no different. By introducing gamification and other interactive features, L&D can boost engagement levels among employees and even improve completion rates.

Social learning capabilities

Social learning tools, such as chat rooms, forums, and collaborative projects, can play an integral role in improving learning among employees. Effective employee training software typically includes social learning capabilities that encourage knowledge sharing among members of the workforce.

Robust analytics and reporting

One of the critical advantages of digital employee training platforms is their advanced analytics and reporting functionalities. This tool offers stakeholders comprehensive insights into progress, engagement levels, and other metrics that help quantify employee learning performance.

Automation

Employee training software also features various automation features — from training count delivery to progress reminders, assessments, and certifications. This helps to optimize the entire training process for learners while freeing up administrative staff for more complex tasks.

Mobile learning

Effective employee training platforms also offer users mobile features to make the training as seamless and accessible as possible. With mobile learning, employees can access training content via their mobile devices and learn on the go, addressing the desire from 38% of employees who wished that training could be accomplished on a mobile platform.

Feedback system

Finally, no employee training software is complete without an efficient feedback system. By leveraging ​​built-in feedback channels, HR and L&D teams can gain insight into training effectiveness and improve engagement, as employees who receive meaningful weekly feedback are four times more likely to be engaged.

ROI and cost considerations for employee training software

Choosing employee training software requires understanding its financial impact beyond subscription costs. Consider these factors:

• Total cost of ownership: Include implementation, content creation, and administration time

• Pricing models: Most use per-user monthly pricing - choose plans that align with growth

• ROI measurement: Track reduced onboarding time, higher retention, fewer support tickets, and improved performance

A successful training program pays for itself through increased workforce efficiency and engagement, with some organizations that invest in employee training reporting 24% higher profit margins than those who spend less.

The importance of integrating knowledge management with employee training software

Integrating your organization's knowledge management with your employee training software can work wonders in terms of your workforce's access to relevant company information and insights.

But what is knowledge management?

Knowledge management refers to the systematic process of compiling, organizing, and sharing a collection of an organization's knowledge base and information assets. This ensures that employees in such companies can find accurate information easily when they need it.

So, how does this intersect with employee training?

Integrating your knowledge management system with your employee training software can help improve learning processes as your team members can find related info about the company when they need context. After all, contextual learning generally improves knowledge retention.

More importantly, your L&D can make new information more relatable to employees by showing the relationship between the training they're getting and real-world applications within the company. This is particularly crucial for use cases like new hire onboarding, upskilling, and compliance training.

Guru's AI enterprise search further enhances this integration by allowing employees to do a deep dive into the organization's separate and diverse information collections — say, integrated apps, internal communications, and knowledge bases — when they attempt a search.

This ensures they can find the information they need regardless of where it is in the organization's network.

Watch our on-demand demo video to learn more!

What are the potential challenges of implementing employee training platforms?

Yes, implementing employee training platforms can significantly boost learning efficiency and resulting productivity within your organization. But, it's not without some challenges:

• Cost: Depending on the size of your company and its budget, the cost of setting up employee training software may be a challenge. You'll also need to factor in ongoing subscription expenses for as long as you need the training platform and its built-in tools.

• Integration with existing systems: Another issue many organizations face is integrating employee training platforms into the existing IT infrastructure. While many training software programs are seamless and require little, if any, complex installations, others may require specialized services, such as custom development and data migration before they can be fully operational. On that note, making sure the tool you choose offers good customer support can save you time and money.

• Data privacy and security: Data privacy is an another common concern many businesses have when leveraging employee training software, especially when they've integrated it with their knowledge management systems. Since the platform will typically contain organizational data, data security is an understandable challenge.

• User adoption: Finally, some employee training software may have complex user interfaces that aren't user-friendly, which can make usage challenging. In other cases, a lack of interactive features and intuitive interface may reduce engagement levels among employees, which may pose an issue for training operations.

That said, we'll now walk you through our top 5 employee training tools, which all check crucial boxes — including effectiveness, essential features, user-friendliness, data security, and more.

What are the 5 best employee training software tools?

Picking the right online employee training software for your organization can be an overwhelming decision, as there are tons of options to choose from. Here are our top 5 recommendations for seamless online learning:

1. TalentLMS

TalentLMS is a cloud-based LMS that boasts an easy-to-use interface and several scalable features.

Source: TalentLMS

TalentLMS offers users a built-in library that allows for efficient compilation and organization of training modules. You can also upload SCORM, xAPI, or cmi5 files.

In addition, it also has gamification features that can make the learning process interactive and engaging for employees, potentially boosting training outcomes.

You'll also find that TalentLMS integrates with Guru, which means that the collection of all your company's internal knowledge is only a fingertip away from learners!

Top features

• Customizable learning paths: TalentLMS allows you to create personalized training experiences for each of your employee groups, thus creating personalized user experiences.

• Advanced reporting: You can track learner performance with detailed analytics.

• Integrations: You can also seamlessly integrate Talent LMS with popular tools like Zapier and Guru.

2. Absorb LMS

If your goal is compliance training or employee upskilling, Absorb LMS may be the ideal software for you.

Source: G2

The first thing about Absorb LMS that stands out is its modern design. But there's more. It also provides users with versatile tools for course authoring, management, and reporting.

In addition, if scalability is a priority, this tool can easily keep up with the comprehensive training needs of your growing organization.

With its advanced reporting and analytics functionalities, Absorb LMS allows you to gain clear insights into the ROI of your training program. We should also mention that it has a mobile version for both Android and iOS, which means your workforce can learn on the go.

Top features

• Engagement tools: You can leverage quizzes, surveys, and polls to keep learners engaged and proactive.

• Advanced analytics: Absorb LMS offers you comprehensive analytics to help you make informed decisions regarding your training program.

• Automated notifications: The platform also has built-in automated in-app notifications to keep users updated.

3. Docebo

Docebo is a sophisticated LMS that leverages AI to enhance the employee learning experience.

Source: Docebo

With this tool, you can create personalized and interactive learning environments and initiatives through its AI-powered recommendations and social learning features.

This platform is ideal for large organizations due to its versatile scalability features. However, HR and L&D teams in small businesses can also use Docebo to deliver training at scale.

We should also mention that this tool boasts comprehensive analytics features to track training success.

Top features

• AI-Powered recommendations: Docebo provides personalized content suggestions to learners based on their activities and preferences.

• Social learning: The platform encourages collaboration and knowledge sharing through social learning features.

• Mobile learning: Employees can learn on the go as the platform also has a dedicated mobile app.

4. iSpring Learn

One of the finer points of iSpring Learn is its user-friendliness — no complex installation or IT deployment required.

Source: iSpring Learn

This learning management software is an effective solution that focuses on ease of use and rapid deployment. If you need to launch a training program quickly without sacrificing quality, iSpring Learn may be the tool for you.

With iSpring Learn, you'll have access to a wide range of content-authoring tools to help you create training materials. It also has advanced learning tracking systems with advanced metrics and analytics.

In addition, this platform also allows learners to choose their preferred learning paths, ensuring they can absorb information at their unique optimal rates.

Top features

• Quick course authoring: You can create interactive courses quickly with built-in authoring tools.

• Advanced analytics: iSpring Learn lets you track learner progress and performance with comprehensive analytics.

• Mobile app: You can provide your workforce with access to training on the go with a dedicated mobile app.

5. LearnUpon

LearnUpon boasts a user-centric LMS that's ideal for helping companies improve their employee onboarding and professional development.

Source: LearnUpon

LearnUpon has an interactive course authoring feature that helps users generate training content while also organizing and delivering it.

In addition, the platform also boasts comprehensive features for more specific internal training tailored to each employee's job description.

In addition, LearnUpon also allows organizations to create internal wikis and knowledge bases so employees can easily find answers to questions they have about company policies and FAQs.

Top features

• Multi-training feature: LearnUpon lets you manage multiple training portals from a single account.

• Blended learning: You can combine online courses with in-person training sessions.

• API integrations: The platform offers you integrations with a wide range of third-party applications.

How to choose online employee learning software for your corporate training needs

Choose the right employee training software by evaluating these key factors:

Essential Selection Checklist:

• Functionality: Identify required features - content authoring, gamification, or delivery-only systems

• Accessibility: Consider mobile access needs, especially for remote teams

• Budget alignment: Evaluate setup costs, subscriptions, and ROI potential

• Growth capacity: Ensure the platform scales with your training volume

• Integration compatibility: Verify connections with existing HR and IT systems

Getting started with employee training software implementation

A successful implementation goes beyond just buying software. Following a structured plan ensures you get the most value from your investment and drives user adoption.

First, clearly define your training goals. Are you focused on onboarding, compliance, or upskilling? Next, assemble a small project team to lead the implementation.

We recommend starting with a pilot program for a single department to test the software and gather feedback. Use these early learnings to refine your approach before rolling it out to the entire organization. A thoughtful rollout strategy is the fastest path to building a culture of continuous learning.

Transform your training with an AI source of truth

Choosing the right employee training software is a critical step toward building a more capable and productive workforce. As we've seen, the best platforms offer a blend of content management, engagement features, and robust analytics. But formal training is only part of the learning journey.

To truly accelerate employee development, you need to connect your training platform to your company's collective knowledge. Guru serves as your AI Source of Truth, connecting all your sources to deliver trusted, permission-aware answers right where work happens.

By integrating your training software with Guru, you empower employees to reinforce their learning with contextual, verified information anytime they need it. This creates a continuously improving layer of truth that supports both your people and your AI. To see how Guru can power your training initiatives, watch a demo.