What to Look for in a Learning Management System (And What to Avoid)

You already know how important effective workplace training is. Whether you’re onboarding new hires, managing compliance training, or ensuring your team has the skills to do great work, your learning and development program has a major impact on employee and business success. In today’s tech-forward landscape, what’s changing is how teams get trained.

These days, a learning management system (LMS), also known as an enterprise learning platform, isn’t just a nice-to-have; it’s central to keeping people informed, aligned, and growing. When you dive into the data, this is clear.

Skills are evolving quickly (about 25% of the skills required for jobs across industries have changed since 2015), and nearly 90% of learning and development leaders agree that building employee skills now is the best way to prepare for what’s next, according to a workplace learning report from LinkedIn.

An effective LMS supports that kind of growth for employees and leaders. It brings structure to onboarding, simplifies compliance, and makes training accessible, whether someone’s on a shop floor, behind a desk, or working remotely.

With talent shortages growing, the stakes are real. Over 65% of respondents to the National Association of Manufacturers’ (NAM) 2024 Q1 outlook survey listed attracting and retaining talent as their top challenge. Deloitte found in a 2023 workforce strategies study that 1.9 million manufacturing jobs (over 50% of total positions in that industry) remain unfilled due to skills gaps.

One way to address skill gaps and boost talent within the workplace is with a modern LMS solution. Here’s how to evaluate what’s available (and what to avoid).

There are a lot of platforms out there, and not all of them are built with your day-to-day in mind. If you’re looking for a system that truly supports your team and your goals, here are some non-negotiables:

Some platforms may check all of these boxes but still fall flat when it comes to actual engagement or ease of use. These features tend to drive greater training ROI:

Ultimately, the best enterprise learning platforms are the ones that fit you, not the other way around.

You know what works for your business, but here are a few LMS red flags that could cause problems:

While you’re exploring options, check out Propelr’s learning platform.

Here’s our approach:

We built our platform with the goal of making workforce training faster, smarter, and more effective.

Propelr is flexible enough for whatever training challenge you’re tackling: onboarding, compliance training, skill-building, customer education, or all of the above. Contact our team to get a live Propelr LMS demo.

The LMS you choose has long-term implications for how your organization attracts, develops, and retains talent. In an L&D report that addresses how companies thrive amid economic headwinds, LinkedIn found that 29% of employees on average say that opportunities to learn and develop new skills are a top reason they’d consider accepting a new job. And 98% of companies that adopted a skills-based learning approach said they retained top performers, according to a Deloitte report evaluating workforce issues around skill gaps and applicant gaps.

Impacts on recruitment and retention directly impact the bottom line. In a 2025 report, SHRM found that hiring a new employee costs about $4,700. In comparison, most companies invest around $3,000 per person in learning and development. Upskilling doesn’t just build stronger teams; it saves money, improves operations, and future-proofs your workforce. The right LMS is how you get there.

At Propelr, we have a learning platform designed to help you train smarter and grow stronger across every role, shift, and location. We’ll help you automate busywork so you can focus on growing your team and your business. Check out the ins and outs of our platform.