How do you get your team to feel truly invested in their own growth and the success of your business? The answer is simple: They need to be engaged. Engaged employees are passionate about their work, committed to the company’s goals, and eager to learn and grow.
In fact, a 2013 study by Gallup found that companies are 17% more productive and 21% more profitable when they offer training to engaged employees. While the exact numbers may have changed since then, the essence of the research remains incredibly relevant, especially at a time when people consume more visual and video content than ever before.
However, many businesses struggle to find eLearning platforms that effectively engage employees, provide a user-friendly experience, and stay within budget. Plus, with so many different platforms out there, it can be overwhelming to even begin doing the research.
We’re here to make your decision-making process easier. This article will highlight what to look for in an eLearning platform and compare the top five eLearning platforms for businesses. By the end of this guide, you’ll have a better understanding of the features to prioritize and the confidence to choose a platform that best aligns with your training goals and budget.
What should you look for in an online training platform?
Accessibility and ease of use
Mobile accessibility is an important consideration, especially for remote work environments. Your employees should be able to access training materials on the go, so look for platforms that let them learn anytime, anywhere, right from their phones or tablets.
Equally important is ease of use. You want a platform that’s simple to navigate, both for the administrators setting up the courses and the employees taking them. When evaluating potential platforms, take the time to explore how it works.
Can you quickly find the features you need? Is it straightforward to create and assign training materials? A user-friendly platform will save time, reduce frustration, and help your employees get the most out of their learning experience.
But let’s face it, even with the most intuitive platforms, questions and issues can pop up. That’s why it’s important to look for a provider that offers great customer support and resources. Look for tutorials, guides, 24/7 support, and community forums where you can get the answers you need when you need them!
Employee-only courses
In addition to accessibility and ease of use, it’s essential to find an eLearning platform that allows you to create private content accessible only to your employees. This ensures that sensitive information remains secure and confidential, protecting your company’s data and intellectual property.
You should also look for platforms that let you share content with specific groups or roles within your organization. Tailoring the learning experience to the specific needs of each team can be very beneficial when it comes to training and sharing information.
Course content customization
To truly make your corporate training program your own, opt for an eLearning platform that offers plenty of customization options:
- Personalization: The platform should let you customize the learning environment to match your company’s branding, including white-labeling options to remove any references to the platform provider.
- Content creation tools: Look for features that support engaging multimedia elements, such as videos, quizzes, flashcards, and image hotspots. These tools will help you develop professional training courses that keep your employees motivated.
Engagement and interaction tools
To keep your employees engaged and motivated throughout the training process, a platform should offer:
- Interactive elements: Features like quizzes, flashcards, and video content can help reinforce key concepts and make the learning experience more enjoyable.
- Social learning tools: Options for discussion forums, peer reviews, and collaborative projects allow your employees to learn from each other, share insights, and build a sense of community.
- Gamification: Incorporating elements such as badges, leaderboards, and rewards can make the learning process more fun and competitive. This encourages your employees to actively participate and achieve their goals.
Integration capabilities
Make sure the eLearning platform integrates well with your current systems, such as HR software, CRM tools, and other enterprise applications. This will help create a cohesive and efficient training experience. You should also consider:
- API access: Platforms that provide APIs let you facilitate custom integrations and data exchanges between your various systems. This level of flexibility can be incredibly valuable in tailoring the platform to your specific needs.
- Single Sign-On (SSO): Support for SSO can streamline the login process and enhance security, providing a more user-friendly experience for your employees. This makes it easier for them to access the training materials they need without having to remember multiple login credentials.
Top 5 eLearning platforms for businesses
We’ve compiled a list of the top five eLearning platforms for businesses, each offering distinct features to help you achieve your training goals.
1. Sensei LMS
Sensei is a powerful WordPress-based Learning Management System (LMS) developed by Automattic. Its effortless integration with WordPress and WooCommerce makes it a great option for businesses looking to create and manage their online training programs.
Key features
- Groups & Cohorts: One of Sensei’s best features is its support for group management and cohort-based learning. This can be particularly useful for corporate training scenarios where you need to provide group-specific instruction, such as onboarding new employees or certifying teams on the use of a new software or process. Sensei also provides group invite links to make it easy for course administrators to enroll employees and track their progress within these collaborative learning environments.
- Course branding and customization: As Sensei natively integrates with WordPress, you to customize the look and feel of your courses using your chosen WordPress theme to align with your company’s branding. This includes the ability to add your logo, colors, and other visual elements, creating a cohesive and professional learning experience for your employees.
- AI-powered features: Sensei comes with several innovative AI-powered functionalities to streamline the course creation process:
- AI-generated course outlines: Sensei’s AI-powered tool analyzes your course content and provides suggested outlines and structures, helping course creators organize their material in an effective and engaging way.
- AI-generated quizzes: The platform’s AI Quiz Generator automatically generates three multiple-choice questions based on the content of each lesson, saving course creators time and ensuring assessments are aligned with the learning objectives.
- Tutor AI: This AI-powered feature acts as a real-time Q&A guide, providing students with instant support and clarification on course material. This can be especially helpful for remote or self-paced learners who may need additional assistance.
- Reusable lesson templates: Course creators can use Sensei’s library of reusable lesson templates to develop lessons efficiently while maintaining a consistent look and feel across their training programs. This can really save time, particularly for organizations that need to create multiple courses or update content regularly.
- Interactive blocks: The platform’s innovative interactive blocks, such as flashcards and image hotspots, enable course creators to build engaging and immersive learning experiences that keep employees motivated and invested in the training process.
Benefits
- User-friendly interface: Sensei requires no coding knowledge, making it a great choice for course creators and administrators who may not have technical expertise. Here’s what one of our users had to say: “I’ve been using Sensei for one and a half years now and love how easy it is to use. Especially the structure with courses, lessons and quiz pages that makes it easy to create a learning environment that makes progression fun for the learner.” – Brand Rocket
- Scalability: As your business grows and your training needs expand, Sensei can scale to accommodate increased users and additional courses, ensuring your learning programs can evolve alongside your organization.
- Cost-effectiveness: Sensei Pro – the premium version of Sensei which includes essential features such as groups and cohort learning, advanced quiz types, co-teaching, content restriction, and more – costs $179 per year, which is significantly cheaper compared to other learning solutions.
- Customization and flexibility: Sensei’s customizable templates and deep integration with hundreds of WordPress plugins provide unparalleled flexibility, allowing you to tailor the learning experience to your specific needs and preferences.
A Sensei success story
A great example of a business successfully using Sensei for corporate training is WoodwardEnglish.com.
With over 3 million monthly visitors, the website offers free English language courses as a lead magnet, monetizing the content through ads and a paid YouTube community. By using Sensei LMS as the foundation for their online academy, the team has created an engaging and interactive learning experience for their students.
2. Udemy for Business
Udemy for Business offers businesses access to a vast library of high-quality courses taught by expert instructors from around the world.
Key features
- Customizable learning portal: Businesses can tailor the platform to their specific needs, creating a branded learning experience that engages employees and keeps them motivated.
- Course curation: Udemy for Business allows businesses to curate courses from its extensive library to create tailored training programs specific to their industry, role, or skill level. The platform also provides a secure environment for creating private courses accessible only to authorized employees.
- Mobile app: The user-friendly mobile app supports remote and mobile employees by enabling them to access courses anytime.
Benefits
- Wide range of topics: Udemy for Business offers an extensive library of courses covering various topics, including business, technology, and design.
- Scalability: The platform can scale to meet the needs of businesses of all sizes, from small startups to large enterprises.
Drawbacks
One potential drawback of using Udemy for Business is the inconsistent course quality. Some users have reported that certain courses feel outdated or lack the depth and rigor expected from an enterprise-level learning platform.
3. Teachable
Teachable is a user-friendly eLearning platform that makes it easy for businesses to create and manage their own online courses.
Key features
- Drag-and-drop course builder: With Teachable, you can quickly put together your course content, like text, videos, quizzes, and more. Just drag and drop the pieces into place.
- Student management and engagement tools: Teachable has tools to help you manage your students, track their progress, and keep them engaged. You can create discussion forums, send automatic emails, and see how your courses are doing.
- Customizable templates: Teachable offers a range of professionally designed templates that course creators can use as a starting point. These templates can be further customized to match your brand’s look and feel.
Benefits
- Easy course creation: Teachable is user-friendly and offers tools that make it simple to create high-quality online courses without needing a lot of technical knowledge.
- Flexible plans: It offers plans for businesses of all sizes, from small startups to big companies, so you can choose the one that best suits your needs and budget.
Drawbacks
Although Teachable offers a range of pricing plans, both the free and basic options come with transaction fees. The free plan charges a $1 + 10% transaction fee on every sale, whereas the basic plan charges a lower transaction fee of 5%.
4. LearnDash
LearnDash is a WordPress plugin that is focused on course creation and includes features for adding course materials, quizzes, progress tracking, video lessons, and similar teaching tools.
Key features
- Advanced quiz and assessment tools: LearnDash offers sophisticated quiz and assessment capabilities, so you can create quizzes with multiple question types, timed exams, and detailed reporting to evaluate employee progress.
- Drip-feed content scheduling: The platform’s drip-feed feature allows you to release course content gradually over time, keeping your employees motivated and engaged throughout the learning process.
- Course prerequisites and progression tracking: LearnDash lets you set course prerequisites and track employee progress through the course material.
Benefits
- Strong community and third-party integrations: LearnDash has a large and active community of users and developers, as well as many third-party integrations available, such as payment gateways, email marketing tools, and gamification plugins.
- Supports various multimedia content: You can incorporate a wide range of multimedia content into your courses, including videos, audio files, and interactive elements to create a more engaging learning experience for your employees.
Drawbacks
Unlike some other LMS platforms, LearnDash does not offer any free trial periods. This makes it harder for potential users to evaluate the platform before committing to a purchase. Along with this, for advanced reporting, marketing tools, and payment gateways, you’ll need to purchase additional add-ons.
5. LearnWorlds
LearnWorlds is an online course platform that provides tools for course creation, website building, marketing, and selling courses.
Key features
- Interactive video learning: With LearnWorlds, you can turn regular videos into interactive learning experiences. The platform automatically adds transcripts, quizzes, and tables of contents to your videos to enhance your students’ learning experiences.
- Social-first training: LearnWorlds has built-in social features, like a community page and discussion forums. This helps you connect with your students and build stronger relationships with them.
- White-label branding: You can make LearnWorlds look and feel like your own brand by using your own website domain, customizing the design, and enjoying full control over the learning experience.
Benefits
- Extensive customization options: LearnWorlds offers a wide range of customization options, including website templates, branding, and interactive video editing, so you can create an engaging learning environment for your students.
- Flexible course delivery: You have the flexibility to create free, paid, private, drip-fed, or curated course pathways, ensuring that you can deliver your content in the most effective way.
Drawbacks
The video library can become disorganized if there are numerous videos, as there is no option to sort them by newest or oldest. Additionally, some advanced features like interactive video editing, live webinars, copyright protection, and extensive customization options are only available on the more expensive plans.
Your next steps: Revolutionize your corporate training with Sensei
Choosing the perfect LMS is essential for businesses looking to maximize employee engagement and the effectiveness of their training programs. The right LMS can streamline the delivery of online courses, create a more interactive and immersive learning experience, and provide valuable insights to help optimize your training initiatives.
Sensei is an excellent choice for businesses looking for a user-friendly and flexible LMS solution. As a WordPress plugin, Sensei effortlessly integrates with your existing website, allowing you to use your familiar WordPress dashboard to create and manage your online courses.
Its intuitive course-building tools make it easy to develop engaging content, while features like quizzes, certificates, and progress tracking help keep your employees motivated and accountable. Sensei also offers a straightforward pricing structure, with no hidden fees or complex tiers. This makes it an accessible option for businesses of all sizes, from startups to large enterprises.
Ready to take the next step? Try Sensei today to see how it can transform your employee training and development efforts!
