Employee retention is a huge challenge for today's businesses. Employee turnover costs a company between 50% and 200% of the position's annual salary, depending on level and industry. Since over a quarter of all new hires quit before the three-month mark, that's a huge expense that employers could be using on meeting their organizational goals. It's a problem that businesses can't afford to have.
When you track the problem back, all roads lead to training. Employee engagement is a huge factor in turnover rate. Disengagement is on the rise, and it's causing turnover to increase. Pew Research found that 63% of employees who quit their jobs listed a lack of opportunity for advancement as a reason (with low pay and feeling disrespected being similar in importance).
Employees don't want to have to leave a company to advance and increase their earning potential, but they often have no choice. Training and skills development solve this problem and improve retention as well as other positive metrics like productivity and loyalty.
That's not the only reason learning and development are the solution, either. Gallup attributed the drop in engagement to management. Managers aren't trained to coach and motivate employees to achieve their goals. Again, training is the best path forward. Proper training for managers can help them do their jobs 20% to 28% better.
A modern Learning Management System (LMS) is a powerful tool for implementing these employee retention training strategies. They help support managerial efficacy, productivity, growth, consistency, and connection.
Why Training Matters for Retention
When you ask HR professionals, 61% of them say that a lack of development and career advancement is a top reason for turnover, second only to inadequate compensation. That means employees are really prioritizing learning new skills and developing their careers for more upward mobility.
When employees are receiving continuous training, they feel like the company values them enough to invest in helping them be their best. They feel supported by the company and prepared to move up in the organization. LMS platforms offer structured, accessible, and personalized learning—reducing frustration and increasing job satisfaction.
If you want to keep that 61% by increasing employee retention, training is the answer.
5 Ways an LMS Improves Employee Retention
Implementing an LMS for employee retention training purposes is a very effective strategy. The right LMS platform improves retention using several methods. This multi-modal approach will provide the best results by targeting and improving a variety of turnover factors. These are among the top ways an LMS can achieve this.
1. Faster, More Effective Onboarding
A fifth of all employee turnover happens in the first month and a half. However, if an employee makes it to the one-year mark, they're likely to last five or more years. This is likely due in large part to their initial training.
When a new employee joins the company, they want to feel supported. They want to understand their role and feel confident in their ability to do their job. If they're not, they'll get overwhelmed and confused. This is not going to make them happy with their job. Almost half (43%) of first-year managers in one study reported having no training as well.
An LMS can provide a consistent onboarding experience across all roles and locations. This includes new hires and the newly promoted to ensure they can do their job effectively. Standardized materials prevent confusion and reduce early-stage turnover. An LMS provides a cost-effective, scalable, and effective onboarding process that employers can track to ensure completion.
2. Personalized Growth & Upskilling Opportunities
Employee retention training works best when it's personalized. Training can be personalized to be organization-specific to make the training precise and relevant to your company.
It can also be personalized to create individualized learning paths to allow employees to pursue career development at their own pace. When they have the ability to upskill on their own terms, they'll have improved internal mobility, which reduces the desire to leave for advancement opportunities.
3. Increased Engagement Through Interactive Learning
Modern LMS features make learning more enjoyable. Traditional learning is very focused on hearing/reading information and memorizing it. Interactive learning is much more engaging. It has more diverse content, like quizzes and discussion boards. Modern learning methods and principles, like microlearning and gamification, are used to make learning more fun and convenient.
Interactive learning encourages learners to absorb information through different mediums to get the information, hear it, discuss it, and see it in practice. Then, they put it to use to gain experience and a deeper understanding of the topic and how it works in practice.
This method makes learning more effective and more engaging. Engaged employees are more motivated and more likely to stay long-term, increasing retention.
4. Clearer Communication & Expectations
Having a centralized, structured, linear training program ensures that everyone receives the same guidance, learns and follows the same policies, and understands their role expectations. This reduces confusion and performance-related frustration—two major drivers of turnover. Plus, an LMS gives managers visibility into learner progress, improving coaching and support.
5. Building a Culture of Inclusion & Belonging
Accessibility and inclusion are vital for a good corporate LMS experience. Employees with disabilities and/or neurodivergent employees deserve the same access to training that everyone else has. They shouldn't have to work harder to learn. Accessible LMS platforms ensure that every employee can fully participate. Features like screen readers, captions, and mobile access make training equitable for all employees.
When employees feel included, they feel valued, strengthening loyalty. This is especially true for employees who are already made to feel unwanted and left out in many areas of public life. Taking this simple step can have a huge impact on the lives of the people who need these accessibility features.
There are so many amazing employees who have so much to offer. However, many workplaces aren't accessible and inclusive. If yours is, then you gain access to a larger talent pool filled with people who will be more loyal to your company. Plus, it demonstrates your organizational commitment to equity and professional growth, improving your brand reputation and providing financial gain.
Additional Benefits That Strengthen Retention
There are other advantages related to employee retention that training with an LMS can provide. When utilized to its full potential, the right LMS can have so many amazing benefits, both for businesses and their employees.
Other Advantages to Consider:
- Reduced training chaos and stress leads to better, more streamlined learning.
- Better role clarity allows people to understand their job requirements and responsibilities more completely, to fill the role better.
- A more systematic and centralized training process gives everyone the same information about procedures and company culture, and the tools to do the best job possible, creating a stronger team alignment.
- Centralized and trackable training leads to lower compliance risk and easier audits to meet regulatory requirements effortlessly.
- A personalized, automated learning and development process leads to smoother employee experiences.
- Better, more comprehensive training creates more confident, competent employees.
How YesLMS Supports Long-Term Employee Retention
YesLMS has a comprehensive suite of features tailor-made to create the best training process possible. Our entire platform is built around centralized learning and development, and accessibility. YesLMS is known for its accessibility-first design that supports all learners equitably.
YesLMS also has a robust suite of tracking and analytics features. Real-time tracking features help managers see where learners are in the process, how they're progressing, and when to guide, coach, and support employees for the most ideal outcomes. Reporting features make it easy to complete audits and compliance requirements to prove who did what training and when without extra time or effort.
We also have mobile-friendly training to ensure enough flexibility for remote and/or hybrid teams to complete their training with ease from anywhere. This also helps busy team members, workers who go into the field, and managers who need to be able to check up on training from any location.
We also want to make the process as easy as possible for businesses to adopt YesLMS. We provide transparent pricing, so you never have to guess how much our platform will cost you. Furthermore, we have a very easy-to-use interface to help make adoption frictionless for you and your team.
Key Takeaways
Retention is a real problem in today's business landscape. Employees are feeling less valued at work. Many feel like there's no path for advancement without moving to another company. They don't want the hassle of finding a new job, and you don't want the costly headache of constant turnover. Employee retention training is the ideal win-win solution.
Training is one of the most powerful levers for retention. Not only does it keep employees longer, but it also makes them better at their jobs, offering all of you even more benefits. Having a robust learning and development process can be the key to success in a world where technology is constantly shifting the skills and roles companies require.
Things are moving so quickly, far too fast for businesses to redesign their roles and structure to meet the new needs of a world with rapidly changing AI capabilities. Upskilling and tailored learning and development paths can prevent costly skills gaps and turnover.
An LMS not only teaches — it creates clarity, confidence, and connection. Implementing an LMS can create the kind of mobility and agility that every business needs right now. Implementing the right LMS is even better.
Discover how YesLMS can help you build retention-focused training and create an agile business that endures. Request a personalized demo today.
