It can be a challenge to choose the right employee training content provider for your L&D program. Content libraries are often so big, it’s impossible to browse the whole thing – how are you supposed to know if it will work for your organization? We’re here with some essential questions to ask your prospective content providers to help determine if their content is the best fit for your organization.
What standard is your content library formatted in?
Content format is an essential ask – it must be compatible with your LMS! SCORM and xAPI are two of the most common modern content standards, although legacy standards like AICC are still seen around. A content library that is delivered in both SCORM and xAPI is going to provide you with the most versatility – but if you already have an LMS, selecting for compatibility is a must!
Some providers have extra requirements on how content is integrated, while others opt for simpler methods, such as uploading content to an SFTP site for easy transfer.
Does the content library support a variety of learning styles?
The most common form of digital employee training is microcontent in video format – and for good reason. Microcontent avoids cognitive overload through succinct lessons, allowing employees to retain more of what they’ve learned. However, not every employee has the same learning preferences. For example, the modern workforce spans over 6 generations for the first time in history. From the octogenarian of the Silent Generation to the Generation Alpha pre-teens with their first after-school jobs, not every learning format holds the same level of appeal. Is the content offered in various formats that cater to multiple learning preferences?
Some of the most common learning formats include:
- Micro-video lessons
- E-learning courses with quizzes, videos, and written content
- Interactive videos
- Video courses
- Ebooks
Does the learning library support multiple languages or captions?
While your workforce may perform in one language, you may have employees who are second-language learners and prefer to learn in their first language. How many languages and translations does the content library come in? Are captions available? Are they written from the script or machine-generated? Are language translations machine generated or localized?
Is the content accessible from anywhere?
Mobile use has surpassed desktop for accessing digital media online. Employees aren’t waiting for their companies to provide mobile learning – they’re already searching for what they need to know on mobile devices. Additionally, many workforces have transitioned to a hybrid model, necessitating training availability everywhere. While some content accessibility is left up to LMS functions, mobile responsive content (that is created intentionally to suit dimensions of the player) is the responsibility of the content provider, so don’t hesitate to ask about that.
What is the average age of the content in your library?
Skills unfortunately don’t have infinite half-lives – and therefore, neither does workplace training content! Recent research has found that soft skills tend to have longer half-lives, but technological advances have resulted in shorter half-lives in hard skills – five years or less, with some estimated at 2.5 years. Compliance content, additionally, can change frequently. It’s important that content libraries are updated regularly with new information!
Is the content library aggregated?
Is the content library produced by an in-house production team like BizLibrary Productions, aggregated from other content producers, or both, like the BizLibrary Unlimited Collection? Carefully curated content libraries can carry significant advantages of being diverse in topic and format while in-house production is original, specific, and also available on a variety of L&D subjects. There’s no wrong answer here, just the right choice for your org!
Is their content created with export support and research?
If their content is produced in-house, what is their research and content creation process like? Professional writer-editors on the BizLibrary Productions team develop verifiably accurate and reliable training content. All content is peer reviewed in addition to working directly with industry experts and legal teams when needed. Our training subject matter is determined by carefully monitoring industry needs and skill gaps in addition to taking client requests. In addition, our team often collaborates with industry leaders to create Expert Insights series delivering hard-earned knowledge by experience directly to your workforce.
What’s your utilization rate like?
Oop! This question will cut right to the heart of the issue. Ask your potential content provider about their utilization rate. Are their current clients taking full advantage of what their content library has to offer? What kind of engagement techniques are baked into their content to keep the learners coming back for more?
Is your content library reinforced?
What kind of resources does the content library come equipped with to help reinforce and bolster training? Training content providers should help your employees retain what they’ve learned by keeping content fresh in their minds in the days and weeks following training using quizzes, tests, polls, short-answer questions, and discussion posts.
Employees forget 90% of what they’ve learned within 30 days of the learning event. A system for spaced retrieval helps learners retain information they would’ve lost without it, increasing training ROI dramatically.
Choosing Content for Your LMS
There are a lot of factors to keep in mind when you’re selecting online training content for your learning management systems, but having a basic list of questions to ask online learning providers can be a great start. It’s important to keep the specific needs of your workforce in mind, in addition to other important requirements like standard compatibility, compliance needs, possible certifications, and more. We hope this has made it a little easier to find the online learning content provider that best fits your needs.
Learn more about BizLibrary’s award-winning content library here.
