6-Step Guide To Choosing Employee Training & Development Software

Training only works when people find it relevant, when you can measure if it worked, and when you can update it without a mess. 62% of learners say relevance is the biggest driver of effective elearning. Still, 63% of employees say their company’s training could be better. Nearly half think AI is moving faster than what they’re learning on the job. Your platform decision has a real impact.

Here’s a direct, step-by-step guide that leads you to the right choice - using examples, real outcomes, and evaluation tips. If your goal is modern, effective, scalable employee training and development, follow these six steps.

Step 1 - Clarify outcomes, audience, and scope

Don’t start with features. Start with your reasons. Are you fixing onboarding? Handling compliance? Or rolling out core skills, leadership, or frontline/mobile training?

If you just replace an old LMS with a new one, but don’t rethink what “good” looks like, you’ll see limited wins. Define clear outcomes: faster onboarding, increased completion rates, fewer mistakes, lower turnover. Decide if you want continuous skills growth (full Learning & Development) or are simply after faster, compliant training.

Think specifics. Which teams? Any multilingual, mobile, or offline needs? What content types matter most - video, quick quizzes, interactive scenarios, simulations? What standards must you meet (SCORM, xAPI, SSO)?

Examples:

- When 42 North Dental improved training access and relevance, turnover dropped from 40% to 25%.

- Trainual claims they cut onboarding time from 30 days to just 15, tying directly to payroll savings and fewer mistakes.

- 68% of employees feel more ready for the future because of training.

At Colossyan, we help teams at this stage by letting them quickly test different training formats. With Doc2Video, you can turn a standard SOP or PDF into an on-brand video in minutes, then measure engagement and quiz completion with built-in analytics. Our Instant Translation saves a ton of time for anyone supporting global teams. And because we export SCORM, you can track real outcomes against your LMS’s metrics - like pass/fail rates or training completion.

Step 2 - Build your requirements checklist (lms vs lxp vs lcms vs authoring vs content)

Don’t just chase trends. Write down what you really need:

- If you want control, compliance tracking, and deep reporting, think LMS.

- For more personalized, social learning, consider LXP.

- If making and updating tons of content is your struggle, LCMS might fit.

- Maybe you just need authoring power for interactive content - AI video creation can add speed and reach.

Decide which standards and integrations you can’t live without: SCORM, xAPI, SSO, mobile access, ISO/GDPR, HRIS/CRM sync, analytics down to the module, content branding, governance.

Examples:

- Many failures start with poor UX, hard-to-track analytics, no mobile or interactive content, and a rigid structure (Moodle summary).

- TalentLMS automates course assignment and tracking; supports SCORM, ISO/GDPR, and saves FTE hours.

- EdApp offers mobile-first learning but isn’t SCORM compliant - good for small pilots, less for enterprises that need tracking.

Colossyan checks key boxes for content velocity and standards. We support SCORM 1.2/2004 with scoring for quizzes, and let you import PPTs or PDFs to make video instantly. You get brand kits, workspace controls, and pronounce unique terms correctly (crucial for global or regulated industries). Analytics cover video plays, quiz scores, and more, all exportable for deeper analysis.

Step 3 - Shortlist by use case, scale, and support

Now it’s time to narrow your options - not everyone’s built for your scenario.

Free pilots or small teams? Tools like ProProfs or Whale are great to start but have hard user caps and limited analytics. For peer-led learning or blended stacks, 360Learning is flexible but may lack full SCORM support. Bigger organizations with strict compliance needs often land on Docebo or Sana, though costs run higher.

Bridge is strong if you want skills, performance, and learning in one place. If your main bottleneck is building interactive, branded training videos, layer Colossyan on top of your LMS/LXP. It plugs into any workflow and makes updating content or localizing for another region much faster. If you’re stuck on old PPTs and documents, we help you quickly convert them into engaging, measurable learning experiences.

Step 4 - Pilot to prove value (3–6 weeks)

Never roll out company-wide without a test. Pick one to three real problems - onboarding, a compliance update, a core process. Set baseline numbers: how fast you create content, how long it takes someone to ramp up, completion/pass rates, and even the number of support tickets on the topic.

Run a focused pilot. 

- ProProfs suggests starting small and measuring ROI early.

- TalentLMS customers cite automation that saves dozens of full-time hours.

- Trainual claims 50% quicker onboarding - so maybe aim for your own time-to-productivity metric.

With Colossyan, I usually recommend people select one policy or workflow, use Doc2Video to make a 10–15 minute interactive video (with quizzes or branching), localize once using Instant Translation, and export SCORM for LMS tracking. In a few weeks, compare analytics - time watched, pass rates - to your old format. Pull the CSV and match it against support logs or manager feedback for a data-driven case.

Step 5 - Evaluate ux, scalability, and security beyond the pilot

The basics matter. At this stage, test the learner/admin experience: Is it usable? Mobile ready? Can you update content once and push changes everywhere? Can a manager see granular analytics? Can you export data into your dashboards?

Check identity, integration, and compliance: SSO, provisioning, ISO standards, GDPR, audit logs, and strong role-based access. Don’t ignore things like vendor support, expected uptime, roadmap transparency, or community size - these make scaling and troubleshooting much smoother.

Common pitfalls: platforms with poor UX or limited content options (text/PDF only), weak analytics, no mobile/offline mode, minimal integrations, or a rigid focus on compliance vs. skills growth.

In Colossyan, brand kits, workspace management, and proper pronunciation settings help teams roll out scalable content that always fits their brand and standards. Conversation mode and scenario branching allow for consistent, interactive scenario training across roles or regions. Our exports slot into any SCORM-based LMS you already trust for compliance and analytics.

Step 6 - Decide, contract, and plan rollout

Once you’re convinced, go through these essentials:

- How is pricing handled - by user, by seat, or enterprise-wide?

- Have you reviewed governance: who owns what, how often do you update content, what’s your archiving process?

- Do you have a communication plan for user rollouts, with dashboards for measuring success?

Evaluate with a checklist:

- Clear business outcomes tied to KPIs.

- Content creation features (AI video, quizzes, templates, document import).

- SCORM/xAPI/LTI/SSO and compliance evidence.

- Rich analytics, both at learner and quiz/module level.

- Deep integrations with your stack.

- True mobile/offline, accessibility, and strong admin controls.

- Reliable support, transparent roadmap, and detailed cost-of-ownership.

A decision summary could look like this:  

“We compared an LMS-only stack vs. blended with AI-video authoring. Free pilots were limited - adding SCORM-enabled authoring sped up production and compliance tracking. We picked tools that nail GDPR, SSO, and HRIS links, then measured wins by both ramp time and increased quiz pass rates.”

Where Colossyan fits in a modern L&D stack

Based on what I’ve seen, most companies land on a stack built around an LMS (like Docebo, TalentLMS, Bridge), add deep authoring tools (Articulate, iSpring, Captivate), and complement with AI video (that’s Colossyan), a knowledge base (Confluence/Notion/Guru), and scalable content libraries (LinkedIn Learning/Udemy).

My strongest opinion? Massive impact comes when L&D speed matches business speed. Colossyan lets you keep brand, accuracy, and compliance while producing and localizing interactive, measurable video training easily. We fit best where teams need to modernize static, hard-to-update materials across a wide range of regions and topics, and we slot right into existing LMS/LXP flows with SCORM.

Example use cases:

- Turn one-off SOPs or policy documents into engaging, interactive microlearning, using avatars/quizzes.

- Instantly localize and translate for global reach.

- Build scenario-based or role-play modules for skills-heavy functions.

- Manage rapid scale efficiently with brand kits, workspace controls, and accurate pronunciations.

Closing note

Use this six-step process - set clear goals, insist on measurable results, run focused pilots, and scale with the right mix of analytics and content velocity. Colossyan fits right in, letting you turn static documents into SCORM-ready, interactive video training at enterprise speed, with localization, governance, and measurement built in. If you’re tasked with improving learning, don’t just buy another LMS - build a stack that matches both today’s needs and tomorrow’s pace.