HRIS Selection
Learning and development systems
Choose learning software by checking content, assignments, completion evidence, accessibility and record retrieval.
Choose a learning and development system by defining what employees need to learn, what the employer must verify and who maintains the record. A course catalogue can help people find material. Required training may also need assignment, follow-up and evidence. These functions may sit in one product or across connected systems.
Define the learning and the evidence
Separate instruction needed for particular work, development agreed for a role and learning employees choose for themselves. For each programme, identify the audience, owner, delivery method and useful outcome. A course may need a completion record; a safety task may also need supervised practice or observation. Do not use one undefined “completed training” measure for both.
Question / What to establish
- Who needs it?
- Which roles, sites or tasks make it relevant?
- What counts as done?
- Attendance, viewing, an assessment or observed practice?
- Who decides?
- Who assigns it, confirms an exception and checks practical ability?
- What must be retrievable?
- Which person, learning item, version, date and result?
For safety-related learning, consult Safe Work Australia’s guidance on ongoing training and supervision. Have the responsible specialist confirm requirements for the actual work and jurisdiction.
Compare the proposed functions
An LMS can manage enrolment, completion conditions and progress reports. A course library supplies learning content. Product labels do not establish which functions or modules a quoted offer includes. Ask where employees find content, where required learning is assigned and which system holds the authoritative result.
If services connect, establish whether the connection carries a launch link, enrolment, progress, completion, assessment result or only some of these. Ask what happens when a course is replaced or access to a provider ends.
Check the learning formats employees need
List the formats employees need to access, such as online courses, webinars, virtual classrooms and mobile learning applications. Ask suppliers to demonstrate how employees find and use each format, and whether the proposed system or connected services provide it. Include corporate training programmes in the inventory if they are part of the employer’s learning offer.
Australian L&D Market Insights
- Safety training requirement
- Ongoing training and supervision (Safe Work Australia)
- Accessibility compliance standard
- WCAG-EM (W3C)
Check the employee path and the record
Give shortlisted suppliers the same proposed scenarios using synthetic or suitably protected data: a new starter, a role change, a late completion and a course finished online while a practical check remains outstanding. Ask to see the quoted modules and relevant role views. Record what is shown, what requires configuration and what remains unverified.
Follow one item from assignment to retrieval. Can the employee see what applies? Can the manager distinguish overdue work from an exemption?
Can an administrator correct a mistaken assignment while keeping the earlier decision explainable? Can an authorised reviewer retrieve the result after a staff or platform change?
Include accessibility in that path. Check course content and assessments as well as the platform, with people who use a keyboard, screen reader, captions, zoom or a mobile device. W3C says an automated tool alone cannot determine accessibility.
Ask suppliers how they evaluate accessibility during platform development or redesign, rather than treating it only as a final check. W3C describes WCAG-EM as a method for determining conformance and notes that its report tool helps generate a report but does not perform the evaluation.
Make the decision
Name owners for the catalogue, assignment rules, course changes, access permissions and retained records. Restrict reports and downloads to people who need them, and have the employer’s privacy specialist confirm applicable requirements.
Compare proposals against the same required outcomes. Confirm the quoted modules, content rights, configuration work, support and a usable route to retrieve records later. Keep any critical record, accessibility path or task-specific training requirement that has not been demonstrated open in the selection decision.
Match ownership to internal capability
Consider whether the people who will own the system can manage its learning platform, use authoring tools, analyse learning data and collaborate with relevant teams. The APS Academy identifies these as examples of digital capability required in L&D roles; use them to check whether proposed ownership is realistic or needs support.
Further reading: Understanding L&D and adjacent roles (apsacademy.gov.au).
In this guide
- Comparing an LMS with a course libraryDecide whether you need learning content, assignment and completion controls, or both, then check what passes between systems.
- Tracking required training separately from optional learningDefine required training by audience, rule, due date and evidence while keeping voluntary development visible on its own terms.
- Evaluating accessibility in learning softwareCheck learning software accessibility across course discovery, content, assessments, media and reporting with practical user tasks.
- Exporting training records during a platform changeDefine training-record fields, take a controlled export and reconcile completion evidence before retiring a learning platform.
