Tired of maintaining certificates and competencies in Excel?

Medium and large companies routinely manage formal certificates designed to demonstrate formal competencies and passed training modules. Certificates and competencies are a key HR function – but their administration can become surprisingly cumbersome. 

Even in the 2020’s there is no guarantee that certificates of competencies are well managed. In the best case scenario, they are managed manually in the HR data system. In the worst case, the HR manager maintains them in a locally saved spreadsheet.

Certificates and all internal training materials would be best managed through a single LMS portal.

This article tells you exactly how. 
 

Why should certificates and competencies be managed on an LMS?

 
A digital learning platform is always a better tool for administering certificates than a stack of Excel files hidden away in the HR manager’s email. Better data management can benefit a company in following ways: 

Consistent quality in training. When operations expand, standardized processes must be introduced to assure quality. When training is consistent, it becomes easier to manage in scale. Consistent quality is important for an organization’s credibility and public image. Ad hoc solutions and inconsistent impact corrode your image as an employer very quickly. 

Transparency of competencies. The ability to objectively demonstrate the skills and competencies within an organization is not only a good management practice – it is also a key element of HR compliance. A number of competencies must be demonstrated in internal or external audits, including for instance safety or hygiene training. A system for managing passed training and valid certificates makes reporting easy and transparent, facilitating audits. 

Better basis for data driven decision-making. Corporate training programs should not be about meeting the minimum legal requirements or getting new employees to the floor as soon as possible. Rather, their purpose should be to create genuine value for an organization, improve morale, and retain employees. In this case, a centralized platform for data management helps HR to identify strengths and areas of development, to gradually improve training, and to allocate resources accordingly. 

Retaining employees. Research has shown that opportunities for learning and improvement increase morale and decrease employee turnover. Well managed corporate training programs are a cornerstone of an organization’s reputation as an employer. It helps both in recruiting new employees and keeping the existing ones engaged. 
 

How to improve management of competencies with Workseed 

 
Workseed is a versatile learning environment that is designed for worklife-oriented learning. As such, it is a valuable tool for managing corporate training. A key feature offered for companies is an automatized process for certificate management. 

Managing corporate training and competency certificates in Workseed benefits an organization in the following ways: 

Simplified data management. All documents and materials pertaining to training and competencies are administered through a single portal where all users with the right authorization can access them. There are no bottlenecks or accidents, like there would be if all the data was on a spreadsheet. Certificates are also stored in compliance with all the relevant data protection rules. 

Transparency and objectivity. All the information is easy to access and review. Employees and management can follow training processes on their own devices. All data is readily available for audits. Management decisions can be made fairly and objectively based on transparent data points. 

Process automatization. When certificates are stored in an HR system (or even worse, on spreadsheets), data entry and updates are still manual. Workseed creates certificates automatically when relevant training modules are completed, and sends automatic reminders when they are about to expire. The amount of administrative work and human error are drastically reduced. 

Less expired certificates. The platform automatically tracks the validity of completed certificates and sends employees reminders to retake training modules. At the same time, the platform makes sure users have access to all the necessary training materials. Certificates are less likely to expire and there are no unnecessary interruptions.