Campus News
June 21, 2010
New tool streamlines employee training history
Tracking an employee’s training is done differently within and across the University’s units and divisions, lacking a central place where all of an employee’s learning is tracked. Beginning this summer, that will change.
A new central Learning Management System is being developed by a working team of representatives from University Technology Services, Human Resources, Campus Services, Environmental Health & Safety, School of Medicine, and the offices of Research Compliance, Finance, Clinical Trials and Development and Alumni Relations.
“It is about having all of an employee’s training information in one place,” says Wanda Hayes, director of Learning Services, “similar to how our students have a single transcript that captures all of their learning during their studies at Emory.”
Targeted to go live later this summer, Phase One of the new Emory Learning Management System (ELMS) will replace the current multiple processes used by participating units and divisions with one central system. The ELMS will improve the consistency and efficiency of how training is delivered and tracked for employees.
“The biggest advantage of having the new system is that it will centralize employees’ education records,” says Rachelle Lehner, the School of Medicine’s assistant dean for staff development. It is also user friendly and will “provide robust e-training in the future,” adds Patty Olinger, director of Environmental Health & Safety.
Once live, the ELMS will provide employees with a single place to sign up for training, monitor their certifications and print a single transcript with their complete learning history. “Unlike today, your complete training history will be available even if you change jobs across Emory,” notes Hayes.
Employees won’t be the only ones to benefit from the ELMS. “For managers, it’s an easy-to-access tool to monitor both the required training and professional development that the employee participates in,” says Lehner. “A natural extension of that is that managers can also use the system to guide employees’ professional development.”
Additionally, departments will reduce the hours spent doing manual data entry and have a way to coordinate training with other areas. The University will also have less risk exposure. “From a compliance standpoint, our documentation will be easier to maintain and will provide direct access to training records,” acknowledges Olinger.
Later this fall, after Phase One is up and running, the team will begin working to bring other departments and divisions onto the ELMS. The overall goal for the ELMS is to have one central learning management system for the entire University.
More communications on the new Emory Learning Management System and training for employees and managers will be available in July.
