Technology in restaurants has streamlined many everyday restaurant processes, including employee training. Today, with one robust learning management system, restaurants can efficiently and effectively train their staff to be the best.
If you’re looking for the best learning management system for your restaurant, look no further. Here are 7 options to choose from. From main features to pricing to possible cons, let’s do a restaurant LMS deep-dive to find the best option for you.
What is Learning Management Software for Restaurants?
A learning management system is known as an LMS. A restaurant LMS is online training software that restaurant owners and managers can use to train and onboard new staff.
This type of software allows users to create training programs or use available training modules to effectively introduce new trainees to the hospitality industry, without needing to sacrifice other staff during the training process.
Common Benefits of Incorporating a Learning Management System
There are many benefits to using learning management systems, but here are three benefits that you should know about.
Error Free Food Service Training
Human error is a natural part of the training process, especially in the service industry. Training restaurant employees with other restaurant employees will inevitably lead to small, or big, miscommunications.
Using a learning management system lowers these human errors. With set training materials and dedicated online training, a restaurant LMS is much more effective at providing accurate and updated training modules, while also upholding your restaurant’s service standards.
More Effective Training Sessions
Employee training is rarely fun or engaging, which is a big determinant of training quality. And as we know, bad training is devastating for restaurants. Poor performance and bad employee culture can increase turnover and other employee costs.
Through blended learning options, gamified assessment management, and mobile learning, new employees can learn at their own pace and do so without the usual stressors that lower education quality.
Lower Training Costs
Whether you hire a special trainer to walk your new employees through the training process or use one of your best-performing employees, you’ll be losing valuable resources.
A restaurant LMS helps reduce training costs. Most of the below software options come with set monthly prices, which are more affordable when compared to the cost of older training methods.
Increasing the quality of your employee training is also sure to improve your restaurant services, which can improve the customer experience, and thus revenue.
7 Best Learning Management Software Options for Restaurants
Now that we’ve covered the benefits of integrating a learning management system into your training sessions, let’s take a look at 7 of the best online training programs on the market.
1. Absorb LMS
Absorb LMS is a learning management system that focuses on improving employee productivity by providing high-quality training. It’s a cloud-based restaurant LMS with flexible and customizable online training, perfect for owners who want to create a specific type of training experience.
It also uses AI to improve admin and training, improving engagement and knowledge retention for long-term performance improvement.
Main features
- Collaborative tools for a social learning experience
- Easy-to-use course builder with multiple formats
- AI transcription and microlearning features
- Intelligent assist AI admin
- Automated enrollment
- Mobile learning
- Cloud-based
- Custom course branding
- Seamless content library integration
- Reporting and analytics
Possible Cons
- Course updates require employee re-enrollment.
Pricing
Absorb LMS doesn’t have a set price for all clients. Instead, they tailor the pricing to your needs. They offer a free trial. There is no free version of the software available.
2. Wisetail
Wisetail is an LMS system that focuses on building company culture in the food industry. It also aims to improve service and compliance training and simplify employee onboarding.
Main features
- Social learning
- Cloud-based
- Trainee communication tools
- Training monitoring
- Easy-to-use test builder
- Activity reports and student metrics
- Trainee course input
- Course rating system
- Analytics and reporting
Possible Cons
- Wisetail does not support big file uploads.
Pricing
Wisetail does not publicly share its pricing. It also doesn’t have a free trial or a free version of the software.
3. Docebo
Docebo is an enterprise learning management system. It aims to increase the speed of onboarding and employee training without lowering the training quality. It also focuses on employee development and flexible customer education features.
Finally, it offers internal and external online training to create a comprehensive e-learning experience for all employees.
Main features
- Enterprise e-learning (500+ learners)
- Content creation and management
- Business impact reports
- Course builder with dozens of extensions
- Native integrations with other Docebo products
- Data-driven insights and analytics
- Blended learning
- Shareable e-learning
- Streamline content strategies
Possible Cons
- Reported fluctuations in the reliability of customer service.
- The price model is not flexible and only works for enterprises.
Pricing
Docebo pricing averages $25 000 a year and offers users a free trial. There is no free version of the software available.
4. Trakstar Learn
Trakstar Learn is a cloud-based learning platform for small to enterprise restaurants. The platform offers many learning features as well as a host of employee tracking features and business-focused training.
Main features
- Create and customize courses
- Assessment management and auto-grading
- Automated email invitations
- Training reminders
- Social course creation and learning
- Real-time trainee performance tracking
- Compliance training
Possible Cons
- The search features are very sensitive to spelling.
Pricing
Trakstar Learn averages $4 599 a year, with the pricing changing according to the number of trainees you add to the software. There is a free trial and a free version available.
5. Nimble LMS
Nimble LMS is a simple and effective training solution for all establishments, from small restaurants to enterprises. It offers access to Nimble Author and Nimble Courses. Nimble Author allows users to create training material and Nimble Courses is a growing library of pre-existing modules to choose from.
Main features
- Drag and drop course builder
- Expanding course library
- Assessment management
- Cloud-based
- Editable training courses
- Easy-to-use interface
Possible Cons
- It doesn’t offer more than basic reporting or analytics.
Pricing
Nimble LMS pricing starts at $9.98 per user, per year, and they do offer a free trial. There is no free version of the software.
6. iSpring Learn
iSpring Learn is part of the massive iSpring software ecosystem, which is compatible with native restaurant management software, accounting software, and more. It offers many of the great features of learning management systems with iSpring-specific features to improve functionality even further.
Main features
- Robust course creator and editor
- Automated enrollment and employee roles
- Centralized dashboard
- Unlimited storage space
- Mobile and blended learning options
- Robust reporting and analytics
- Employee appraisal reports
- iSpring Solutions software ecosystem
Possible Cons
- Requires up-to-date software to run efficiently.
Pricing
iSpring Learn starts at $2.87 per user, per month, and they do offer a free trial. There is no free version of the software available.
7. Talent LMS
Talent LMS is a feature-rich training solution that aims to grow individual learners as well as teams. It was also built to encourage full buy-in by stakeholders and budget heads.
Main features
- Easy setup and launch
- Customizable courses
- Robust training features
- Team motivated learning
- Automated sign-ins
- Leaning gamification
- Social learning
- Third-party course library
Possible Cons
- Users have struggled with mobile learning.
- Limited testing options.
Pricing
TalentLMS pricing starts at $89 per month. There is a free trial and a free version of the software available.
Conclusion
Effective employee training has many benefits, all of which can ultimately increase your restaurant's revenue. But, training the best requires more than traditional training methods.
Use an LMS software to simplify and streamline the training process. Not only will it increase the quality of your training, but it’ll lower training costs and remove human error from the training process.
If your restaurant manages events, consider integrating Perfect Venue into your operations. Try our free trial today.
