You’ve been looking for training software to help teach your employees the skills they need to do their day-to-day job.
In your search, you’ve found a variety of training software — learning management systems, knowledge bases, etc. — and have different services to teach employees. Specifically, you’re trying to understand where software like PluralSight, Udemy, and ScreenSteps fit in.
As the co-founder of ScreenSteps, we meet companies trying to decide on a training strategy to support their company. And the question is, which of these do I choose? Often, companies compare these three companies as if each software would fulfill the same role in your company.
However, they each serve their own purpose. While PluralSight, Udemy, and ScreenSteps can all be used for training, their roles in training your employees are all different. So, the answer to “Which one should I choose?” is “It depends on what role you want this training software to fulfill.”
Below, I give a quick overview of each of these training software programs, including what they offer. Then I’ll explain where you use each platform in training and how they can work together to provide your employees a better learning experience.
What is Udemy?
Udemy is an online course provider that generates lessons to teach in-demand skills. It’s designed to give your employees access to a library of training content that allows them to improve their knowledge and skills.
Udemy offers on-demand courses for business skills, tech skills, leader and management skills, and wellness skills.
These pre-packaged courses give your employees opportunities for personal and professional growth without requiring someone to create specialized courses for your companies. If your employees were to leave your company and go to another, these are skills they could use in their new organization.
Essentially, it is an online university to learn business skills, like LinkedIn Learning. Before your employees start a job or tackle a task, they take these pre-designed courses to learn skills and information. This could be how to use specific software, how to manage a project, etc.
These courses are generalized and can be used by any business.
What is Pluralsight?
Pluralsight Skills is a learning software for businesses that enables employees to learn new skills before they take on a new task. The technology provides an opportunity for employees to learn and practice before doing. Some educational features include:
- Courses
- Skill assessments
- Labs
- Certification content
Like Udemy, Pluralsight has a large course library to help your employees increase their knowledge around generic topics. Some of those topics include cloud, data, security, software, development, and more.
These courses have a wide reach since they apply to almost any company, in any field. They are not specialized for your company.
Besides courses, Pluralsight offers hands-on learning with the Labs. The labs allow employees to practice what they need to do in a sandbox before they do it on the job.
What is ScreenSteps?
ScreenSteps is a cloud-based knowledge base and employee enablement software that helps employees perform tasks on the job.
It is designed for custom content and courses that you will create that are specific to your Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) and your business.
Unlike a learning management system (LMS) that presents courses and then relies on employee's memories to apply that information in their daily workflow, ScreenSteps is designed to be used while employees work so that they can quickly adapt and conform to standard operating procedures in your business
When do you use each software for training?
While all three platforms provide courses that help train your employees, the purpose of each is slightly different.
Udemy
Both Udemy and Pluralsight are used to teach employees BEFORE they need to perform a task. The courses are meant to teach background knowledge and information. Once they start working, employees need to remember these lessons to perform their jobs.
Pluralsight
In addition to teaching courses before employees officially start on a job, Pluralsight provides opportunities to practice what they’ll be doing before working with your real products. They use the sandbox for hands-on training, giving them a chance to learn from their mistakes before using your live system.
ScreenSteps
ScreenSteps can be used in every phase of training, but it is primarily designed to teach employees while they are in the workflow. Your employees follow your documented policies and procedures to complete assignments, even if they’ve never previously done that specific task.
You can build short courses in ScreenSteps that employees can learn from before performing a task or if they feel like they need to brush up on information. However, if you are looking for software that is heavily focused on creating courses for employees to watch, ScreenSteps isn’t for you.
How do you use them together?
When it comes to training, it helps to have tools and resources for your employees to learn throughout their careers. Training doesn’t just happen in onboarding — it continues throughout your employees’ careers.
Training requires a technology stack. A technology stack is a collection of software that supports your employees in learning in their moments of need. These different tools serve different parts of the learning experience.
Udemy and Pluralsight are meant to be used before taking on assignments. ScreenSteps is used to help teach while an employee is working. Together these different softwares ensure that your employees have a resource they can reach for to aid them when they need it.
How to decide on the right training software for your company
You want to get the right training software for your company. Since there are multiple training software options out there, it is important to understand where your employees need support and what specific role you need your training to fulfill.
With ScreenSteps, you document help guides that support your employees for just-in-time learning. Employees can pick up a new procedure and complete it without previous training on that specific procedure.
Through this on-the-job training method, our customers have achieved shorter onboarding times and fewer mistakes.
Want to see how your procedures would look in ScreenSteps? Try ScreenSteps for free with a 14-day trial. During your trial, you can document procedures, design courses, and see how ScreenSteps could help your company.
Of course, these specific software companies may not be right for you. But it is important to have a technology stack.
