When I started at Kruze Consulting, they had a system for documenting processes, but it had limitations for what we needed to accomplish at scale.

What we needed:

• Ability to host SCORM content (so we could buy off-the-shelf training, not create everything from scratch)
• Robust quizzing and assessment capabilities
• Detailed reporting and analytics
• Portability (if we ever needed to move platforms, we shouldn’t have to rebuild everything from scratch)

But here’s what concerned me most: I pulled the reporting from the existing system and found that less than 10% of staff ever visited after completing their initial onboarding.

That’s the pattern I see many places – people complete what’s required, then never come back. Training materials beyond that system were scattered across Google Docs, Slack channels, and people’s heads. New hires got their systems set up and then just… figured it out.

I knew we needed an LMS. But I also knew that most LMS implementations fail spectacularly.

The statistics back this up – industry standard for LMS engagement sits around 20-30%. Some sources cite course completion rates as low as 13%. Most companies spend thousands on platforms that people only visit during onboarding, then never touch again.

That’s just wasted money.

So when I selected our LMS, I had a very specific requirement list. One of the must-haves: the ability to have a home page that could operate as a pseudo-intranet.

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Why a Pseudo-Intranet Mattered

If the LMS were only for training, people would only visit it for training. But if it was where they went for company information, announcements, calendars, forms, and resources – plus training when they needed it – they’d have a reason to come back regularly. The LMS needed to be the answer to “Where do I find…?” for everything, not just courses.

Because here’s what I’d learned over 15+ years: people don’t go to an LMS for training. They go when it’s where they can find what they need.

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Building More Than a Training Platform

I didn’t build a training platform. I built a knowledge ecosystem.

Kruze U became the single source of truth:

• How-to videos, docs, SOPs, company policies, the Slack guide
• Google Forms and links to specific places in other systems
• Announcements we wanted to memorialize (things that would otherwise just be verbal and forgotten)
• Company newsletter and calendar right on the home page
• 1,000+ resources people could actually find when they needed them

Gamification drove voluntary engagement:

• Points for completing training, redeemable for real rewards through our existing recognition system
• Special curricula and challenges I created based on needs I heard at all-hands meetings
• Only a few required courses, but lots of available content to help people do their jobs better
• Content was often short and focused

The strategy:

• Build it so people have a reason to come back
• Curate first, then create what you can’t curate (I created quite a bit, but not everything)
• Make it the go-to place for more than just compliance training
• Integrate with tools people already use daily

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The Moment I Knew It Worked 💡

Within three months, we were in a weekly all-hands meeting. Someone presented something new. A person came off mute and asked, “Is this in Kruze U?”

That’s how I knew I had made it. It was part of the nomenclature. You come to Kruze, there’s a few things you automatically do, and one of them is Kruze U.

Is this in Kruze U?

Unidentified employee

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What the Numbers Actually Showed

The results:

• 70-80% monthly active users (sustained over years)
• 99.4% annual platform utilization
• People logging in 200+ times per year
• 25%+ of staff reading over a quarter of our 1,000 resources

Our LMS vendor told me it was “the best client engagement he had seen at this high level.”

But here’s what I’m most proud of: we identified that people who were trained in onboarding using Kruze U were better prepared to do their jobs. They knew how to use the LMS, and since it was our one source of truth where all the important stuff was, they could find things they needed. They were actually better trained than people who had come before.

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Why Many LMS Implementations Fail (Don’t Soar)

Many companies treat their LMS like a filing cabinet. They upload compliance training, require people to complete it, then wonder why no one ever comes back.

The typical approach:

• Buy LMS ✓
• Upload training content ✓
• Require completion ✓
• Measure completion rates ✓
• Watch engagement drop to 20% ✗

What’s missing: Giving people a reason to return after onboarding.

People don’t go to an LMS just for training.
They go when it’s where they can find what they need.

Michelle Deshotels

Conclusion

The gap between 20% industry engagement and 70%+ isn’t only about better training content or fancier technology. It’s about understanding why people would return to your LMS after onboarding.

The pattern I saw:

• Less than 10% visited the original system after onboarding
• Within 3 months of Kruze U’s launch, “Is this in Kruze U?” became standard
• By the end, 70-80% monthly active users sustained over years

Something fundamental changed – not just the quality of training, but the reason people had to come back.

In Part 2, I’ll break down exactly what drives engagement: the specific strategies, the architecture decisions, and why your LMS engagement problem probably isn’t about your content at all.