Absorb LMS vs. symplr Talent Management Solutions

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Absorb LMS
Score 8.8 out of 10
Enterprise companies (1,001+ employees)
Absorb LMS aims to empower organizations to train employees with the skills needed to stay modern and relevant in today's fast-paced world. The LMS software focuses on aligning learning needs with business demands.N/A
symplr Talent Management Solutions
Score 7.3 out of 10
N/A
symplr acquired HealthcareSource in July, 2021. The former HealthcareSource now forms the foundation fo the symplr talent management suite.N/A
Pricing
Absorb LMSsymplr Talent Management Solutions
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Absorb LMSsymplr Talent Management Solutions
Free Trial
YesNo
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
YesYes
Entry-level Setup FeeRequiredNo setup fee
Additional Details
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
Absorb LMSsymplr Talent Management Solutions
Top Pros
Top Cons
Features
Absorb LMSsymplr Talent Management Solutions
Learning Management
Comparison of Learning Management features of Product A and Product B
Absorb LMS
8.5
61 Ratings
4% above category average
symplr Talent Management Solutions
8.4
1 Ratings
17% above category average
Course authoring9.148 Ratings8.01 Ratings
Course catalog or library9.255 Ratings9.01 Ratings
Player/Portal9.255 Ratings8.01 Ratings
Learning content8.043 Ratings8.01 Ratings
Mobile friendly7.941 Ratings6.01 Ratings
Progress tracking & certifications9.256 Ratings10.01 Ratings
Assignments8.450 Ratings8.01 Ratings
Compliance management9.246 Ratings8.01 Ratings
Learning administration9.659 Ratings9.01 Ratings
Learning reporting & analytics9.156 Ratings9.01 Ratings
Social learning6.926 Ratings9.01 Ratings
Gamification6.425 Ratings00 Ratings
Single Sign On (SSO) Enabled Learning8.439 Ratings00 Ratings
Onboarding
Comparison of Onboarding features of Product A and Product B
Absorb LMS
-
Ratings
symplr Talent Management Solutions
9.2
2 Ratings
23% above category average
New hire portal00 Ratings9.01 Ratings
Manager tracking tools00 Ratings8.52 Ratings
Compliance tracking and reporting00 Ratings10.01 Ratings
Performance and Goals
Comparison of Performance and Goals features of Product A and Product B
Absorb LMS
-
Ratings
symplr Talent Management Solutions
8.1
2 Ratings
11% above category average
Corporate goal setting00 Ratings8.01 Ratings
Subordinate goal setting00 Ratings8.01 Ratings
Individual goal setting00 Ratings8.01 Ratings
Performance tracking00 Ratings8.42 Ratings
Performance Management
Comparison of Performance Management features of Product A and Product B
Absorb LMS
-
Ratings
symplr Talent Management Solutions
9.0
1 Ratings
27% above category average
Performance improvement plans00 Ratings5.01 Ratings
Review status tracking00 Ratings9.01 Ratings
Rater nomination workflow00 Ratings10.01 Ratings
Review reminders00 Ratings10.01 Ratings
Workflow restrictions00 Ratings9.01 Ratings
Multiple review frequency00 Ratings10.01 Ratings
Reporting00 Ratings10.01 Ratings
Succession Planning
Comparison of Succession Planning features of Product A and Product B
Absorb LMS
-
Ratings
symplr Talent Management Solutions
6.5
2 Ratings
10% below category average
Create succession plans/pools00 Ratings7.01 Ratings
Candidate ranking00 Ratings5.01 Ratings
Candidate search00 Ratings5.01 Ratings
Candidate development00 Ratings9.01 Ratings
Recruiting / ATS
Comparison of Recruiting / ATS features of Product A and Product B
Absorb LMS
-
Ratings
symplr Talent Management Solutions
6.8
2 Ratings
7% below category average
Job Requisition Management00 Ratings7.02 Ratings
Company Website Posting00 Ratings6.02 Ratings
Publish to Social Media00 Ratings6.02 Ratings
Job Search Site Posting00 Ratings5.02 Ratings
Customized Application Form00 Ratings7.02 Ratings
Resume Management00 Ratings4.02 Ratings
Duplicate Candidate Prevention00 Ratings8.02 Ratings
Candidate Search00 Ratings8.02 Ratings
Applicant Tracking00 Ratings8.02 Ratings
Collaboration00 Ratings8.02 Ratings
Task Creation and Delegation00 Ratings7.02 Ratings
Email Templates00 Ratings7.02 Ratings
User Permissions00 Ratings8.02 Ratings
Notifications and Alerts00 Ratings6.02 Ratings
Reporting00 Ratings7.02 Ratings
Best Alternatives
Absorb LMSsymplr Talent Management Solutions
Small Businesses
Tovuti LMS
Tovuti LMS
Score 9.5 out of 10
Paycor
Paycor
Score 7.3 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Bridge Learning Platform
Bridge Learning Platform
Score 9.9 out of 10
Darwinbox
Darwinbox
Score 7.9 out of 10
Enterprises
Bridge Learning Platform
Bridge Learning Platform
Score 9.9 out of 10
Oracle Fusion Cloud HCM
Oracle Fusion Cloud HCM
Score 7.4 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
Absorb LMSsymplr Talent Management Solutions
Likelihood to Recommend
9.2
(63 ratings)
6.1
(11 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
8.9
(5 ratings)
7.3
(5 ratings)
Usability
9.1
(1 ratings)
9.0
(1 ratings)
Availability
9.1
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Performance
9.1
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
8.5
(50 ratings)
7.0
(1 ratings)
Online Training
8.2
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Implementation Rating
8.2
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Contract Terms and Pricing Model
8.2
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Product Scalability
8.2
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Vendor post-sale
8.2
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Vendor pre-sale
8.2
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
Absorb LMSsymplr Talent Management Solutions
Likelihood to Recommend
Absorb Software Inc.
Absorb LMS is appropriate for any continuing education organization or company that wants a reliable platform to host enduring educational content. It has been a great experience in terms of building and designing courses, monitoring learner progress, and as another touch point for learners to access other resources our organization offers.
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symplr
If their HRIS system holds all their data - employees, supervisors, positions then HealthcareSource can really take advantage of that data and save you a lot of time. We looked at a lot of systems and one of our needs was both Applicant Tracking and Performance Management and these systems work very well together. Other systems we looked at didn't have all our most needed features - we needed a vendor that could do both, integrate with our HRIS, report back data in a customizable fashion, and be user friendly. Some systems listed the features but during the demo and product reference calls we found they didn't perform as advertised. Some had reporting but the reporting was missing key data or didn't export in a data friendly manner. We have found HealthcareSource to be not only "pretty" - aka user friendly/non-cluttered but also had the engine under the hood as well that met our data analyst needs.
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Pros
Absorb Software Inc.
  • Usability - Both the User and Admin Experience is so simple and intuitive. The admin tools are clearly defined and laid out, yet the functionality makes it still powerful.
  • Integration - We used the Scheduled Data Imports and Exports to connect with our HRIS tool. After the initial configuration, it has worked reliably and gives me all the custom data I need to make assignments and reporting a breeze.
  • Design - I know it's covered a little bit in the Usability above, but the site just looks fantastic. There are a lot of options to customize and fit your branding requirements and all of the thumbnails/posters/billboards/etc give a very visual and appealing look to the LMS. Much better than I've seen in other products.
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symplr
  • When any company implements a new program they have specific needs that they want customized for them. Healthcare source did a great job providing excellent customer service to our HR and IT professionals working behind the scenes to help us maximize the programs potential at our organization. They did not limit us to any standard uses or prohibit us from reaching our internal goals. Some examples include specialized reports, data uploads of employee data and time frames for our annual reviews.
  • They provided us with training and retraining and more training on using the system. This included training new members of our team when we had turnover in HR and inviting us to conferences and webcasts regularly.
  • The presentation of the software was very appealing and that may seem small but it really helps appeal to the employees that use it for their reviews.
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Cons
Absorb Software Inc.
  • Uploading documents is perceived as hard for employees, especially with video uploads.
  • Sometimes the program lacks and then an employee has to start all over.
  • Spacing courses is possible but not with a certain amount of time, which would be useful if the next course could open after a week/month instead of when the employee finishes the previous course.
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symplr
  • To allow our team members choice, we offer training as either/or. The current system does not record either/or completions
  • To end enrollment of new hires for training at a set date, requires also ending the training of all those not yet completed.
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Likelihood to Renew
Absorb Software Inc.
We have no plans to move away from Absorb at this time. It has all of the functionality we are looking for in a learning management system and we have a lot of info stored in our LMS system for trainings including all of our current and past employee transcripts. It is also getting easier to manager with being able to connect the LMS to ADP to update employee reporting/department/location/etc. We don't have a need or reason to move away from Absorb at this time.
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symplr
Looking back we can say that every year we used Performance Manager and other products too like HeathcareSource's Compensation and Position Manager we saw the ease of use for employees and HR staff members increase, we saw employees getting more comfortable with the product and HR Staff getting better at expressing their needs to the HealthcareSource team and this made us want to stay with the same company, when things are getting better each year we know we are in the right place.
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Usability
Absorb Software Inc.
It's a great place to house our trainings and keep things interesting for our associates.
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symplr
The product is very intuitive to the end users and our online documentation seems sufficient to train our new employees.
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Support Rating
Absorb Software Inc.
I know the support team is hard at work! We are currently dealing with a confusing issue where our buttons don't connect to the pages we assign them, and they have been looking into this for a number of weeks. I hope they will unravel the issue soon so we can role out our modules!
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symplr
On the previous rating scale, I kept thinking "it depends". If I know it's an easy question or easy fix, the response is super fast. If I know I am asking something complex, custom or I just know it's not going to be able to be answered by 1st tier, it can take some time. I have worked on these issues with them (they are all very nice) I do now have avenues for finding things out from one person. We had one issue where we had a major problem and it required a software patch and their support team worked throughout the weekend to create, QA, and deliver the patch as promised. I was very impressed
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Online Training
Absorb Software Inc.
I meet and do training with my absorb support every week. and I have all my questions answered! it's great
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symplr
No answers on this topic
Alternatives Considered
Absorb Software Inc.
Our organization previously used LMS365, which did not support eCommerce and had difficulties supporting external users. (My understanding is the issues with external users may have been directly related to our Microsoft implementation and not directly LMS365's fault, but it was nonetheless a deal breaker for us.) Docebo was the runner up in our LMS selection process and I spent significant time chatting with the team at Docebo. It seemed like a strong competitor to Aborb. Ultimately, Absorb was both slightly more cost-efficient for our scenario.
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symplr
Both Health Stream and Healthcare Source have to-do lists, completion lists, and tracking. However, the functionality of Healthcare Source is far superior to HealthStream. The notifications are much better and helpful. The tracking on Healthcare Source is easy to use and see. Overall the interface in Healthcare Source is more intuitive.
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Return on Investment
Absorb Software Inc.
  • Course enrollments and completions have increased by 500% since implementation
  • Employee visits to our learning centre have increased by 300% since implementation
  • Cost saving from a time perspective as we can automate a lot of the admin work we used to do.
  • Pre Absorb we had about 3 or 4 e-learnings that were available. We now have over 100 that are accessible to all employees
  • Ability to seamlessly integrate with Workday and Udemy allowing all learning to be in one place, people data to be imported from WD, and very comprehensive reporting
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symplr
  • NetLearning has increased our nursing CEU credits with the most efficiency. Now nurses can take courses on NetLearning and have it track their hours.
  • On a compliance standpoint, NetLearning has benefited us when we are being audited and we have to show what trainings or classes an employee has made. Also, to make sure that their certifications are up to date.
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ScreenShots

Absorb LMS Screenshots

Screenshot of a company's unique identity with a training interface that is custom-designed for the brand.Screenshot of a company's image and values with a training interface that is tailored to the brand's specific needs.Screenshot of the course creation workflow, that offer a diverse set of formats, including instructional videos, quizzes, and assessments.Screenshot of Absorb's course details page, accessible from the course catalog dashboard, used to give learners an understanding of the course material.Screenshot of learners' progress insights, used to make data-driven decisions with the reporting capabilities of Absorb LMS.Screenshot of course creation with Create AI Beta.