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One of the best learning management systems I have managed.
Updated April 29, 2023

One of the best learning management systems I have managed.

Jamie Drahos | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User

Overall Satisfaction with Cornerstone OnDemand

Cornerstone OnDemand is our global Learning Management System solution. It is centrally managed out of our Training and Education department, with second-level learning admins throughout the various global regions. The system allows us to manage the corporate training record for all employees, for both online and classroom instruction. It also provides us with a social learning platform for cohorts and a tool to complete observation checklists.
  • Single admin console with granular control over user access and reporting. They continue to keep the admin in mind when rolling out new features. Giving us additional tools and improvements to more easily manage a large organization of learners.
  • A complete solution. Cornerstone OnDemand is a human performance management solution. This includes: compensation, on-boarding, performance reviews, succession, training, and social interaction. All of the areas of the product are cohesively tied to one another for convenience and powerful cross-feature functionality. It has been developed organically from the ground up, so everything works together for a competent experience.
  • Increasing support for mobile learning. Our field is relying on mobile devices to stay connected. Cornerstone OnDemand continues to improve their support for mobile through web browser support and mobile apps.
  • Global Product Support. Their support team can be slow to respond and resolve issues. They are constantly blaming it on growing pains. However, that cannot be an excuse. Every company wants to grow bigger and they need to adjust their support model to accommodate it.
  • Multimedia support. Cornerstone OnDemand does support video learning and embedding videos on custom pages, however, they just rolled this out to everyone and it has some catching up to do. Competitors have supported this feature for quite some time and are ahead of the curve on it.
  • Responsive design support for Welcome and Custom pages. Cornerstone OnDemand is making much of their system responsive for mobile use. However, the page builder that is used to make your Welcome and Custom pages has not been updated for some time. It doesn't always support some HTML5, CSS3 and JavaScript functions. The work-arounds to get some designs to work correctly is troublesome.
  • Cornerstone has saved us a significant amount on travel costs for training. We still use classroom training for certain position in the company, however, it has allowed us to distribute ongoing training to the field employees as it is available.
Considering all five Learning Management Systems that I have been the admin for, Cornerstone OnDemand is my favorite; especially for corporate organizations. I believe they offer a complete package. I always keep my eye on new solutions and some are doing some interesting things, however, I will stick with Cornerstone OnDemand for the foreseeable future.
When looking at Cornerstone OnDemand, look at the entire package, even if you don't plan on licensing everything. This will allow you see what is possible and how the company has built a cohesive product. Additionally, inquire about their road-map. They have several features that are already planned for this year that make it an even better product. Cornerstone is well suited for medium to larger businesses. I believe there are other products that would work for a smaller business that cost less. It becomes better as you license additional modules for the product.

Cornerstone OnDemand Feature Ratings

8.0
New hire portal
8
Manager tracking tools
8
Compliance tracking and reporting
8
Not Rated
Corporate goal setting
Not Rated
Subordinate goal setting
Not Rated
Individual goal setting
Not Rated
Line-of sight-visibility
Not Rated
Performance tracking
Not Rated
Not Rated
Performance plans
Not Rated
Plan weighting
Not Rated
Manager note taking
Not Rated
Performance improvement plans
Not Rated
Review status tracking
Not Rated
Rater nomination workflow
Not Rated
Review reminders
Not Rated
Workflow restrictions
Not Rated
Multiple review frequency
Not Rated
Reporting
Not Rated
Not Rated
Create succession plans/pools
Not Rated
Candidate ranking
Not Rated
Candidate search
Not Rated
Candidate development
Not Rated
Not Rated
Job Requisition Management
Not Rated
Company Website Posting
Not Rated
Publish to Social Media
Not Rated
Job Search Site Posting
Not Rated
Customized Application Form
Not Rated
Resume Management
Not Rated
Duplicate Candidate Prevention
Not Rated
Candidate Search
Not Rated
Applicant Tracking
Not Rated
Collaboration
Not Rated
Task Creation and Delegation
Not Rated
Email Templates
Not Rated
User Permissions
Not Rated
Notifications and Alerts
Not Rated
Reporting
Not Rated
Not Rated
Course authoring
Not Rated
Course catalog or library
Not Rated
Player/Portal
Not Rated
Learning content
Not Rated
Mobile friendly
Not Rated
Progress tracking & certifications
Not Rated
Assignments
Not Rated
Compliance management
Not Rated
Learning administration
Not Rated
Learning reporting & analytics
Not Rated
Social learning
Not Rated

Using Cornerstone OnDemand

3400 - Our entire global population uses Cornerstone OnDemand as a Learning Management System. It is primarily driven through our Americas Sales and Service business, but we have continued adoption with our global employees.
3 - We have one system admin (myself) and two learning admins. The system admin is also the global process owner for the system and ultimately has final say with how the system is run and managed. The learning admins have user rights that are elevated beyond the standard user so they can support with troubleshooting courses, uploading new courses, user account access etc. The system admin should have a strong technical background and process management experience. The learning admins need to have a base knowledge of technology and a willingness to learn new skills.
  • Online learning management. All of our traceable online learning is done through Cornerstone OnDemand. We have a rich learner history logged in the system.
  • Social learning/collaboration. Within the last year we have started to leverage the social learning aspects of Cornerstone OnDemand to create Communities and Cohorts, where our employees can learn together virtually.
  • Video hosting. We have leveraged our unlimited video storage to host more online training videos that we create in-house.
  • We have been able to use Cornerstone OnDemand to host custom assessments and some very complex reporting for our field and managers to access.
  • We have used Cornerstone OnDemand to distribute informal learning videos that are themed and directed at our sales force.
  • We are hoping to drive more mobile use through Cornerstone Learn, a new mobile app for iOS and Android.
  • We are hoping to leverage the system to host curated content for our sales force to help drive growth.
As long as pricing stays reasonable, we will likely stay with Cornerstone for at least one more contract renewal. It would be a large task to migrate all of our content to a new system. However, the LMS landscape is diversifying with new startups that are showing some real innovation.

Evaluating Cornerstone OnDemand and Competitors

Yes - Cornerstone replace Moodle, however, I was not around for that transition, so I cannot speak to why it was replaced.
  • Product Features
  • Product Usability
  • Positive Sales Experience with the Vendor
The robust feature-set of an organically grown system was the single biggest reason for the choice at the time. I also believe our original contracts were very competitive.
I think we would have included more people within the organization when the choice was being made, but at the time it did not have the buy-in like it does now. I would have also leveraged sites like TrustRadius to explore the experiences of many other companies using the system.

Cornerstone OnDemand Support

They are doing a great job of creating new features and fixing anything that is broken. However, sometimes you have to wait until the next quarterly update to get something fixed. I also feel like their Global Product Support team could be better. Perhaps hiring additional people would help.
ProsCons
Good followup
Problems get solved
Kept well informed
Support understands my problem
Slow Resolution
Escalation required
Difficult to get immediate help
Slow Initial Response
Yes
We usually pay for some sort of premium support package, but not the highest. I believe Cornerstone OnDemand does their best work to support the highest package, but their process for lower tiers are not as successful.
Yes - Yes it was resolved, not always in a timely fashion. Several times you have to wait until the next quarterly update to get it fixed, even though they have several weekly bug fix updates.
Our Customer Success Manager has provided excellent support many times. He is easily available through both email and phone and has escalated our support tickets when needed and reached out to other customers for their insights. Additionally, we have assisted other customers with our input and experiences when asked. There is a nice network of users in that respect.

Using Cornerstone OnDemand

I believe for the most part, Cornerstone OnDemand is a very good system for human performance management. With that said, they do have areas they need to improve. Support, mobile, and simplified/updated design, all need more attention.
ProsCons
Like to use
Relatively simple
Easy to use
Technical support not required
Well integrated
Consistent
Quick to learn
Convenient
Feel confident using
Familiar
None
  • For end-users, it is very easy to locate, launch and complete online training. This applies to all type of content that Cornerstone allows you to host as a learning object.
  • The new learner home and learner search bring a modern design to the system that is very similar to online streaming services that people have experience using.
  • As an admin, loading content is very easy to do and has been made even easier with recent improvements.
  • User management has been easy for our admins and provides us with the tools to properly troubleshoot any issues.
  • Cornerstone has been transitioning their system to an updated UI and UX design, which has been very nice. However, it has been happening slowly and some of the older areas that have yet to be updated seem more difficult to work with.
  • We have had some minor issue with our nightly feed that manages our user accounts with SAP.
  • Mainly working with their support group is the most cumbersome activity to perform with Cornerstone. They do not have quick response times unless you pay for an advanced support tier.
Yes - The interface is a work in progress, but is getting better with each release. They support mobile through mobile browsers and also through two apps. Cornerstone Learn, their most recent app, is a nice product that is getting a lot of attention from their development group.