The Role Your MSP Didn’t Know It Needed: The Learning Manager

If your MSP training isn’t working, you’re not alone.  

Most MSPs invest in training with good intentions. And yet, the same issues keep showing up on the service board. Skills don’t translate cleanly to real tickets, escalations stay high, and new hires take longer than expected to ramp. 

 Over time, training starts to feel disconnected from the work it’s supposed to support. 

This pattern is incredibly common. When learning is treated as something that happens outside the flow of work, it naturally becomes harder to sustain. 

So where does it all go wrong? A lack of motivation? Effort? Training material? 

The real problem is that most MSPs don’t have a clear system for turning learning into skill. Training exists, but no one owns how it shows up in day-to-day work. Without that ownership, even the best content struggles to stick. 

To understand what’s missing (and how to fix it) we need to talk about a role most MSPs don’t realize they need. 

Why MSP Training Breaks Down in Practice  

Most MSP training programs are built with a quiet assumption that people will find the time and mental space to learn on their own. 

In reality, MSPs operate in high-interruption environments. Technicians move from ticket to ticket, priorities shift constantly, and urgent work always wins. When learning competes with live issues, it’s easy for training to get pushed aside even when everyone agrees it’s important. 

This is where MSP employee training often starts to break down. Training content lives outside daily workflows, disconnected from the problems technicians are trying to solve in the moment. Courses get completed, but the knowledge doesn’t transfer cleanly to real-world situations. 

Over time, this creates a pattern. Training feels theoretical. Skills don’t stick. Teams fall back on habits and tribal knowledge because it’s faster and safer than trying to apply something new under pressure. 

But none of this means your team doesn’t care about improving. It means the system around learning doesn’t support MSP skill development the way MSPs actually operate. 

And without a clear structure to guide learning inside the work itself, even well-designed training programs struggle to deliver consistent results. 

The Missing Function: The Learning Manager (and Why It Matters) 

What’s missing is a role focused on turning learning into usable skill. At Empath, we call this the Learning Manager. 

The Learning Manager isn’t an HR function or a full-time trainer. Their job is much simpler: They own how learning shows up in day-to-day work. 

This ownership changes how MSP skill development plays out in practice. 

New hires ramp faster because learning is connected to the work they’re actually doing, not abstract material they’ll “need someday.” Experienced technicians build confidence through repetition and relevance instead of one-off courses. Teams share a clearer understanding of standards, which reduces rework, inconsistency, and unnecessary escalations. 

Just as important, training stops feeling like a personal burden. Development no longer depends on individual motivation or extra effort outside the workday. 

Many MSPs already have someone doing parts of this work, often unintentionally. A service manager, a team lead, or a senior technician ends up answering questions, pointing people to the right resources, and setting informal expectations. The difference is that when the Learning Manager role is defined and supported, this work becomes consistent instead of reactive. 

That consistency is what allows learning to turn into real, repeatable skill over time. 

What a Learning Manager Actually Does 

A Learning Manager isn’t responsible for creating more training. They’re responsible for making existing learning usable. 

First, they define what good looks like. Instead of measuring progress by completed courses or earned certifications, they focus on observable behavior. What should a technician be able to do on a real ticket? What decisions should they make? What does success look like in the tools and processes your MSP actually uses? 

Second, they give people a clear next step. One of the biggest blockers to MSP skill development is uncertainty. When technicians don’t know what to learn next or how it applies, they stall. A Learning Manager removes that friction by sequencing learning and helping people start small. 

Third, they connect training to real work. Learning doesn’t live in a portal or an LMS, it shows up on the service board. The Learning Manager helps technicians apply what they’re learning to the tickets in front of them, reinforcing skills through repetition and context instead of one-time exposure. 

Finally, they normalize learning as part of the job. Questions are expected. Struggle is normal. Skill takes time. By setting that tone, the Learning Manager reduces anxiety and makes development feel safe and sustainable instead of risky or performative. 

None of this requires a new department or a full-time role. But it does require someone to own the system that turns learning into daily practice. 

How to Start Without Overhauling Everything 

Introducing a Learning Manager doesn’t mean redesigning your entire training program or adding a new layer of bureaucracy. 

In most MSPs, the first step is simply naming the role. 

Look at who already answers learning-related questions. Who points technicians to the right resources? Who helps newer team members understand expectations? Who connects training back to real tickets? That’s often your starting point. 

From there, focus on clarity before expansion. 

Instead of adding more content, define what matters most right now. What skills are creating the most friction on the service board? What problems keep repeating? A Learning Manager helps prioritize learning around those realities instead of trying to cover everything at once. 

Keep the scope small. One role. One skill area. One clear expectation. Skill develops through repetition, not volume, and starting small makes learning easier to sustain. 

Most importantly, treat this as an operational responsibility. 

You don’t need to get this perfect. You just need to make it visible, supported, and consistent. 

That’s enough to change how learning shows up inside your MSP. 

Supporting the Learning Manager Role 

The Learning Manager role exists to bring structure, clarity, and follow-through to learning inside real MSP operations. 

If you want to see what this looks like, there are a few ways to explore it further. 

• You can book a demo to see how Empath provides the structure and accountability that Learning Managers need to turn training into a repeatable system.  
• Empath also houses courses from our Head of Learning Design & Innovation Keith Craig, designed to help Learning Managers understand how skill develops, how learning breaks down in Ops, and how to support teams more effectively. 
• And if you’re carrying this responsibility today, Keith also hosts a livestream series specifically for people in this role: The Accidental Learning Manager. 

Learning is an operational capability. When it’s owned, supported, and designed to fit the work, it becomes one of the most reliable ways to improve performance over time. 

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