Employees are a company’s biggest asset, and investing in upskilling their talents is crucial for the company’s sustainable business growth and success. Employers can also ensure employee loyalty, and retention by doubling down on corporate training and providing employees with opportunities for career growth.
The current work-environment is very demanding, work-days are being stretched beyond what was a typical 8-hour day, and work-pressure and deadlines make it challenging for the workforce to take several days or weeks off to attend training events. Clearly, the need of the hour is to adopt a strategy of continuous training, that is on-the-job, and that is available in small, on-demand lessons.
Microlearning is the perfect learner-centric solution for this new learning landscape as it provides the solution to the problem of delivering short just-in-time training modules with rich media formats, compatible with multiple devices and, on a continuous basis.
What Is Microlearning?
Microlearning is a training approach that breaks down a complex concept into short bites of learning, focused on a single learning objective. These shorter learning modules can be created in comparatively less time than it used to take to produce full-length, formal training courses. Microlearning is particularly suited to the growing tech-savvy millennial workforce. Microlearning empowers employees to quickly grasp the emerging technologies and fill gaps in skill becoming better adapted to the new industry trend.
Microlearning Assets
Microlearning assets use varied formats to deliver microlearning digitally configured in a variety of interesting formats which can help the employees learn quickly, without cognitive overload depending on training needs and course content:
Benefits of Microlearning
There are several benefits of microlearning . Here is a list benefits that clearly illustrate why you should adopt Microlearning:
- Just-In-Time Learning: Microlearning nuggets can be offered to learners packaged as just-in-time modules designed to cover one specific topic or skill to meet a specific learning outcome and help learners apply the learning on the job.
- Learning Anytime & Anywhere: Microlearning modules are available on different platforms which makes it easy for the learner to access from anywhere, at any time, and at their own pace.
- High Engagement: Microlearning is an ideal fit for modern-day learners who appreciate information formatted in rich multimedia formats that keep the learner’s attention & help them stay engaged for the duration of the module. Since microlearning breaks up information into more digestible portions of content which allows the learner to remain focused on small pieces of learning at a time without any distractions, repetitiveness, or boredom — the learner is able to quickly assimilate key skills without potentially burning out.
- Boost information Application: Microlearning modules can be used in flexible learning paths to provide learners with a personalized learning experience for more relevant skills and concept retention which has an immediate impact on the job.
- Affordable on the Budget: Microlearning is relatively lighter on training budgets and gives organizations a cost advantage as microlearning trickles down the production costs which leads to increased productivity, higher efficiency and, also saves money.
- Learner Autonomy: Microlearning being short and extremely focused on a single learning objective allows your learner to feel in charge, giving the opportunity to pick and choose applicable lessons while guiding themselves even while on travel or on downtime. This helps learners improve time to learn, process and apply the new information whilst still encouraging and enabling continual learning.
- Offers Performance Enhancement Support: Microlearning assets are short and handy, and availability in myriad formats making microlearning ideal for offering performance support; they can be accessed by learners at their moment of need creating higher impact.
Applications of Microlearning
Here are a few examples for various training types that can be teamed with microlearning formats which can be used effectively:
- Sales & Product Knowledge Training: Sales representatives are constantly traveling hence an interactive tutorial explaining the components and technical capabilities help in providing a quick way to learn – being short, concentrated on a single learning objective, and compatible with mobile devices facilitates the learning process.
- New Hire Orientation and Onboarding Training: Microlearning helps new hires to learn about the company’s history in small digestible interactive nuggets as against handing the new employees voluminous handbooks which could be challenging to learn and review in a short time. The modules created can be employee-centric personalized learning which ensures a better understanding of the training sessions.
- Software Training: Software training can be complex where learners can get overwhelmed with information on features and functions. Here microlearning can be used to help learners with task-centric activities and to periodically reinforce knowledge of a skill or to work on areas of weakness.
Microlearning is a great approach to modern workplace learning and finds natural alignment with the needs of the workforce as it is effective, engaging, and appeals to learners. It can be a stand-alone solution for corporate learning and can also support and augment eLearning courses as the modules take relatively less effort to develop and maintain, when compared to traditional training programs.
Given the fast-paced learning culture we live in, microlearning is absolutely here to stay!
