In 2015, millennials surpassed Gen Xers as the largest generation in the workforce. By 2025, they will make up 75 percent of the workforce. That means that in the next 10 to 15 years, we will see the greatest transfer of knowledge that has ever taken place“ (Blackburn, 2017).
With the transfer of knowledge comes a transfer in learning behavior. Companies are and will continue to transfer over their databases and curriculum to an electronic platform. Electronic training and content systems are created to allow employees to develop new skills and stay up to date on the ever-changing work environment. Companies are working to tailor their programs to assist employees and to help all parties involved work better and smarter. These solutions can provide a means of both tracking performance goals and planning the correct career ladder for each employee. Employees can intentionally work on skills they lack efficiently with the help of microlearning.
Research shows that twenty-first century employers prefer to recruit employees who have confirmed mastery of competencies in their related fields and who are ready to perform the skills and tasks necessary in the workplace (Camacho & Legare, 2016). Human resources can help close the gap on any skills employees and new hires have by implementing short and logically structured microlearning lessons.
With the development of new digital tools, microlearning is becoming an extraordinary area of technology-enhanced learning. Microlearning, as a different form of knowledge attainment, is becoming an important aspect of learner motivation and learning outcomes.
To remain relevant to twenty-first century business, corporate learning is adjusting its previous methods and guides. Professionals are working to shift its focus from learning for learning’s sake, to learning to work better.
Today’s methods of staff training and development need to adapt. Traditional methods include:
With future staff training methods, employees and their managers can construct individualized programs based on career plans and performance goals. Microlearning tasks can then be individualized to allow the employee to effectively and quickly close identified knowledge gaps.
Personalization and Independence
Learning wherever, whenever
Effective and Varied Learning
Four Major Advantages to Microlearning in a Corporate Setting
Methods for Implementation
There’s been a lot of research lately in terms of microlearning and its benefits (as well as when it’s best to not use microlearning). Here’s some of the best information to know if you’re considering moving toward creating more microlearning content.
Remember the data from Deloitte stating that employees can only dedicate about 1% of their work day to training? That’s about 24 minutes a week or about 19 hours a year. The Association of Talent Development, ATD, states that the average learning hours per year is somewhere around 31. That’s not a lot of time to train.
What’s the ideal microlearning course length? The Association for Talent and Development surveyed 144 talent development professionals who said "the average length of microlearning courses should ideally be 10 minutes with a maximum of 13 minutes total. Based on the 24-38 minutes workers have available each week for training, that’s a solid two for four microlearning courses" (Boller, 2015).
According to the Journal of Applied Psychology (2017), "learning in bite-sized pieces makes the transfer of learning from the classroom to the desk 17% more efficient." When bite-sized learning content is easily and readily accessible, learners can take it at their own pace, wherever they are, and most importantly, when they are “ready.” Because these small-sized courses are more focused, learners don’t have to clutter their memories with irrelevant information. This makes retention easier.
Employees can quickly forget their gained knowledge in traditional learning sessions. These classes are not designed to suit individualized learning preferences, but rather a group as a whole. This can be a missed opportunity for many organizations
Technology adoption growing amongst organizations will continue to change the landscape of how training and development is implemented. Informal learning truly benefits employees (Jomah, Masoud, Kishore, & Aurelia, 2016) as they receive the small bits of new information at a time when they need it most. Employers benefit as they are able to provide flexible training without interrupting an employee’s work. Thus, this allows employees to learn and complete work-related tasks efficiently.
When microlearning is delivered in a steady and ongoing manner, organizations have the option to drive continuous learning, building up knowledge over time, and create long-term positive behavior change. These are the kinds of changes that allow for better communication, participation, and innovation. Organizations that recognize the importance of cultivating continuous learning are the ones that will have a much better chance of outlasting their competition and becoming a place where talented, committed people come to work.
Even with all the benefits, organizations still mainly focus on the traditional formal training methods. Organizations do not always have the resources or knowledge on how to convert to this style of learning.
Microlearning is the right path for organizations to take. Microlearning is easy to design, develop, and deliver. Since they are short, there is no need for complex animations or graphics, which means faster development at reduced cost. This eliminates the cost of creating course manuals for a traditional training session and having to update that material, reprint and distribute the materials to a team.
This method is on-demand learning, fitting with today's "on-the-go" learner. They will finally have the option to refresh and learn a topic before they need to use that skill. Content for microlearning can be available at any time and on any device, so employees no longer need to dedicate themselves to a particular workspace or time to complete required trainings.