Professional development and training are a huge benefit for both employees and the small businesses they work for. In fact, LinkedIn’s 2019 Workplace Learning Report showed that 94% of employees want to work at a company that helps them learn new skills.
Every employee can benefit from regular training. However, a heavy workload may leave employees discouraged from developing new skills. When employees feel they have to complete projects first, training can take a back seat.
That’s where microlearning comes in!
Microlearning helps employers offer more training in less time. The right microlearning programs let your workforce grow without pricy corporate training sessions.
But how can short training programs help your business? Keep reading to see how microlearning helps your employees and your business’s bottom line.
What is Microlearning?
At its core, microlearning is training that’s broken into short, bite-sized activities.
Most microlearning programs are eLearning, or education available through a digital learning platform. Many online learning programs have long videos or activities designed for one sitting. Instead, microlearning uses smaller pieces of content more often.
On average, an employee’s attention span lasts for about 20 minutes of training. Short courses promote regular learning and keep your employees engaged. With microlearning, you can create small modules that teach a skill or system in days or weeks.
The most engaging microlearning courses accommodate many learning styles. That means you may have a video module, a reading module, and an interactive module in the same course. Using different teaching styles can keep employees engaged and interested in the material.
Some topics need hands-on learning, while others may call for watching a video. Microlearning can help you present information in ways that best teach the material. Different teaching techniques may make certain topics easier to learn.
Teach New Skills in Less Time
Regular employee education spells success for your business. Empowering your employees to learn new skills can also improve retention rates. It can even help you create new leaders in-house!
Microlearning is helpful for teaching both technical skills and soft skills. Soft skills, like communication and creative thinking, can prepare employees for promotions. Hard skills, like coding and analytics, help employees become more versatile.
With microlearning, you can offer more diverse training topics for much less money. Providing training for both hard and soft skills leads to well-rounded, happy employees.
Giving leadership training through short videos and activities helps lessons stick. Actionable lessons are especially useful for managerial training. Soft skills training can also offer an enjoyable break in an employee’s day.
On-the-job support is a good way to help employees learn hard skills bit by bit. Small tutorials can help employees learn and apply their new knowledge right away. Microtrainings help your employees spend less time troubleshooting and more time learning.
Some employees learn best in the morning, while others like to take a midday break to practice a new skill. Short modules let employees learn at their own pace so they absorb the material in a way that works best for them. Small chunks of information keep employees engaged in the learning process.
Microlearning Offers High ROI
Did you know that microlearning can help save you money too?
One of the top costs for small businesses is high turnover. This leads to higher training and recruiting costs. Don’t spend months looking for the perfect employee; train your current employees instead!
Microlearning offers the benefits of traditional training programs without the big price tag. It’s often easier to receive buy-in for microlearning since it offers a higher ROI.
Instead of building bulky online courses, microlearning modules are created as needed. In fact, microlearning can decrease training development costs by up to 50%. Since modules don’t need to be made all at once, you get training to employees quickly and see how they respond.
Microlearning programs often have a higher completion rate than other eLearning programs. In just a few minutes a day, your team members can learn something new! This is especially true if training is presented right when it’s needed.
One example is using microlearning to teach employees how to use new software. You can trigger a training module to pop up when an employee clicks a particular feature. This short training session helps your employee learn a new skill right when they need it.
We promise that there are better ways to spend your training budget than what you’ve been doing. Microlearning is a cost-effective way to stay ahead of the curve.
Online Courses Are Best for Remote Workers
Online learning is quickly becoming the go-to way to offer employee training. eLearning offers all the benefits of in-person training without the logistical headaches.
In-person training can keep employees engaged and foster hands-on practice. However, the same training over video conference may leave your team falling asleep at their computers.
If your remote workers are looking at their to-do lists, they may not have time for a training session. Instead, they may procrastinate until the due date or skip training altogether. This is especially true if the employee is working off-site.
Some types of trainings can be better absorbed through microlearning. For example, mandatory compliance trainings may feel more approachable in small pieces.
Often, compliance training is presented in-person since it is so crucial. However, remote workers may put off the training if it’s presented as a long online course. That leads to wasted time sending out reminders to complete training.
Employees are more likely to complete required trainings in digestible bits. Short online trainings can help your team stay up to date on regulations from home in minutes a day.
Microcourses Can Transform How Your Employees Learn
Many employees want to work for a company that values learning. Investing in your employees can make hiring and retaining great talent easier. Plus, more leadership training can help you promote top performers to effective managers.
Providing effective training creates a great working environment and company culture. Microlearning is a modern training option that helps employees learn for a fraction of the price of other training programs.
Ready to get started? We have over 2,600 microlearning courses for you to try! Sign up for our free 15-day trial today to see how microlearning can work for you.