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Professional development and training can yield huge benefits, which is one reason why 94 percent of employees want to work at companies that offer such opportunities.¹ However, a heavy workload may discourage the development of new skills: when employees feel they have to complete projects first, training can take a back seat. Microlearning is one option that can help workers (and organizations) strike a balance between learning and work obligations. Because it helps employers offer more training in less time, microlearning can provide the kind of development employees want without cutting into their work time and without requiring companies to invest in pricy corporate training sessions.

What Is Microlearning?

A prolonged in-person training can use hands-on practice and live interaction to keep employees engaged, but the same training presented online as a video conference may leave employees falling asleep at their computers. Microlearning addresses both the engagement problem and scheduling issue.

At its core, microlearning is training that’s broken into small, bite-sized pieces and usually delivered via digital learning platforms. Unlike many online learning programs, which typically have long videos or activities designed to be completed in one sitting, microlearning uses brief, more frequent interactions called modules to promote regular learning and keep employees engaged. Through these small modules, someone can learn a skill or system in weeks or even days.

The most effective microlearning courses accommodate many learning styles, present information in ways that best suit their subjects, and use different teaching styles to keep employees engaged and interested (and may make certain topics easier to learn). For example, one course might include a video module, a reading module, and an interactive module. Some topics are best thought through hands-on learning, whereas others may require students to watch videos.

Better Retention and New Leaders

Microlearning is helpful for teaching soft skills (such as communication and creative thinking) that can prepare employees for promotions as well as hard skills (such as coding and analytics) that can make employees more versatile. By offering training for both types of skills, companies can help their employees become not only more well-rounded but also happier and therefore more likely to stay with their organizations for the long term.

One of the top costs for small businesses is high turnover, which leads to increased costs for recruitment and training. Rather than spend months looking for the perfect employees, companies can better use their resources to train current employees and instead create the perfect employees!

Microlearning opportunities can even help companies create new leaders. Lessons in leadership training are more likely to stick when delivered via short videos and activities, especially when those sessions include actionable lessons.

High ROI

Microlearning offers the benefits of traditional training programs without the big price tag. Because microlearning offers a higher return on investment than “traditional” training, it’s often easier to get management’s buy-in for it.

Instead of building bulky online courses, companies can create microlearning modules when (and how) they are needed. Because modules don’t need to be produced all at once, employees can start their training as soon as the first piece is available. Then trainers can develop future modules based on how employees respond to the first ones.

Another financial benefit of microlearning is that those programs often have a higher completion rate than other digital learning programs. In just a few minutes a day, team members can learn something new!

How to Implement Microlearning

On-the-job support is a good way to help employees learn hard skills incrementally. This approach is especially effective when training takes places right when it’s needed. For example, when an employee clicks on a particular feature, a training module or brief tutorial could automatically appear and help the employee learn a new skill right when they need it.

In addition to “in the moment” training, microlearning can also take place whenever employees prefer. Some employees learn best in the morning, whereas others like to take a midday break to practice a new skill. Short modules keep employees engaged and let them learn at their own pace so they can absorb the material in the ways that work best for them.

Ideal for Remote Workers

Because online learning offers many of the benefits of in-person training without the logistical headaches, it is quickly becoming the go-to way to offer employee training. Microlearning can offer to remote workers training opportunities that in the past have usually been available only to onsite employees. It also makes it easier to deliver training to offsite workers who, because they aren’t supervised directly, may procrastinate on required training or struggle to manage their time effectively to allow for long training sessions.

For example, mandatory compliance trainings may feel more achievable to employees when it’s presented in small pieces. Supervisors can more easily enforce completion of this training by remote employees when it’s delivered via microlearning, thus reducing the amount of time wasted by sending out multiple “please complete your training” reminders.

Microlearning Can Transform Employees and Businesses

Because many employees want to work for companies that value learning, companies that invest in their employees’ training and development can have an easier time hiring and retaining great talent. Plus, more leadership training can help organizations promote their top performers to effective managers. Microlearning is a modern, cost-effective, and versatile training option that can help employees spend less time troubleshooting and enables companies to stay ahead of the curve.