How Microlearning Gets Employees Addicted To Learning

The primary problem faced by corporate organizations that use eLearning as an employee development method is that it fails to engage employees.

When employees struggle to engage with eLearning, they fail to learn new skills, making corporate organizations think of learning and development (L&D) as a waste of time. However, microlearning strategy has had unexpected and positive results in engaging employees. Organizations which have implemented effective microlearning in their L&D programs say that not only has microlearning been able to keep the employees engaged, it has made them addicted to learning. In other words, their employees cannot help but check their phones every once in a while for a new microlearning course on their learning management system (LMS). Organizations that have been using microlearning as an employee development and training method include giants like Walmart, InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG), Bloomingdale’s, Magellan Health, Berkshire Hathaway Media Group and a number of others. So what gives microlearning the power to get learner’s hooked? In this article, we will shed light on exactly that.

It Gives Them Freedom

Freedom is one of the most important aspects and abilities of individuals and their personal and professional lives. It is no secret that employees are time-crunched during their office hours and have a number of tasks at hand at any given time. With more tasks queued to be done after the ones at hand, asking employees to squeeze in an hour for learning may result in decreased motivation to work. However, this can become a benefit rather than a problem as 5-minute microlearning courses enable employees to complete their training whenever and wherever they please. One of the beneficial features provided by microlearning modules is that they can be accessed by learners via their smartphones at anytime. After realising the benefits of microlearning modules, training becomes appealing to learners.

It Holds Their Attention

Microlearning condenses learning into 5 minutes (sometimes less) using strategies such as interactivities, story-telling, scenarios, gamification and videos, all of which were created for the sole purpose of keeping learners stuck to their screens. Because the microlearning sessions are short, they leave learners satisfied, yet wanting more. This provides the perfect recipe for learners’ addiction to training. However, the content of a microlearning course determines its success. This refers to the strategies used to present that content and its ability to hold the learner’s attention. Make sure you create addictive content and pair it with the strategies mentioned above to truly engage your learners.

It Fits Into Their Agile Work Environment

Corporate organizations are inevitably fast-moving environments. Technology has transformed communication into a lightning-fast medium, while reducing the time it takes to complete operations and processes. This means that employees are required to be constantly on-the-move. Because microlearning fits seamlessly into this agile work environment, employees do not feel like they are “wasting” time in the office taking eLearning courses when that time could be used to complete work-related tasks. This makes microlearning habit-forming, as employees fall into a routine-like habit of taking microlearning courses once they have completed their duties for the day, or when they take a break from work.

It Has A Surprise Element

Do you know why you’re tempted to check your Facebook every once in a while? It is the surprise element of finding something new, whether it is a message from a friend, a notification or simply new content on your newsfeed. Effectively built microlearning programs can offer that to learners too, by frequently posting fresh content in their LMS that learners can access. It does not have to be a microlearning module, instead, it can be anything picked off the internet and curated to help learners learn something about a relevant subject, like videos. While learners will continue coming back to their LMS frequently for something new, organizations must maintain the responsibility of providing them with it!

Once an eLearning designer has understood the psychology behind addiction and found each learner’s “drug” of choice, i.e. what keeps them engaged, it is easy to create an addictive microlearning program that engages learners. This is both beneficial for employees’ personal and professional lives, as well as the growth and progress of their organization.

If you would like to learn more about how to build the most effective employee training strategy!

If you’d like to know more about how SC Training (formerly EdApp)’s mobile learning platform can help your internal training practices, get in touch at enquiries@edapp.com. You can also try SC Training (formerly EdApp)’s Mobile LMS and authoring tool for free by signing up here.

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