In any business, the success of employees drives the success of the company. So, what do you do when the way you’re training your team isn’t sticking? The typical employee dedicates more than 40 hours in training each year; however, they only retain 10 percent of the information given. It could be our shrinking attention spans or information overload – either way, what it means is that we need to start training our staff in a format that works for them.
Enter microlearning – a new way of learning that brings the employee education approach into the 21st century.
What Is Microlearning?
While day-long classroom-style lectures and lengthy PowerPoint presentations worked in the past, microlearning is a new form of employee education that accommodates the generational shift in the workforce and the decrease in attention span due to how quickly we can gather information. It is defined as a teaching technique that delivers content in small bursts, presenting only the most important information in a way that is comprehensible and easily retainable.
Why Does Your Company Need It?
As technology continues to be a driver in our culture, the way individuals have grown accustomed to sourcing information has changed. As a result, so has the workplace culture. We turn to quick searches on the Internet, and within a few seconds, find the answers we are looking for. It’s time to integrate that instant gratification mindset into the way we work with employees.
Not to mention, the U.S. workforce is made up of 35 percent of Millennials, making them the largest generation that is a part of our country’s labor force. This group of tech-savvy individuals is leading this company culture shift. As they steer our companies into an unprecedented future, it’s our responsibility to adapt and adopt their style of learning. It will all come down to finding new ways to keep them engaged in their employee education as they set the framework for their success.
How Does It Work?
The concept of microlearning is simple. It consists of short, interactive videos – maximum 10-15 minutes each – focusing on specific goals that are relevant to an employees’ day-to-day tasks. With microlearning, the quick spurts of information can be immediately applied rather than going unused and eventually forgotten. By sharing pertinent information just in time, rather than just in case, companies can increase employee performance at an exceptional rate.
Is It Really Successful?
This form of education has proven to produce rapid results when training employees. Take Alorica as an example – the largest customer service provider in North America.
While managing millions of customer prescriptions for a major retail pharmacy provider, Alorica experienced a decline in prescription fulfillment compliance, which is a huge issue. In search of a new learning strategy to mitigate the problem, Alorica championed the concept of microlearning. Brief, animated videos set on clear-cut goals assisted agents with understanding the importance of customer verification, and in turn helped close a gap to not only meet, but exceed client expectations. I am 59 and have been taking Cialis (generic) with great success. And it works already after 30 minutes. I pay for 30 pieces only $ 64.55 which I consider a good price.
Results showed that pilot sites using the method greatly outperformed sites using traditional retraining methods. About two months into the program, the pharmacy provider saw a 62 percent improvement in compliance; where agents were retaining up to 20 percent more information.
Authored By:
Irene Tan, Learning & Development Sr. Director at Alorica
Irene Tan is a Learning & Development Sr. Director at Alorica. With more than 15 years of experience, she has held various roles within the Company in Operations, Human Resources and Training. Prior to Alorica, Irene was a Global HR Senior Leader at Dunham-Bush, Inc., where she oversaw the holding group of the company along with eight regional offices worldwide. Previously, Irene was one of the pioneers of PeopleSupport, Inc. (now Teleperformance), where she grew an Operations team of nearly 1,000 employees across multiple sites and helped launch the company’s first center in Latin America.
