Think of the last time you went through new hire training. Even the most experienced professionals get overwhelmed with all there is to learn: company-specific policies and procedures, who to go to for what…and of course, trying to get a handle on a slew of information being thrown at you while you get up to speed on the intricacies of your new role.
Historic onboarding processes are failing us for a few reasons. Long classroom training sessions, self-guided reading and e-learnings etc. lead to information overload and can cause new hires to quickly feel discouraged and disengage. Much of the content being used is generic, outdated and not specific to the person’s role and skills. And finally, learning experiences are siloed and don’t focus on one of the most important aspects of onboarding: hands-on learning to get exposure to the company culture, meet new coworkers and home in on job-specific skills that will impact their performance.
Microlearning for new hire training is the solution to manage information overload, teach job-specific skills and foster an all-hands-on deck approach to onboarding for assimilation. And while many newer learning technologies claim to replace the LMS, microlearning is meant to be used in conjunction to enhance its capabilities.
What is microlearning and how does it promote new hire growth?
Scientifically proven microlearning tests and reinforces knowledge in just a few minutes a day, making employees better at what they do so they become active contributors of the business. Qstream customers consider microlearning critical to the success of the entire learning strategy, using it to reinforce the most important concepts from LMS courses, classroom training and more. By feeding new hires job-specific information in manageable chunks, they can focus on need-to-know skills to be successful when they start performing.
Microlearning simplifies new hire training programs
Delivering quick bits of information to new hires communicates the organization’s priorities and makes them feel confident they will succeed. Showing employees you care about their success, kick starts engagement and prevents early turnover, which can cost an organization upwards of $5K. Microlearning leaderboards helps new hires assess their progress and see how they stack up against their peers. Additionally, this style of learning caters to shorter attention spans and the desire to consume information quickly.
Microlearning focuses on job-specific skills to create personalized new hire training paths
One of the shortcomings of traditional onboarding is that it’s one size fits all. While certain information, such as company history and HR policies will be standardized, the rest of the material should focus be role- and skill set-based. To start, use microlearning to conduct unbiased assessments, allowing new hires to test out of certain areas they’ve mastered.
Baseline assessments for new hires lead to faster ramp-up time, allowing them to focus on acquiring the knowledge and skills needed to start contributing. All other information that is not required immediately can be learned at a manageable pace over time. Modern learning platforms function as a knowledge repository, where learners can quickly reference information in the flow of work as it’s needed.
Microlearning analytics allow learners themselves, managers and training teams to continually assess progress. Coaching new hires accordingly ensures a strong start and prevents them from making costly, discouraging mistakes.
Enabling new hires to build job-specific skills and implementing individualized coaching throughout new hire onboarding reduces the time to proficiency and promotes early success.
Microlearning fosters a collaborative onboarding experience for new hires
The top microlearning companies know the important role managers play in employee engagement and offer built-in frontline manager dashboards. These analytics pinpoint coaching opportunities, connecting managers and new hires early to build strong relationships.
Microlearning leaderboards help new hires get to know their coworkers and build camaraderie through friendly competition.
And finally, microlearning program performance data helps training teams refine their onboarding programs over time. Learners can also rate and review microlearning courses – alerting trainers to questions that might be confusing or need updated. The ability to provide feedback in this way gives new hires a sense that they are already making an impact and that their voice is valued.
How does microlearning enhance the learning ecosystem?
Microlearning instantly enhances your existing learning programs and technology. Platforms provide valuable onboarding program analytics that focus on proficiency, rather than completion rates, and can offer insight into the performance of holistic learning programs.
By integrating the learning ecosystem, organizations can automate the flow of data between tools such as microlearning back to the source of truth database, the LMS. Once centralized location for data makes it easier to measure success and make business decisions.
Microlearning integrations also improve the learning experience for new hires, who are required to interact with onboarding material in a variety of formats and channels. Connecting these systems facilitates a blended, more personalized experience and meets employees in their preferred tools, right in the flow of work.
For example, a new employee goes through an onboarding class. They are then auto enrolled in a microlearning challenge to reinforce the key concepts delivered and are notified of this challenge through Slack or MS Teams. The microlearning challenge acts as an assessment and analytics reveal an individual has struggled on one of the topics. This triggers an enrollment into an e-learning course for further learning on that topic. All of this is done in the background but creates a seamless learning journey for the end user.
Microlearning for new hire training drives better business outcomes
Better data and insights allow organizations to be more strategic with new hire training, creating individualized learning journeys that continuously develop employees and align with business KPIs. This gives training teams a seat at the table to help executives make business decisions related to people investments.
Microlearning is also scalable for the enterprise and provides consistent onboarding experiences that can easily be tailored to meet different groups’ needs as well as localized for global audiences.
But the real winner here is the learner. Microlearning offers fun, relevant and convenient training that equips new hires with the skills they need to see immediate success. And if onboarding sets the tone for each employee’s experience at your organization, why wouldn’t you take a closer look at microlearning?
Ready to take the next step? Schedule a call with one of our microlearning experts.
