Microlearning Improves Compliance Training, So Put It To Work
We live in a fast-paced world where everyone, everywhere seems to be busy. The corporate scene is no different, as scarcity of time is often quoted as a hindrance for training employees. To add to that, training managers have to deal with the short attention span of modern learners. Employees across the globe struggle with the overload of information provided during training programs. Bombarding learners with everything they need to know in a comprehensive online training program is not a smart move. Thankfully, help is at hand in the form of microlearning, which makes it possible to deliver learning in small doses.
Policies and procedures are part of every organization. However, if your employees do not follow them, it’s not going to do your organization any good. Compliance training programs are mandatory in most organizations. However, one major hurdle organizations face with compliance training programs is lack of learner interest. Employees tend to find compliance training boring. To counter this challenge effectively, training managers can put microlearning to use. Read on to find out why you should leverage microlearning for compliance training.
1. Makes Compliance Training Engaging
Is it even possible to make compliance training programs engaging to learners? Though it seems like an uphill task, microlearning can be used to provide an engaging learning experience by incorporating strategies such as storytelling and gamification. You can find creative ways to make learning fun. It is also possible to add a dose of humor in the microlearning course and make it interesting to learners.
The essence of microlearning is delivering training in bite-sized chunks. Microlearning creates 50% more engagement. A survey by Software Advice[1] revealed that more than 50% of employees are more likely to use their company’s online learning tools if the learning content is broken up into shorter lessons. A lengthy compliance training course that is broken down into micro modules will certainly appeal to learners.
2. Reinforces Compliance Training
Most organizations make it mandatory for employees to go through an annual compliance training program. But how much information do they actually retain? Research shows that learners’ attention tends to dip after 10 minutes. The spaced repetition provided by microlearning is more effective than a long drawn out eLearning course. So, it’s time to bite the bullet and opt for bite-sized learning in the form of microlearning.
You can have different microlearning modules to cover each learning objective in the compliance training program. For example, if you have used a standard eLearning course to educate learners on conflict management, you could reinforce the training by delivering microlearning nuggets that cover specific parts of the information covered, such as a video, infographic, podcast and more.
For example, a compliance training program on conflict management designed for managers explains how to resolve conflicts at the workplace. Each strategy used to resolve conflicts can be reinforced through individual videos.
3. Improves Compliance Training ROI
There is no guarantee that learners will go through lengthy eLearning courses on a dry topic like compliance. The traditional read-through, click-next compliance courses might just end up being a waste of your efforts (in terms of time as well as money) if learners do not find them interesting.
Since microlearning involves the development of short nuggets of information, the cost involved is brought down, and so is the development time. The added benefit of microlearning is that content can be reused. For instance, if you are designing a compliance training program for a geographically dispersed workforce, the modules on general policies and procedures can be reused, while tweaking the content only in modules specific to different geographical locations. This certainly improves the return on investment (ROI) in compliance training programs.
4. Offers Compliance Training On the Go
It is true that sometimes long-form training modules are necessary to cover core issues, but they might increase the risk of training fatigue. There are organizations that follow the traditional method of giving employees a handbook to communicate policies and procedures. But how many employees actually read the handbook? Millennials at the workplace prefer to receive learning content on their mobiles. Microlearning certainly goes hand in glove with mobile learning.
Modern learners prefer learning through mobile devices, anytime, anywhere. And a topic like compliance would be better received if it is completed through short bursts of training. Microlearning supports a concept called ‘Bursts and Boosts’ where learners go through short bursts of training in the form of engaging videos and animations.
The best way to highlight the importance of compliance training in your organization is to focus on it the entire year, instead of rolling out training once a year. Any updates required for the existing compliance training program can be quickly rolled out as a microlearning module. With microlearning, you can ensure your employees have access to compliance training all year round.
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