Millennials prefer microlearning

The millennial generation has shown a short attention span. They do not want to spend too long on a single task, so they are unlikely to devote more than a couple of minutes a day to a corporate training course.

Considering that millennials will make up 50% of the workforce by 2020, companies—and HR teams in particular—should recognize that microlearning is key.

Microlearning uses small learning moments to improve performance and development at work. It works for all employees, but as the first training method created by and for twenty-first-century learners, it is especially useful for millennials because:

• Millennials learn best in short chunks they can absorb quickly.
• Millennials respond better to animations, videos and other moving images, which are particularly useful for highlighting key points.
• Millennials grew up using mobile devices and expect to take everything with them, including their lessons.

Microlearning's similarity to everyday learning and content-consumption habits makes learners more receptive to training. Small doses of content have also been shown to be more efficient, achieving 20% greater retention than long-form material. This gives millennials an important workplace benefit: access to quality development opportunities, beyond pay, benefits or security.