Corporate L&D divisions are facing new challenges every day. From managing content consistency to measuring the effectiveness and impact of employee training - there’s no doubt that the digital revolution has changed the landscape of professional development forever.
But while organizations continue to hold their business practices under the microscope in the name of digital transformation, the issue of attracting, training, and retaining the millennial workforce becomes more important than ever.
The Millennial Conundrum
As more and more millennials eschew traditional employment in favor of the gig economy, or freelance work, employers and organizations everywhere become increasingly concerned about recruitment, onboarding, and retention.
Millennials, who are projected to make up 75% of the total workforce by 2025, are reinventing the rules for employee engagement and professional development. These digital natives, who grew up alongside the tech giants of today, have entered the workforce with a new set of expectations when it comes to workplace engagement, interactivity, and learning.
As companies continue to dedicate more and more resources toward learning and development, it’s important to make sure that the tools, systems, and learning practices in place are designed to reflect the expectations and learning styles of the millennial user and ideally provide the anticipated outcomes.
How can L&D professionals across every industry reinvent the ways in which they engage with millennial employees, and what does it mean to meet the needs of the more tech-savvy, on-demand learner?
Millennials and Microlearning
Microlearning, or the process of learning in short, bite-sized lessons that gradually build skills over time, is taking the corporate learning world by storm and for good reason. This pedagogical approach favors learning in short bursts over all-day PD marathons, and is shown to not only reduce learners’ overall cognitive load, but also empower learning outside the of the corporate classroom as well.
With workforce demands increasing and employees finding it harder than ever to set aside time to focus on career development, employers who encourage professional development by way of microlearning increase the probability of employee engagement by virtue of its simplicity alone. When employees are able to fit in short bursts of PD time between the non-stop barrage of emails, team meetings, and phone calls, they are more likely to make it a priority.
Make It Flexible & Accessible
It’s no secret that diversity and flexibility are two cornerstones of the millennial-friendly workplace, and L&D professionals who apply the same mindset to their learning environments increase the likelihood of keeping millennial learners engaged and on-task. And yet, while the modern-day learner expects a multi-platform experience, many organizations are still stuck in the days of dusty binders and archaic intranet systems.
Mobile learning strategies are no longer a nice-to-have for L&D organizations, they’re a must-have. Millennial employees expect to have their content available on-the-go, and this user-centered approach makes learning opportunities more accessible and convenient for their mobile, busy lifestyles.
But that doesn’t mean that content creators need to triple their efforts and create content for every possible device type. By adopting a digital-first workflow, L&D teams have the ability to design once and deploy everywhere. This means that teams can take the focus away from the details of content consistency and mobile development, and get back to creating meaningful learning experiences that lend to the development of 21st century workplace skills.
Interactivity is Key
Millennials prefer to learn and communicate through multimedia, which isn’t surprising given that they acted as the original guinea pigs for concepts like the flipped classroom and modern-day blended learning strategies.
In fact, the preferred learning and communication style for the millennial cohort is through multimedia, which puts an added pressure on course creators to make learning not just informative but also innovative and user-friendly.
L&D professionals should look to implement strategies and tools that encourage the creation, curation, and combination of a variety of media types (think videos, graphics, audio, and more) in one responsive digital experience. By providing learners with access to multiple ways of understanding the intended learning object, trainers not only increase employee engagement, but also maximize opportunities for enriched learning.
Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle (Your Content)
With the right LMS in place, trainers can get back to focusing on what’s really important when it comes to corporate training - employee growth and success. That’s why having access to searchable, stackable, and groupable content provides an advantage to organizations looking to create customized learning paths for every employee - not just the millennials.
The right LMS not only acts as a central hub for all organizational L&D content, it can also increase efficiency among content teams, increase ROI, and empower trainers, content creators, and millennials alike with the tools they need to adjust to the changing landscape of corporate learning, and the needs of the digital economy.
Looking for more ways to keep your content as agile as the 21st century workplace? Book a free demo of MyEcontentFactory today to learn more!
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