How to Deliver Better Employee Onboarding With Microlearning

Small employee onboarding improvements boost your bottom line in big ways

Effective onboarding programs help employees connect and contribute to new roles faster, setting them up for long-term engagement, productivity, and success. By contrast, poor onboarding experiences often end in early exits—costing companies both time and money.

Even small improvements to the onboarding process can lead to big payoffs for your team and business. Incorporating microlearning in your onboarding strategy is one example of a simple improvement that can deliver powerful results. 

Read on to discover three ways you can use microlearning to onboard employees faster and more effectively. Then, explore onboarding topics that work well in microlearning’s punchy, bite-sized format. 

How can microlearning improve the employee onboarding process?

Microlearning courses tend to be shorter, more focused, and less text-heavy compared to traditional onboarding materials like lengthy employee handbooks or slide decks. Use these distinct features to your advantage in the following onboarding-specific ways. 

Make onboarding digestible and avoid new hire overload

Starting a new job—and all the new information that comes with it—can feel like drinking from a firehose. With so much to take in—policies, processes, people—it’s no wonder that employees feel overwhelmed. Microlearning combats information overload by breaking onboarding into manageable, bite-sized pieces. Here are two tips to get started:

• Chunk the onboarding process into small steps. Deliver focused microlearning courses on one topic at a time rather than overwhelming new hires with lengthy presentations or manuals.
• Space out onboarding materials. Spread training over the first 30, 60, or 90 days to allow employees to absorb and apply information gradually, improving knowledge retention and reducing stress.

Make it easier for new employees to find and reference onboarding resources 

New hires won’t remember everything they hear in the first few days—and that’s OK. What’s important is giving them easy access to the information they need, when they need it. 

Create digital, quick-reference microlearning modules so employees can search for FAQs, workflows, or company policies without digging through lengthy documents. With Articulate 360 e-learning authoring tools, you can also automatically optimize microlearning for any mobile device, enabling new hires to access onboarding resources anytime, anywhere.

Create more personalized onboarding experiences 

Microlearning courses are quicker to create, making it easier to tailor onboarding content for specific roles, teams, or individuals. You might enroll everyone in a “core” onboarding program, for example, and then follow up with short, customized microlearning courses. 

Here are a few ideas on how to personalize onboarding with microlearning:

• Customize content for different roles. Sales reps may need product training, while engineers need technical setup guides. Microlearning lets you create role- or team-specific modules that address these needs.
• Add a personal touch. Want to help new hires build connections and develop a sense of belonging? Build a microlearning template for managers and teammates to share video welcome messages, personal introductions, and highlights of the new hire’s role.
• Crossboard employees making internal moves: Support employee upskilling or internal mobility programs by creating microlearning modules covering their new responsibilities, team dynamics, or updated processes. 

4 employee onboarding topics perfect for microlearning formats

Not every onboarding topic can or should be covered by a 10-minute microlearning module. As always, the best training method depends on the content. So, it’s important to incorporate microlearning strategically with topics that make sense. Here are just four of the many potential topics ideal for a microlearning format. 

1. Pre-boarding essentials

Prepare new hires before day one with microlearning modules on quick-hitting topics such as:

• Pre-hire tasks. Provide clear instructions for completing employment verification, paperwork, and other necessary tasks.
• Onboarding readiness: Outline what to bring, how to dress, and where to go. For remote employees, include details on how to set up digital tools, create accounts, and access virtual meeting links.
• Meet-the-team introductions: Share short videos or profiles of key team members to familiarize new employees with faces and names.
• Company culture information: Get employees connected to the company early by providing information about the company’s mission, vision, values, and structure. 

2. First-week checklists

Guide new hires through their first-week tasks, such as setting up accounts, attending orientation meetings, or completing job-specific training. 

3. Employee benefits overview 

Benefits packages can be complex and overwhelming. Short, focused microlearning courses can help explain and gather key benefit options in one place. For example, people leaders might add links, infographics, or videos summarizing health insurance plans, retirement contributions, vacation policies, and other employee perks. 

4. New tools and technology training

Microlearning courses can help employees get up to speed on essential tools like CRMs or project management software. Include troubleshooting tips for common issues in quick, accessible guides. You might also add short video walkthroughs or screen recordings, clickable step-by-step interactions, or GIFs.

Make onboarding easier with microlearning

The bottom line? Building an effective onboarding process is easier with microlearning. The bite-sized format cuts down on information overload, increases employee engagement, and gives new hires quick and easy access to personalized, on-demand resources. Adding microlearning to your onboarding process can speed up ramp-up times and set your employees up for success from day one.

Want more tips to level up your onboarding? Don’t miss our post, How to Create Effective Employee Onboarding Training.