The Microlearning Revolution: A Bite Sized Approach to Training

Microlearning, on the other hand,  breaks down dense topics into punchy, focused lessons that people can complete in minutes. This means that your team can absorb new knowledge or complete compliance learning swiftly, amongst their normal flow of work, and actually remember what they’ve learned.

What’s microlearning?

Back to basics. Microlearning is simply a method of delivering training in bite sized chunks. Each module is short and focused on a course, or one or two ideas or skills.

According to the Association for Talent Development (ATD), 

“ATD’s microlearning research report found that talent development professionals think that 13 minutes is the maximum amount of time something can last in order to be considered microlearning. Respondents also reported that the ideal length of a microlearning segment is 10 minutes, and that segments between two and five minutes were considered the most effective length for microlearning.”

Microlearning could involve a quick video, a brief course, mandatory compliance reading, a short quiz, or an infographic that explains a key point. For example, with ELMO’s LMS, you can build custom microlearning content that works for compliance, onboarding or skills development, all while tracking results alongside your other HR and people data.

Why it works

Microlearning works well because it fits the way people actually want to learn. Instead of forcing people to sit through long sessions, many prefer to be drip fed short, mobile delivered training that they can dip in and out of when they have time.

According to the LinkedIn Workplace Learning Report 2024, 49% of learning and development professionals say employees want training in small bursts throughout the year. Shorter and more focused lessons are usually much easier to remember and certainly more practical in most work environments.

This bite sized advantage also comes down to mobile readiness and availability, not just the ‘size’ of the training modules. In fact, according to The LinkedIn Workplace Learning Report 2023, 64% of learning and development leaders say their learners prefer training that is available when and where they need it.

This kind of delivery model isn’t just good for the learner, but also your organisation, as it won’t interrupt your people’s work days with unnecessarily long and disruptive training.

The importance of continual learning

In the HR industry we know that delivering continual learning and development is crucial, and most organisations have budgets to match these aspirations. 

In fact, according to our ELMO 2025 HR Industry Benchmark Report, HR Professionals tell us they expect to spend just over $2,000 per employee on training and development each year. 

To add to the growing importance of learning, our HRIB report also found that more than 50% of ANZ businesses plan to increase their training budgets for upskilling, cross-skilling and reskilling this year.

This kind of budgeting speaks directly to not only appetite, but to the importance of embracing modern bite sized approaches to make the most of any training or development opportunity.

It’s also no secret that continual training and career development are integral to not only maintaining a high performing and compliant team, but are also extremely useful in terms of engagement and employee retention.

Benefits for HR and the business

Microlearning doesn’t just make training more palatable and often more effective. It can also help you:

• Keep vital compliance training up to date
• Make learning part of everyday work schedules without undue interruption
• Reach remote and hybrid teams on any device
• Improve employee confidence and skills with quick refreshers

Best practices to get it right

Here are a few tips for a successful bite sized learning rollout:

• Keep each lesson focused on a clear singular outcome
• Make it mobile-friendly so it’s easily accessible
• Use quizzes and scenarios to keep people actively involved
• Space out topics to help with long-term memory
• Use your LMS or HR platform to track what’s working.

The bottom line

Microlearning is more than a trend. It helps HR and learning and development teams deliver practical training that people finish and remember, all without draining your budget or your learners’ time.