Professional development short courses are best to learn new skills on the job

This is the best way workers can learn the skills they need to rise up the corporate ladder.

BITE-SIZED training, lasting as little as just 60 seconds, is being embraced by workers looking to continue their climb up the career ladder after a Covid-induced pause.

Experts say full-day workplace training is all but dead following the pandemic, with a move to more efficient professional development sessions that last no more than three hours at a time.

Culture Amp people science director Chloe Hamman says it typically is not a good way to learn anyway.

“To sit in a classroom for the day is one of the least effective ways of doing (workplace training),’’ she says.

“It’s far more effective to spend a couple of hours – maybe an hour, maybe two – where you do some quite intense learning and then you have the opportunity to put that into practise.’’

Merylee Crockett says workers can learn the skills the need when they need it by doing short online courses.

A Culture Amp survey shows more than two in five workers are thinking of leaving their current job, with lack of development opportunities and career growth most likely to blame.

Hamman says with most workplace training put on hold last year, staff and employers are now keen to make up for lost time.

“Companies were not spending on learning and development because they were just really trying to deal with Covid,” she says.

“It was very much about survival and bunkering down to get through the year.

“So we had a year where we didn’t make as much progress in our (professional) growth and careers as we expected – and now we are really hungry (to rectify) that.’’

Corporate training platform EdApp chief executive Darren Winterford says microlearning is fast becoming the preferred method of workplace training.

He says the training, which relies on short bursts of learning done frequently, overcomes the forgetting curve, a mathematical concept that shows people forget 90 per cent of what they learned within the first month, unless it is reinforced.

“We can set up small, 60-second quizzes that can be sent out in a push notification on your mobile phone,’’ Winterford says.

“So, for a period of eight weeks, you can receive tiny, 60-second trainings that, through repetition, ensures that what you are learning sticks.’’

He says microlearning can be used in all industries, for teaching even complex theories or subject matter.

Merylee Crockett, director of people and culture at IT services company Interactive, is among those to embrace the move to shorter, online learning.

Within her own workplace, Crockett says almost a third of employees have gained certifications in cyber security and cloud computing in the past year, which she credits to the more convenient style of learning.

“Now, we might sit and learn for five minutes, or for 30 minutes, as opposed to a whole day,’’ she says.

“We are able to consume little pieces of learning as and when it’s relevant to what we are doing.

“It’s much more effective and efficient.’’

Originally published as Professional development short courses are best to learn new skills on the job