I recently attended a popular conference for HR professionals in Boston, where many companies were represented, each trying to outshine the next with their booth designs and creative tchotchkes. There was a lot of “we’ll help reduce this!” and “we can increase that!” – you know, the typical show floor noise of overzealous marketing teams. Oh wait, that’s me!

One of the themes that stood out was video and its increasing use in corporate USA. Much ink has been spilled on the appeal of video, and its adoption as an effective learning medium, especially for Millennials.

A study by Cisco researched how millennials are adapting to the workplace, and the trend is clear — video will continue to play a prominent role in how this generation works. The data is compelling:

• 3 in 5 young executives say they will rely more heavily on business-class video during the next five to 10 years
• 87 percent believe video has a significant and positive impact on an organization, citing benefits ranging from enhancing the experience of telecommuters to saving money on travel costs and even attracting top talent
• 94 percent value video as a way to break down language barriers in the increasingly global marketplace
• 87 percent say they would choose to work for a video-enabled organization over a company that has not invested in video
  

We also see millennials citing “opportunity to learn and grow” as one extremely important criteria when considering a job.

And they know that learning opportunities, in large part, will be delivered via video and other micro-learning methods.

So, let’s focus on the concept of micro-learning for a moment.

Micro-learning is the delivery of learning in small 3-5 minute chunks. Video learning is on the rise because it supports micro-learning. The next generation workforce, and increasingly all generations, want to learn fast! They want on-demand video tutorials showing how to accomplish the task at hand asap. As micro-learning continues to grow in popularity, individual learners can leverage video as an quick and effective way to share ideas, skills and knowledge. This is especially critical for organizations with a heavy millennial workforce or one looking to attract them.

Some of today’s most innovative companies are harnessing the power of micro-learning by empowering employees to create learning content based on their skillsets, knowledge-bases and interests. With video and collaborative technologies in the palm of their hands (literally), employees can tap into resident gurus, or become one themselves, to create and share bursts of learning. For instance, a national fitness franchise (and PeopleFluent customer) encourages their gym employees to create and share “flash videos” across their network of club locations.

Another customer example is an automotive manufacturer that uses video as an integral part of their service department and mechanic training. Hands-on videos show mechanics exactly how to perform certain service updates as well as part assemblies. Each automotive part is tagged with an ID referencing a time-code or chapter in a matching video. This allows the service professionals to quickly reference a video when needed to make a necessary service update. This video approach has also been instrumental in capturing the knowledge of their experts, some of who are retiring as part of the baby boomer population.

Aragon Research recently published its Globe™ for Corporate Learning, 2019: The Shift to Learning Journeys, which focuses on providers delivering a “modern experience” rich in knowledge sharing, just in time learning, and compliance-related training.

In the report, PeopleFluent’s use of video was once again recognized as a leader in the market.

PeopleFluent’s Mirror™ Suite, a highly-configurable workspace, is a true “next-generation learning platform.”

As Aragon states, organizations continue to focus on engaging and cultivating talent (for) employee retention and continuous improvement strategies. Video and mobile are being leveraged to provide ‘in-the-moment’ coaching, and “PeopleFluent’s learning platform enables employers to leverage its advanced capabilities in a way that is both intuitive and unobtrusive.”

Video and micro-learning programs are obviously a big departure from traditional classroom learning, ushering in a new standard of learning solutions required for 21st century leaders. To keep abreast and competitive, employers should embrace these continuous learning advancements including video, social collaboration, and micro-learning.