The level of skill and knowledge of a company's workforce directly correlates to a business’ productivity. In order to operate more effectively and remain competitive, companies will need to embrace technologically enabled training solutions.
Those reluctant dragging their feet to implement change will lose their best employees to companies that prioritize personal development. Lack of opportunities for growth and development are the number one reason employees quit, ahead of even financial compensation.
→ Download Now: Revitalize your Learning & Development Strategy for 2021 [Free Workbook]
Yet, learning can seem a luxury in our fast-paced world and in the context of pressing daily tasks and responsibilities - the average employee has just 24 minutes weekly to dedicate to upskilling themselves.
How do we resolve the desire and need to keep our workforce up-to-date while keeping them motivated and engaged in their actual day-to-day work?
In mobile learning lies a solution. One that is optimized to meet modern learners’ needs - little time to learn but desire for ongoing growth and development. Not convinced? Read on for 6 important statistics that highlight the case for, and power of, mobile learning…
1. 80% of the world's population use smartphones
According to research conducted by Google, 80% of the world's population use smartphones. The study also found that more people are likely to solely use a smartphone (27%) than solely use a computer (14%).
With millennials – who make up a sizeable chunk of the global workforce - the statistics shoot up. Nearly all millennials (97%) own and use mobile phones, and 90% of this demographic always have their phone nearby.
The smartphone brought accessibility to an infinite pool of information. This in turn has shaped the way people expect to receive information professionally - it needs to be tailored, relevant, accessible and concise.
A testament to the dominance of the smartphone is the fact that 59.9% of people prefer the vertical orientation that smartphones provide when learning, compared to learning via horizontal screens.
It follows then that the easiest, and most impactful, way to reach modern learners is via a portable device they carry everywhere they go, rather than a machine tied to a single location, that they may have to travel to, or boot up, to access.
2. 91% of time spent on smartphones is spent on apps
It is no secret that it is challenging to keep millennials engaged - they are the least engaged generation, falling behind their predecessors by at least 4%. However, smartphones and mobile devices signify an opportunity through which to get your role-related knowledge to land and hit with millennials.
Millennials grew up during the technological boom, and are accustomed to using technology in their leisure time. Hence, it is much easier to get - and hold - their attention to participate in active learning when you mirror the design and experiences they associate with their favorite apps - think swiping, scrolling and tapping.
The features built-in to smartphones - notifications, touchscreens - make it easy to present training and learning resources in a way that aligns with popular apps, and is therefore cognitively tied to enjoyment, making learners more likely to autonomously and repeatedly engage with it.
When you bring learning to these devices, you maximize engagement with learning. This makes them perfect for the continual training of your people, and an increasingly millennial and Gen Z skewed global workforce, with shortened attention spans and a penchant for mobile technologies.
Modern, mobile-first remote training tools like eduMe echo the seamless experience of users on apps like Instagram with features that mimic popular formats like stories.
3. We check our phones an average of 221 times per day
According to Techmark, an average smartphone user checks their mobile device 221 times and touches it over 2,000 times every single day. This means visibility of your training is maximized on mobile devices as you meet learners where they are already naturally (and enthusiastically) spending time.
By reaching them where they expect to be reached, you reduce the friction otherwise encountered when navigating convoluted company intranets and hitting obstacles with forgotten log-ins and passwords. The level of accessibility mobile phones provide can scarcely be replicated by any other medium. Our constant proximity to our devices facilitates easier, more productive learning and training.
Regardless of the time or the place, whether in transit on a train, or first thing in the morning before tackling a new day’s work, employees can easily access training materials when they need to, or when you want them to. This normalizes ongoing training, making it as much a part of someone’s routine as checking the weather app when they wake up.
4. 30% of smartphone owners already use smartphones for on-the-go learning
Mobile learning is a huge opportunity waiting to be seized. Most smartphone users already use their smartphone to learn at their point of need. Consider your recent history - how many of your queries were questions?
Google aside, half of app users utilize apps for educational purposes or to conduct research.
Unknowingly, smartphone users are participating in informal learning day in, day out. This signifies a chance for companies to capitalize on the huge pre-existing appetite and turn the ‘casual learning’ people are already engaging in into a structured, anticipated routine.
5. Mobile learning improves productivity by 43%
Compared to users of other devices, mobile learners experienced a greater uptick in productivity. This is unsurprising - mobile learning typically leverages modern delivery mechanisms like microlearning, where training is shared in concise, 2-5 minute bursts. As a result, mobile learners complete courses 45% faster than their desktop counterparts.
It also means employees no longer lose entire days to in-person instructor-led training (ILT) sessions or workshops, where little knowledge is retained. Instead, following a notification informing them new training is available, they fire up an app like eduMe and complete a lesson. Minutes later, they are free to continue with their daily tasks, making productivity loss negligible.
Beyond this, mobile learning turns learning into a self-sustaining cycle by tapping into employee motivation. A study found 70% of respondents were more motivated to learn when they completed courses on their smartphones.
Mobile learning often makes use of features like gamification, which promotes healthy competition via in-app badges and leaderboards. This causes dopamine release and triggers a desire to complete future learning independently of instruction.
6. Leaders reported a 55% improvement in their business after embracing mobile learning
After introducing mobile learning to their business, more than half of business leaders saw improved growth. The reason for this is twofold - mobile learning facilitates greater productivity, employees possess greater attachment to employers that invest in their learning and development.
As outlined earlier, as mobile learning is the accessible medium of training also means that your employees don't have to sacrifice their actual work responsibilities for learning as they can easily pick up learning at their convenience.
Churn is an existential threat - it costs the U.S. economy $1 trillion annually. Voluntary churn has risen year-on-year. The number one cause of it? Lack of growth and development opportunities.
You get a happy workforce, motivated and committed to learning and growth - it’s a win-win for all parties involved.
In conclusion…
With the increase in both the number of smartphone users globally and time they are spending on mobile daily, mobile learning will only gain more ground. Any company that does not move fast enough in terms of this trend, which heralds a more efficient way to operate, will find itself outflanked by the opposition. In the coming years, CEOs and HR Departments and L&D Managers will need to make a unified effort to double down on training and developing for their workforce via mobile.
This is paramount in the competitive landscape of the future of work - when people have access to the information they need to succeed at their fingertips, you empower their success. And when they are successful, you are too.
eduMe is a tool that helps you inform, engage and train your workforce with a user friendly, responsive interface and gamified learning experience that delivers information in bite-sized chunks, creating a highly engaging, accessible and easy to navigate learning experience for the modern employee.
Are you ready to take the first step in investing in your workforce’s success? Let us give you a free personal tour of eduMe. Drop your details in here 👇
