Microlearning vs. Manipulation Building Better Behaviour Change Training

BuildEmpire’s Michael Wright thinks beyond the carrot and stick for motivating employees to learn.

The modern worker, to an L&D professional at least, has become an unruly beast. Look at it this way: Deloitte revealed that workers can dedicate just 1% of their workweek to learning. In a 40-hour week, that’s just 4.8 minutes per day.

That’s a tiny window of opportunity for L&D teams to get training front and centre.

And as of early 2025, 28% of Britons work remotely either full-time or part-time.

That means delivering training using a range of modalities to suit preference and locality, together with an increased reliance on technology.

But that’s not all. Learners are also plagued by distraction.

Being more connected than ever has come at a cost. It was found that 31% of workers are interrupted every fifteen minutes by digital notifications, often from work-related applications.

When L&D professionals are working with such limited time constraints, and faced with looming and large compliance targets, it’s no wonder that we resort to subversive tactics.

As Mark, Editor of Dirtyword, said when we pitched this article idea to him;

Compliance training will always be coercion. You’ll never subtly convince anybody that they want to learn about fire safety and the correct colour extinguisher.

And he’s right.

So where does the boundary between guiding employees towards productive behaviours and subtly coercing them into compliance lie? And what are some better ways to promote behavioural change?

Accept the evolution of learning from organisation-led to learner-led

Compliance training has traditionally been a top-down initiative; something mandated, scheduled, and delivered from above. And that’s unlikely to change.

But what can change is how we engage learners in the process.

Instead of simply enforcing compliance, we should be working to secure genuine buy-in. That starts with shifting the focus from what the organisation wants to what the learner needs. Compliance training shouldn’t exist in isolation; it should be woven into a broader learning strategy that delivers real value.

Here’s what that looks like in practice:

• Respecting learners’ time – Make content as concise as it needs to be while keeping it effective.

• Breaking up content thoughtfully – Not as a gimmick, but as a way to make learning digestible and meaningful.

• Encouraging learner-driven content – Give learners space to curate and even create their own training within an LMS.

• Fostering engagement – Provide opportunities for learners to connect, ask questions, and share insights with others.

When compliance training is designed with this in mind, it means it contributes to a broader learning culture and it shifts training from being just a requirement to an opportunity for growth. It can be tempting to chase engagement by turning every piece of training into microlearning or gamified content.

But staying true to your L&D goals means prioritising long-term impact over quick wins.

Embed learning within the flow of work

We already know that time is a major constraint for learners.

That’s why, as L&D professionals, we need to be getting smarter with how we implement training.

Traditionally, learning involved taking employees outside of their work environment to training sessions.

This not only disrupted productivity but also made it harder for employees to retain and apply what they learned.

A more effective approach is to embed learning directly into the flow of work.

Here’s how:

• Microlearning – Deliver short, focused sessions at the point of need, ensuring learners can immediately apply new skills.

• Smart learning nudges – Use in-platform prompts to encourage training, such as a reminder to complete product training within a CRM.

• Peer learning – Foster an organic learning culture where employees share knowledge and learn from one another.

• Learning-driven performance goals – Integrate training with performance management by setting goals that include specific learning milestones.

By embedding learning into employees’ daily workflows, training shifts from being a separate event to an ongoing, seamless part of their work.

Use technology to your advantage (but forget the fads)

Gamification is a trend in the learning space, and for good reason. Here at BuildEmpire, we use it in our own platform.

But it’s easy to lose sight of the bigger picture. If the focus shifts from “What will improve my learners’ knowledge?” to “What will get this training completed?”, you risk sacrificing depth for engagement.

Training should be meaningful, not just a box-ticking exercise.

Learning isn’t a game.

But, in the pursuit of better completion rates and engagement metrics, it’s tempting to overuse gamified elements in ways that don’t actually enhance knowledge retention.

Our advice? Use gamification and other behavioural design strategies as part of a broader learning approach:

• Layer learning experiences – Create a full course on a topic, then use microlearning to reinforce key concepts and test understanding.

• Leverage microlearning for timely impact – Microlearning works well as an immediate response to change. For example, launching a new policy? A short micro-course can build quick awareness, which can later be reinforced through deeper training.

• Use gamification strategically – Elements like points and rewards can spark engagement, but their real value comes in encouraging repetition and reinforcing retention.

• Make mobile learning purposeful – Training on the go is valuable, but don’t let it become a distraction. Utilise it for just-in-time support e.g. a learner struggling with a task should be able to quickly find a relevant answer on their phone.

The key takeaway? Technology should enhance learning, not replace it. Stay focused on knowledge, retention, and applicationnot just engagement for engagement’s sake.

Wrapping up

Our goal isn’t just to ensure employees complete training, it’s to help them learn, retain, and apply knowledge in a meaningful way.

But as we leverage microlearning and behaviour change techniques, we must also tread carefully. Where does guidance end and coercion begin? Are we empowering learners or just nudging them toward compliance?

Creating ethical L&D means prioritising learner autonomy, transparency, and real-world impact over surface-level engagement metrics.

It’s about designing training that respects employees’ time, fosters genuine skill development, and integrates seamlessly into their daily work.

By striking the right balance, we can create learning experiences that drive both compliance and meaningful behaviour change without compromising ethics.

Because at the end of the day, the most effective training isn’t just what gets completed, it’s also what makes a difference.

Michael Wright has over 15 years in the EdTech space. In his current role as COO at BuildEmpire, he oversees the development & test analyst teams, ensuring products solve customer problems in a resilient, cost-effective and scalable way. He is involved from sales through to go-live at all stages, including the requirements gathering, architecting of solutions and infrastructure build. Connect wth him here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael--wright