Introduction

This research study explores the value that online microlearning induction resources bring to the
transition experience of new employees in a not-for-profit organisation in Ireland. For the
purpose of this study, value is defined as the usefulness or importance of the resources in
enhancing a new employee’s sense of belonging to the organisation and enabling them to
adjust to their new role and responsibilities with confidence. The research has an overall aim to
inform practice and bring about change in the employee learning experience.

Adjusting to a new work role is a major point of change in a person’s life and the induction
training offered can impact on job satisfaction, work/family conflict, team cohesion and
organisational commitment (Bauer, Bodner, Erdogan, Truxillo & Tucker, 2007; Zahrly & Tosi,
1989) as well as the feeling of belonging to an organisation or company. The not-for-profit
organisation at the centre of this study recruits an average of 55 new employees every year.
Employees are offered formal, one-day, classroom-based induction training. This training is
essential to introduce employees to colleagues and offer “face-to-face opportunities for sharing”
(Hanshaw & Hanson, 2018, p.17). New employees are often in place for a substantial period of
time before they can avail of the training, however, as it is only run four times per year, with an
average wait time of seven weeks. Furthermore, there is insufficient time in the one-day training
to cover all of the required information. Additional learning materials and information are
supplied after the training in a 150-page employee handbook and on the organisation intranet,
but new employees often find it difficult to know where to access the information they need,
which can lead to gaps in knowledge and challenges in the transition process.

This study examines the transition of new employees to the organisation and explores the value
of introducing microlearning induction resources to supplement the existing face-to-face
induction training. It explores employees’ views of the existing training and how microlearning
resources can be designed, with a view to improving the experience.

This paper begins with a review of the literature on induction training, identifying some of the
most common issues around its design and delivery. It then considers how the attributes of
microlearning as identified in the literature could potentially address some of the challenges in
creating quality induction training. The paper then outlines the methodology and methods used
in the study, identifying ethical considerations and limitations, before presenting the findings and
discussing the implications of these.
LIT REVIEW HERE

Methodology

The move to new employment is experienced differently by each individual depending on a

whole host of personal attributes, prior experiences and context. Meaning, therefore, does not
exist in its own right; rather “it is constructed by human beings as they interact and engage in
interpretation” (O'Leary, 2004, p. 10) and these meanings are in a constant state of revision
(Bryman, 2016). As Gray states, “multiple, contradictory but equally valid accounts of the world
can exist” (2013, p. 20) and therefore a constructivist perspective was taken for this research
study. As “the researcher's intent is to make sense of (or interpret) the meanings others have
about the world” (Creswell, 2014, p. 8), an interpretivist approach was also taken for this study,
fully acknowledging the subjective nature of the researcher’s interpretation.

Action research was chosen as a methodology for this study for three primary reasons. First, the
purpose of action research is to “influence or change some aspect of whatever is the focus of
the research” (Robson, 2011, p. 188) and it is reflective in nature. As this study involved the
creation and implementation of microlearning resources with an objective to improve practice, it
fulfilled a practical need as well as exploring a research question. Second, action research
involves a “commitment to involving people in the diagnosis of and solutions to problems”
(Bryman, 2016, p. 387). This highly participative methodology is especially suited to the “study
of change processes in social contexts” (Blichfeldt & Andersen, 2006, p. 2). Participants were
involved at three stages of this research to conduct second person action research, which
engages with others “to inquire together into issues of mutual concern and to learn in action
together” (Donnelly, n.d., p. 2). The final reason for choosing this methodology is that it is a
cyclical process involving “a feedback loop in which initial findings generate possibilities for
change which are then implemented and evaluated as a prelude to further investigation”
(Denscombe 1998, p. 58).

Methods

The study consisted of two cycles of research, based on Norton’s stages of action research
(2001). At the beginning of the first cycle, 71 employees who had begun employment with the
organisation in the previous 18 months were invited to participate in an online questionnaire.
Forty-eight employees completed the questionnaire within the given two-week timeframe. The
questionnaire explored gaps in knowledge among new employees, preferred modes of online
learning and time available to new employees to partake in training. The data gathered was
used to determine suitable content and design for a set of microlearning induction resources
and a proposed framework for these was created .

This first research cycle ended with a focus group interview with volunteers from the same
cohort of participants. A focus group interview was chosen as it had the potential to generate
interesting findings as participants interacted and listened to the views of others, perhaps
reaching consensus on some points (Bell, 2005). A flexible, semi-structured approach was
taken to enable specific questions and themes to be explored but to leave scope to pursue
“interesting tangents that may develop” (O'Leary, 2004, p. 164). The aims of this focus group
were to explore employee’s experiences of transitioning to the organisation, examine what
participants felt would best support new employees to adjust to their new role with confidence
and illicit feedback on the proposed content and design for the microlearning resources.

After analysis of the data from the focus group, 21 micro-lessons, each with a single learning
objective, were designed and developed using the ADDIE model of instructional design. These
made up the first two of six proposed sections of a full online induction resource. The first ten
micro-lessons gave an overview of the organisation including its goals and values, how the
organisation started and how it currently operates. The next 11 lessons related to HR, IT and
finance practices that employees would need in their first few weeks in their new role. The
micro-lessons consisted of a range of media including videos, whiteboard animations,
screencasts, infographics, labelled graphics and flashcards, with each lesson containing
elements of interactivity such as drag and drop matching activities, sorting activities, multiple
choice questions and checklists.

For the second cycle of research, a pilot took place, with participants being given access to the
microlearning resources for a two-week period. Participants were then interviewed on a one-to-
one basis in semi-structured interviews with a view to evaluate the content, design and delivery
of the lessons and their potential value to new employees. “The interview process demands a
high level of engagement with others” (O'Leary, 2004, p. 162), which suited the collaborative
and in-depth nature of the study.

At each of the three stages of data collection outlined above, questions were piloted with
colleagues and amended based on feedback before being posed to participants.
Strategy for selection

Participants in both the focus group and one-to-one interviews were volunteers among the staff
who had begun employment in the previous 18 months. Only four employees volunteered to
take part in the focus group, which was a sufficient number but did not allow for selection,
however, there was one male participant and three females, which reflected the female-
dominant workforce, and there was one participant in a middle management position with the
remaining three participants employed at lower grades, which is a good reflection of the
hierarchical make-up of employees. Eight employees volunteered to take part in the pilot and
one-to-one interviews. Five of the eight were selected who offered a balance of genders, pay
grades, work roles, and time with the organisation, which ensured that various perspectives
were represented, adding to data reliability. Of the five participants in the pilot, two participants
had taken part in the focus group (interview participants x and x). Three had already undertaken
the face-to-face induction training while two had not. The three volunteers not selected for the
research study were given access to the microlearning resources as part of their own continuing
professional development.

Ethical considerations
Participation in all stages of this research study was voluntary and all responses were
anonymised. Participants were all adult professionals and the researcher was not in a position
of power over any participants. This is not a traditionally vulnerable group. However, there was
the potential for some vulnerability with new employees in terms of how confident there are in
the organisation and this was taken into consideration. As colleagues of the researcher,
participants may have initially been wary of making negative comments about either the existing
face-to-face training or the microlearning resources developed, and effort was made to create
an environment in the interviews that was conducive to open communication. Participants were
assured of the confidentiality of the information they were providing and the need for total
honesty and transparency.

Thematic analysis

The qualitative data collected across the data set suited the exploratory nature of this study.
Thematic analysis was chosen as the most appropriate and effective method of analysis as it
“involves discovering, interpreting and reporting patterns and clusters of meaning within the
data” (Ritchie, Lewis, Nicholls & Ormston, 2013, p. 271). Three discrete stages of analysis were
carried out on each set of data (Rapley, 2016). First, a period of familiarisation permitted note-
taking of initial thoughts and ideas on the content. Second, the data was categorised and coded
and the primary themes for each dataset identified. Third, focusing on the primary themes, the
information was further analysed and consolidated. Finally, all of the data from the literature,
questionnaire, focus group and one-to-one interviews was triangulated to draw out
comparisons, similarities and disparities to identify the main themes and explore concepts and
meanings.

As a colleague of participants and an employee of the organisation, the researcher’s own

subjectivity was inevitably part of the interviewing process. There was a potential also that the
interpretation and analysis of data might be impacted by the researcher’s own subjective
experience and bias as a once-new employee within the organisation. Efforts were made to
ensure that any impulses to “impose theories and concepts which may exhibit a poor fit with
participants’ perspectives” (Bryman, 1988, p. 66) were rejected. Methodical protocols were
developed in a manner that was consistent, logical, systematic, well-documented and designed
to account for research subjectives (O'Leary, 2004, p. 60).
References
Bauer, T. N., Bodner, T., Erdogan, B., Truxillo, D. M., & Tucker, J. S. (2007). Newcomer
adjustment during organizational socialization: a meta-analytic review of antecedents,
outcomes, and methods. Journal of applied psychology, 92(3), 707.
Bell, J. (2005). Doing Your Research Project: A guide for first-time researchers in social
science, education and health. UK: Open University Press.
Blichfeldt, B. S. & Andersen, J. R. (2006). Creating a wider audience for action research:
Learning from case-study research. Journal of Research Practice, 2(1), 2.
Bryman, A. (1988). Quantity and Quality in Social Research.
Bryman, A. (2016). Social Research Methods. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Creswell, J.W. (2014). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods
approaches. London: Sage.
Denscombe, M. (1998) The Good Research Guide for Small-scale Social Research Projects.
Buckingham: Open University Press.
Donnelly, R. (n.d.) Action Research for Teachers: Part 1.
Gray, D. E. (2013). Doing research in the real world. London: Sage.
Hanshaw, G., & Hanson, J. (2018). A Mixed Methods Study of Leaders’ Perceptions of
Microlearning for Professional Development on the Job. International Journal Of
Learning And Development, 8(3), 1. doi: 10.5296/ijld.v8i3.13198.
Norton, L. (2001). Researching your teaching: The case for action research. Psychology
Learning & Teaching, 1(1), 21-27
O'Leary, Z. (2004). The essential guide to doing research. London: Sage.
Rapley, T. (2016). ‘Some Pragmatics of Qualitative Data Analysis’ in Silverman, D (ed.)
Qualitative Research, 4th edn. London: Sage, pp331-345.
Ritchie, J., Lewis, J., Nicholls, C. M., & Ormston, R. (Eds.). (2013). Qualitative research
practice: A guide for social science students and researchers. London: Sage.
Robson, C. (2011). Real world research: A resource for users of social research methods in
applied settings 3rd edition. West Sussex: John Wiley & Sons.
Zahrly, J., & Tosi, H. (1989). The differential effect of organizational induction process on early
work role adjustment. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 10(1), 59-74.