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3 Key Features for Managing Mobile Training Content

As I wrote about recently, when Inkling’s core product transitioned from an iPad app to a fully-fledged cloud-publishing platform, we followed millennials from college into the workforce, and learned a thing or two about the millennial mindset.

Now, as more and more millennials break into the professional world, they’re approaching corporate learning and reference with the same expectations as they did in school. Comfortable grabbing their mobile devices to answer just about any question, including ones related to work, millennials will scan Google search results for the answers without a second thought. Employers must decide if they’re comfortable with millennials finding out job-related information this way or if they need to provide millennials with company-approved, mobile-ready content instead.

For employers who want more control over their millennial workforce’s learning and reference materials, a cloud publishing platform that can enable mLearning technologies is the way to go. Below, we break down the top three features that you should look for in order to create content that bests serve your millennial workforce.

1.Accessible from any device

Keeping up with the ever-growing host of mobile devices is tough, but if you want to meet millennials where they are, cross-device compatibility is key. Their content needs could arise at any time, anywhere, and they’re going to look for answers on the first device handy: for example, on an iPad when responding to emails at home in the evenings, or on an Android phone when drafting a meeting agenda during the morning commute and in the hallways between meetings.

All modern learning and reference solutions should enable easy, enjoyable reading experiences on any device, so be sure to pick a solution that looks and works great across computers, tablets, and mobile devices.

2. Frictionless content updates

Nothing undermines a piece of content’s credibility like an old stamp date. And these days, with millennials accessing updates in real-time from social media feeds, the expectation for “freshness” has never been higher. Content dated a year old will likely raise skepticism about its accuracy.

Much of today’s content distribution methods are clunky and present cost barriers to frequent updates, such as re-printing and shipping paper packets or re-exporting and re-uploading PDFs via intranet portals. Content creators should demand more control over how content is updated and distributed, so that they can correct mistakes quickly or add in new details from the market as fast as possible.

The best cloud publishing platforms will include features for seamless content updates that are easy for content creators to push out and easy for your millennial employees to receive. Don’t let your software handicap your business objectives by making the content update process expensive or time-intensive.

3. Features that support secure and controlled distribution

In a mobile world, your security and IT departments know that identity management tools, or those that issue and authenticate your employees’ system identities, matter more than ever.

Pick a solution that integrates well with your identity management tools and provides configurable controls to define how your users gain, protect, and, in the event of an employee’s termination, lose an identity. When it comes to sensitive corporate content, you can—and should—know who has access  to your content and where they can access it.

The bottom line:

Millennials are here to stay, and cloud publishing platforms will best accommodate their modern habits. But not all platforms are created equal, which is why you should look for these three features. By offering your millennial workforce up-to-date corporate content on any device, you’ll ensure that they use your company’s content, and not the next best thing from their search engine.

To learn more about the latest trends in mLearning and how to best accommodate your millennial workforce, read our free interactive report, “4 Key Trends to Watch for in mLearning Technologies.