The fast-paced, dynamic environment of biopharmaceutical manufacturing requires companies and their employees to continually learn and grow in order to stay competitive. As a result, workforce training must become a routine part of the job, not a once-a-year (or less frequent) event. At the same time, educational research is clear: to be most effective, employee training should be active, engaging, and relevant, while at the same time being practicable for the working, busy employee. This implies that in-depth training only at hiring time is insufficient. It also implies that educational content should be tailored to specific work environments, includes tools and processes that an employee is likely to encounter, be short enough to fit into busy schedules, and is easily searchable as specific needs arise.
Workforce training programs should strive to be more student-directed, providing information just-in-time as students realize they need it, and should be better at integrating continuous learning with the busy work and home lives of today’s employees. This approach is sometimes referred to as “microlearning”.
This approach will allow employees to suggest training materials they would like to see, allowing training departments to better match training offerings to demonstrated training needs.
By supporting this new style of training, industry will be able to provide real-time, continuous feedback on identified workforce needs. They also will be able to reduce costs, while improving the specificity and relevance of their training offerings. The overall impact will be a better trained, more engaged workforce, at lowered training costs.
Introduced an innovative micro learning approach that transformed traditional workforce training by delivering short, just-in-time educational modules via a mobile app, making training more accessible and adaptable for busy biopharmaceutical professionals.
Enabled scalable and cost-effective training solutions by reducing development time for training content and providing a flexible platform that supports rapid deployment and continuous updates, improving workforce readiness in a dynamic industry.
Enhanced workforce engagement and knowledge retention through pilot testing with employees from leading biopharma companies (GSK, AstraZeneca, Paragon Bioservices), who validated the utility and effectiveness of micro learning for on-the-go professional development.
This project introduced an innovative micro learning platform to deliver flexible, just-in-time training for biopharmaceutical manufacturing. It produced a mobile app with interactive features and two micro learning units—Tangential Flow Filtration and Cell Banking—comprising 13 short modules. Pilot testing with employees from major companies confirmed its effectiveness, and the app is ready for free distribution to NIIMBL members, offering a scalable solution to reduce training costs and keep the workforce current.
A cross-platform app (iOS and Android) with features for content delivery, assessments, and links to in-depth resources.
Free availability of app and content to NIIMBL members upon request, with plans for listing in NIIMBL’s tool portal.
Two learning units (Tangential Flow Filtration and Cell Banking) with 13 micro modules (40 seconds–2 minutes each), recap notes, and assessment questions.
Feedback from 10 employees at GSK, AstraZeneca, and Paragon Bioservices confirming utility and effectiveness of micro learning approach.
A Microlearning Capability for a Busy Biopharmaceutical Workforce (PC2.1-050), NIIMBL Member Forum, Virtual, August 22, 2019.
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Fraunhofer USA
University of Maryland College Park
