Overstimulated. Easily distracted. Unable to focus. 

These are just a few of the reasons people point to when financial industry leaders explore why it can be challenging to connect with the next generation. 

They aren’t all off-base: Microsoft released findings that suggest Generation Z has an attention span of less than eight seconds. And Millennials’ attention span, at around 12 seconds, isn’t much longer.

This insight into the behavior of younger generations impacts the credit union world considerably. After all, with the average age of a credit union member being 53, these younger age brackets are critical for credit unions to connect with and make into future members to survive. 

Instead of bemoaning the challenges of converting the next generation, this insight into attention spans shows us the road forward to better engage these younger generations: We must hack into their short attention spans.

This is doubly true when it comes to financial education, which is one of the best ways to engage the next generation. If your credit union invests in financial education to deepen member relationships and market your services to the wider community, you need to be certain those tools work for younger people, too.

The truth is, most long-form financial education programs don’t work for younger people. Instead of seeing the cultural shift in attention and learning as an unresolvable scourge on society, it’s time to embrace a new style of sharing information: microlearning.

Microlearning is a research-backed approach that breaks down complicated topics into bite-sized chunks of text, making it easier to learn comprehensively and retain that knowledge. A few key factors make it extremely effective in this modern learning context. 

First, it repackages complicated financial content into bite-sized chunks that make it less daunting and more digestible. Microlearning is often best done on digital platforms such as smartphones that make it easy to incorporate financial education seamlessly into daily routines.

Even better, the benefits of microlearning extend past the younger generations and reach people of all ages. Microlearning, especially on digital platforms, makes financial education more accessible and approachable for everyone. 

In this day and age, it’s often unrealistic to expect folks to make room in their busy lives to read a jargon-heavy book about personal finance or attend a multi-part class. Instead, a smartphone equipped with bite-sized financial lessons incentivizes people to improve their financial wellness because they can do so flexibly when it works for them, whether that’s on the bus, before bed, or anything in between. 

Microlearning is the win-win credit unions need as they explore how to best connect with the next generation and how to best deliver financial education programming. 

For more about how to leverage microlearning, contact the experts in learning science and next-gen engagement at Zogo.

SYDNEY MAYER is head of marketing at Zogo.