Let us explore the importance of compliance training. In today’s work environment, modern workers need to be ready to adapt when their work and the environment around them change. Information technology is the main driver of the constant changes that are occurring. The instant access to limitless information is viewed as a quick enabler of enhanced performance. Improved performance has to be coupled with workers who work compliantly. A lack of compliance can lead to stressed and overwhelmed workers, as well as expensive lawsuits. Here’s what you need to know about the importance of compliance training.
The cost of Non-Compliance
When Big Pharma firms were found to be engaging in non-compliant practices, they were punished with large fines. Similarly, financial regulatory bodies around the world have placed fines on banking and finance industries for being non-compliant. The cost isn’t just the damage done to the corporate balance sheet. Companies suffer a damage to their reputation as well. In addition to reputational damage, there are also costs of non-compliance in the workplace. Organizations that fail to respect the rights of employees can cause damage to their employees’ morale. As a result of the damage done to the morale, there follows an increase in workplace dissatisfaction. This dissatisfaction leads to a fall in performance, employee turnover, loss of expertise as experienced employees leave, and difficulties acquiring qualified talent to replace them.
The Challenge of Compliance Training
Compliance training is meant to be a solution that solves the problem of compliance issues. Unfortunately, the training isn’t always effective in solving the problem. It also takes employees away from them for a long period of time, which creates an additional cost to the company. Employees tend not to appreciate compliance training, as they view it as a waste of time, boring, or even irrelevant. An appropriate analogy to understanding this would be the constant updates you have to download on your computer.
You’re not sure what value it’s giving you, and you’re impatiently waiting for it to install in order to carry on with the tasks that are important to you. Compliance training in most organizations is about checking boxes, and the process is simply meant to be endured rather than enjoyed. There’s no reward for the compliance training, and employees do the process all over again within a few months. It’s a cycle of poorly delivered training that leads to minimal retention by employees, leaving them unprepared and requiring more training.
Alternative Approach in Compliance Training
An alternative to the current approach of compliance training can involve making the training a continuous process. The process can be one that begins in the specific environment employees are working in. In addition to centering the training around an employee’s work environment, it can also be personalized to suit the individual employee. It’s similar to my work as a voice over artist, where I tailor my tone and delivery to the audience that my client is trying to engage. Using compliance training videos as an example, I would use an authoritative tone in creating a voice recording for this audience. Lastly, the training needs to establish the idea that working compliantly means working well. The training should influence employees to see that working compliantly is a key part of improved performance, and not merely a chore.
Applying Compliance Training to Modern Employees
At just the click of a button, modern employees have access to multiple sources of information anytime and anywhere. That means that today’s employee is used to finding information in an interactive, engaging, and personalized way. The challenge for any company’s learning and development team is to make compliance training as attractive and easy to access as today’s employees are accustomed to. In contrast to the typical approach of clicking through a series of screens, taking multiple-choice quizzes, and verifying that the work completed by the user is their own, compliance training can instead employ different learning strategies that are relevant and engaging to the worker.
One example that can be used is the gamification approach. Learners can be challenged to reach certain targets and then be rewarded as they make progress through the various scenarios. Exercises that are story or scenario-based can help solidify the personal relevance of the compliance training, as they’re specifically related to the individual’s particular job or role. The use of personalization shows that not all employees need the same aspects of compliance training. As an example, an employee working in HR may require different knowledge of compliance issues compared to an employee working in Sales. It’s also helpful to use audio as people will retain more information if they hear it as well.
Compliance That Is Accessible
Compliance training can be more accessible and effective when broken up in pieces. An organization can create a database of resources that can be accessed whenever and wherever the employee needs them. Setting up compliance training in this way encourages workers to take responsibility for their compliance. Your company can make use of AI-Virtual Assistants, such as learning chatbots, to make compliance resources available on demand. A chatbot can also keep employees up-to-date on the most recent changes in compliance training. Additionally, through the recorded interactions with the learners and the AI-Virtual Assistant, your learning and development team can have helpful data on which resources are and are not being accessed. That information can help you improve the targeting of your compliance training, making it more relevant to the roles of the employee.
When compliance training is input into the workflow, it can become more effective. It’s critical for companies to evolve beyond the perception that it’s just an add-on or something to be ignored. When it’s made a part of the working environment, employees are more able to recognize the benefits of it. As a result, it leads to safer, smarter, and more efficient work practices, which improves the performance of your employees, and improves the performance of your business.
The Importance of Compliance Training by Kate Marcin
