Leveraging Compliance Training for Performance Improvement and Business Success

In a robust corporate culture where norms, regulations and policies are of paramount importance, Compliance Training is the buzz-word in ensuring that employees are well aware of the industry laws and procedures that apply to their daily roles. Companies, on their part, need to take the onus of conducting Compliance Training for employees so that there are no legal hassles that stem out from the latter acting unacceptably either out of ignorance, misunderstanding, or a blatant disrespect of the norms.

Compliance Training is a custom across most industries and some of the generalized ones where there’s a significant amount of regulation, including Finance, Healthcare and medical device Manufacturing, to name a few.

The problem though is that several organizations view Compliance Training as something that needs to be just done with simply because there is no option of eschewing it. The result: employees are burdened with the drudgery of boring training programmes that they also look at as an obligation. When employees finally do participate in regulatory training, it is difficult for companies to get the information to stick because the learners tend to be disengaged from the content.Supplement this with a growing number of regulations added to the list of existing ones exacerbating the situation even more. A study by PwC State of Compliance Study 2016 says that 79% of CEOs cited over-regulation as a top risk to their organizations’ growth prospects. Also, companies often approach Compliance Training in a homogeneous manner. It is delivered to all employees in a similar fashion, at the same time, irrespective of their individual differences or their varying roles within an organization.The issue at hand is that although Compliance Training tends to be rooted in facts, and is about conveying the right messages and knowledge to the employees, the end result is that it has little or no impact on their behaviour. Most even look at training regulation training as a ‘knee-jerk’ reaction usually to a negative situation. This makes them see it as a punishment, rather than a vital part of business and something essential for their development.

Given the prevailing situation, the time has come for companies to RETHINK Compliance Training.

‍Rejigging Compliance Training with the Right Content

‍If employees start looking at Compliance Training content as dull and boring, infused with legal jargon and terminology, chances are they won’t assimilate it. It is important to ensure that the content is engaging, educating and inspiring for them. For Compliance Training to be successful and well-received, the curriculum should be jointly developed by both subject experts as well as learning experts. Learning experts or instructional designers know how to present content in an interactive manner and engage learners, while subject experts know the right information that has to be put across. It also makes sense to revamp the mindset of instructional design experts so they can approach Compliance Training as business thinkers, creating learning solutions that are relevant, meaningful, and actionable.

‍Customising Content to suit the Audience

‍As is the case with many companies, Compliance Training is often mandated by an external organization. But this general content needs to be presented within the context of the particular organization so that its employees can easily relate to it. Ideally, this content should be rewritten in the context of the workplace and job roles – using specific instances related to the organization and its people.

‍Using a Learning Management System (LMS) as a Solution

‍An LMS is known to address most of the regulatory training issues in a time and cost-efficient way. It allows for changes, updates and additions as you go along, since Classroom Training (or Instructor Led Training - ILT) simply isn’t a realistic option anymore for Compliance Training given the constantly evolving regulations. I had listed the top 9 Tips to Effective Compliance Training with an LMS in one of my previous blog posts. To reiterate, with an LMS, a company can appeal to a variety of learning styles in turn customizing the training experience without spending a huge amount of time or money. An LMS is also an ideal Compliance Training solution because it can be accessed anywhere, anytime on any device of one's choice. An LMS also allows the use of several informal learning tools (like Social Learning and Knowledge Collaboration) thereby ensuring that the training is not uni-directional but is holistic. To the organization, it means 'Compliant' employees and improved performance and business.

‍How Compliance Training can influence performance and business?

‍Compliance Training is directly connected with the performance of the business simply because it keeps workers in conformity with the state or industry regulations and puts them on track for advancement. This means that the company’s business can stay current with the existing trends and it can maintain a workforce that is engaged and ready for the future. Training that focuses on compliance issues can reduce risk and liability and having employee training records helps. Also, the positive aspect is that should the business face litigation, the company will be able to access an employee’s training records quickly and easily.All in all, Compliance Training is a part of a greater ecosystem that needs to be put in place to guarantee the smooth running of an organization. It is crucial that everyone in the organization actively participates to realize the profits of a compliance program.

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