To Build Better Compliance Training, Start With The Fundamentals

Three Core Principles To Guide Compliance Training

Your compliance training program probably has a lot of moving parts to consider. The complexities of evolving compliance standards. The requirements set out by your country’s regulatory bodies. The goals of your business. The needs of your employees. For many L&D professionals, it can feel like too much to manage! As with many complex tasks, it can help to take a step back and look at the basics. In this article, we’ll take a look at how three core principles can keep your compliance training program on track while exploring a few solutions to the most common compliance training pitfalls.

Compliance Is A Workplace Culture Issue

Compliance training is often mentioned in the same breath as words like “audit,” “breach,” “litigation,” or “risks.” It’s no surprise that those tasked with managing compliance programs may feel overwhelmed or unsure of how to proceed.

While compliance training must address laws, rules, and risk mitigation, the most effective and engaging compliance training programs focus on building a positive, safe, and ethical workplace culture. Preventing the scary consequences listed above makes compliance training a positive element of modern work life. Keeping this in mind can help you frame compliance training more positively throughout the planning and training process, which can ultimately impact how the training is received throughout your organization.

What Should Compliance Training Focus On?

It can be hard to know where to start when building or reviewing a compliance training program. Focusing on three fundamental elements of your organization–its people, their safety, and its security–can help streamline your compliance training strategy, regardless of unforeseen complexity or volatility. That’s because these three elements of compliance are consistent concerns across most businesses, and for most employees. Let’s review how putting “People,” “Safety,” and “Security” principles at the center of your compliance program can make compliance training more effective:

1. People
   Violence prevention, harassment prevention, and diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) are some of the foundational skills that companies should focus on when developing compliance training programs. These are a few of the basic skills that employees need to treat each other fairly and with respect. In many jurisdictions, there are also legal requirements to train employees in these core topics.
2. Safety
   Workplace safety, workplace hygiene, and fire safety are topics that organizations should include in their compliance training to address the safety of their workers. While this list isn’t exhaustive, these are a few of the critical topics companies need to train for to help keep anyone in a physical workspace—like a lab, factory floor, or warehouse–safe from injury.
3. Security
   Information privacy, cybersecurity, and social media usage policies are hot topics for a reason. Compliance training for security may expand beyond these topics, depending on your industry and region. But any effective core compliance training program would be incomplete without some mention of common security concerns.

Whether you’re in the initial planning process or reviewing an existing compliance program, using the above principles to guide your compliance training initiatives can make a huge impact!

Overcoming Compliance Challenges

After addressing your organization’s people, safety, and security concerns, consider the challenges that often arise during the execution and reporting of compliance training programs. A few of the most common compliance training challenges are:

1. Lack Of Compliance Training Engagement

Low employee engagement is a common challenge for compliance training programs. Participation and retention suffer when compliance training is seen as irrelevant or uninteresting, which can lead to costly errors and potential legal, financial, or reputational repercussions. Make compliance training easy by providing clear objectives, making learning relevant to job functions, making modules easily accessible (online and offline, desktop or mobile), and gamifying training.

2. Limited Compliance Training Resources

Compliance training can be time-consuming and costly when your company lacks resources. In a recent Healthcare Compliance Benchmark Report, more than half of survey respondents said that compliance demands surpassed available resources. Training that ensures adherence to laws and reduces the risk of violations and associated harms is critical. Having access to the right tools and resources is critical for promoting participation and comprehension. Storing training materials in a single online learning platform can make compliance training easier for learners and can help administrators manage training tasks more efficiently. Look for learning platforms that offer up-to-date pre-built compliance courses, automation features, and administrative support that can ease the strain on your administrators.

3. Lack Of Consistency In Compliance Training

Providing the same quality of compliance training to all employees, regardless of their role in your organization, is the best way to ensure that everyone is informed of their responsibilities and the consequences of noncompliance. Inconsistent training can lead to uneven or inaccurate interpretations of rules and regulations, which could result in costly errors. Standardizing and centralizing learning materials and implementing a comprehensive employee onboarding program can help keep compliance training consistent. Offering refresher trainings can also keep employees more up-to-date on compliance information, regardless of when they were hired.

Don’t Just “Check The Box” For Compliance Training

When you started reading this article, you might have thought I was going to try to convince you to create a one-size-fits-all compliance training program. Sadly, there are no quick tricks or tips that magically work for every organization.

Certain types of training are nonnegotiable when building a compliance training program. However, to create a truly engaging and effective compliance training program, you have to go beyond meeting the minimum requirements. Aligning the planning, execution, and assessment of your compliance training program with your organization’s people, safety, and security, gives you the opportunity to do more than just “check a box” for compliance. By using this framework and leveraging the right tools for compliance training, you can create real, positive change for your employees and your business.