Before we start, let’s quickly refresh your memory on what compliance training is. No matter your industry, odds are good that your business is already managing some form of regulatory or corporate compliance. These are the policies that may have been put into place by a local government, or even by your own colleagues, and are intended to keep things running smoothly and safely. Whether you work in healthcare or at a car dealership, these policies will need to be followed to avoid negative consequences.
Compliance training is how organizations keep their people informed of the rules, policies, and consequences of not following compliance regulations. Since these may change continually, training cannot be a one-time event. Training will always need to be updated, since laws and practices are updated all the time.
If you don’t stay on top of your compliance training, you could develop compliance gaps. You may already have them now! According to a Brandon Hall Study, 77% of organizations perform compliance audits at least annually. Are you ready?
So here are our top 3 tips for fixing your compliance gaps before they become a problem.
Identify the Actual Gaps in your Compliance Training
With everything else that happens on a day-to-day basis, it’s easy for compliance training to slip under the radar. In spite of all the money that is usually spent on compliance training, over 90% of the employees who underwent compliance training felt that they did not learn anything from it. How is that possible? Many companies and organizations don’t have their own compliance training programs, and so these third-party training programs may not reflect your corporate policies or environment. And the programs that are accurate, don’t always measure the effectiveness of the program to find gaps in learning.
Consider this when checking your own compliance program:
- Are there areas where learners are struggling, or not completing knowledge checks or activities?
- Are metrics or evaluations showing that learners are skipping sections?
- Are you asking the learners themselves if they find the information useful with surveys and polls?
Those are all easy steps you can take to make sure you aren’t wasting time and money on compliance training that isn’t working. After you figure out the weak spots, it’s time to…
Freshen Things Up
A survey by Elucidat showed that 15% of employees click through their compliance training without actually listening, and 36% admitted to just skimming the material. Why? Self-reported boredom. But boredom isn’t a good enough answer when fines and safety are on the line, so how can we ensure learners are engaged in their compliance training?
- We know that learners normally “need a personal connection to the material” in order to retain information, so is your material directly related to something your learners would see on the job? Digitec worked on compliance training for NetDefense Pro to deliver “pop quizzes” on cyber security based on relevant cyber attack stories happening in specific industries. Learners also were asked to select devices they owned, so that the learning focused on what devices learners used.
- Up-to-date. Has the training program been updated recently? Or is it the same exact course learners took a year ago? What are they missing?
- If your compliance training is lengthy, target the content on the key points! Cut the fluff and focus on the most important takeaways.
- And finally, length. Is your compliance training over 30 minutes? Remember that you are fighting boredom. Keep the training as modular and short as possible. Which leads us to the final tip…
Use Microlearning to Help Bridge the Gap
If the material is dry, and you’re noticing that your learners are having a hard time focusing on the compliance training, utilize microlearning. We know that microlearning is perfect for delivering quick, targeted lessons during busy workdays. So what better way to deliver compliance training?
Digitec Interactive produced the Dealership Training course – Fast Compliance, delivering training in small chunks of important information, and accessible to learners when they’re ready for it. And the very high pass and retention rate of Fast Compliance is proof that it works.
Struggling with your compliance training? No sweat. contact us for a free consultation to find out how Digitec can develop or improve the compliance training for your company or organization!
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