Engaging compliance training? A complete misnomer, or is it actually possible?
No matter how we try and spin it, compliance has always been seen as a drag. It’s not that the subject matters aren’t important, rather the strict regulations that usually accompany these topics leave very little room for managers (and employees) to be flexible – both in training and in execution.
An (Engaging) New Perspective on Compliance Training
So, what do we do about it? Do we give up and give in to the monotony that is compliance training? Is there no way to train our employees about serious subjects such as office safety, information security and so on without boring them in the process?
Here are 4 simple tricks that will hopefully give you a new perspective on compliance – or really any other kind of serious training material.
1. Give Your Employees Some Independence
Most compliance training is mandatory in organizations, and one great tip that we’ve learned is to give your employees a sense of choice in their training.
How does this work? Simply provide a selection of voluntary sessions that relate to your core topic within the training period, and let employees choose which ones they would like to attend. That way, everyone can feel a little bit in control. You can get the necessary regulations/message across, and at the same time eliminate those looks of despair at most of your mandatory compliance meetings.
To achieve this, you’ll need a compliance training platform. You can then easily build your extracurricular courses, manage signups for seminars and eLearning opportunities, and give your employees a true choice all while making sure everyone goes through all the mandatory training.
2. Make Training a Process
True knowledge is gained through sustained time and effort, and surprisingly not from formal learning. Since learning is an elongated process, we must make an effort to transfer the knowledge in several different channels. This might include frontal sessions, eLearning, social/collaborative learning opportunities, and even campaigns and events.
This multi-channel approach will definitely help pass on the knowledge you need to the people who need it most – and ensures your compliance training is as engaging as possible to your learners.
3. Let Them Share
Another great way to make your compliance training more engaging is to create a platform where employees can share their thoughts on a topic in a managed manner.
You can invite outside lecturers and experts to share their professional knowledge on these platforms (as well as answer questions, mention their techniques and more). These social platforms can range anywhere from a group chat or a company forum (on a Learning Management System would be best), and can provide a ranking of the topics most relevant to the employees, periodic surveys, teaching opportunities and more.
Even using social media platforms for learning may have its benefits. So think about finding ways to let employees share their thoughts and feedback, and creating a continuous learning culture in the company as a whole.
4. Leadership Support
Anything is possible. But wouldn’t it be so much easier if you knew your managers were standing right behind you in support the whole time?
As is true for any type of training – but especially in compliance of any kind – managers have the biggest interest of anyone to effectively train and educate the people around them. With the ultimate aim being improved performances attained through the right training and knowledge.
If you get your managerial team on board with whatever campaign you plan on doing, chances are you’ll have an easier time convincing your co-workers to listen to you and remember the material. And if your stakeholders are engaged in the experience, your learners are likely to be more engaged too.
A Platform For Engaging Compliance Training
Delivering engaging compliance training is made so much easier when you have the right tools for the job.
Ekko is an award-winning compliance training platform, developed by Totara Partner, LearningZone.
Book a free demo to find out more and speak to an expert today.