Instructional Design

CLO Master Class: eLearning for Compliance Training

If corporate training were an office party, compliance training would be the guy that everyone avoids. You know him: The one always wearing beige and talking about himself in a monotone voice? But while nothing can really help that guy at the office Christmas party, eLearning can help dress up compliance training so it’s not just a one-note way to teach new employees. By condensing the common sense stuff and focusing more on the gray areas in compliance, you make sure that training is really worth employees’ time.

eLearning to the Rescue

Why is it that employees seem to dread compliance training? Well, the first issue is that it’s mandatory. When something is mandatory for all employees of an organization, employees then see the training as something the offers little personal benefit. In short, it’s a write-off.

Through eLearning, however, CLOs can more effectively reward employees for their participation (think badges, recognition and certification), while efficiently tracking completion and participation through a learning management system. The result? The most streamlined, efficient compliance training process possible in which employees actually engage.

Making Training Work

Sitting through slide after slide of compliance training facts? It’s no wonder that employees almost immediately disengage themselves emotionally. Not only is traditional compliance training completely boring, but a lot of the material is common knowledge to those who have worked in the field. To get employees to engage, you’ll need to extract the important stuff from the training, and then dress it up so it matches the tone and brand of your organization. Therefore, it’s vital you remember two tips:

1. Don’t insult anyone’s intelligence. You’re not working with kindergartners: Professionals know the difference between right and wrong. While you may be required to cover certain topics, don’t waste time expounding on obvious stuff. Treat your employees as adults and respect their years of expertise and professionalism. Sure, cover those necessary topics, but move on quickly.

2. Focus your time on the gray area. This is where compliance training goes from a snooze session to a need-to-know course: The gray area. Every organization is going to have policies and situations where employees won’t instinctively guess the right course of action. The right compliance training focuses on those situations so employees aren’t left floundering between black and white topics and wondering what to do. As a CLO, your job is to utilize compliance training to effectively mitigate any gray areas that might have employees scratching their head.

Hey, compliance training doesn’t have to be the boring guy standing alone by the punch bowl. Digitizing the process through eLearning means reducing the resources invested in the same old material, while spending additional time and effort on areas of compliance that employees may question. Sure, it’s still compliance training, but it’s compliance training that employees want and need. Suddenly, the mandatory standard becomes something more than just another soon-forgotten conversation.