Effective annual compliance training is not just one of the seven fundamental elements of an effective compliance program; it is also an excellent way to disseminate your compliance program and resources across the entire company.[1] If your organization considers compliance a collective responsibility of all team members, then providing effective education and training becomes crucial to enable all members to contribute to the success of the compliance program. An understanding of applicable regulations, policies, procedures, and reporting requirements is needed for team members to participate in compliance.
As compliance professionals, we look forward to annual compliance training. Our hard work creating and maintaining an effective compliance program is on display as the whole organization acknowledges compliance documents and completes the required courses. Personally, I find myself unable to sleep the night before, wondering whether my colleagues will laugh at the memes during the training or if they will find the assessment questions too difficult or too easy. However, during my years in compliance, I have come to realize that not every member of my organization anticipates this time of year with the same enthusiasm as I do. Instead of eagerly waiting for annual compliance training, most team members are disappointed to see the addition of to-do lists that include PowerPoint presentations, videos, and documents that they are required to review, attest to, or be quizzed on.
To battle the uneven levels of enthusiasm towards compliance training, try obtaining feedback from team members to enhance the effectiveness of the education and training program. Ask yourself, “What can I learn from my own compliance training?”
Start with a baseline assessment
A quick and simple baseline poll of team members throughout your organization can provide you with helpful information on knowledge of compliance topics that will be presented within training. If you can take a baseline poll of team members before designing educational materials for compliance training, you will be able to place emphasis within your education on areas that require the most focus. This approach ensures your team is trained in compliance resources and requirements, particularly those concepts that may be less familiar.
Past compliance training assessments can be useful in identifying frequent areas of misunderstanding among team members in quiz questions. Complex regulations, company policies, or specific procedures could require more extensive training if found to contribute to low success on corresponding course assessments. Understanding these pain points allows you to tailor your training to address specific challenges.
