Compliance Training is a Moving Target. Here Are 5 Steps to Keep Up.

A compliance officer's job is never done. Changes in political regimes, amendments to regulations, rules, and legislation regarding compliance and governance, new technologies, and geopolitical events create a maelstrom of moving targets for a compliance team to simplify and understand and then convey to colleagues how these will affect their day-to-day interactions.

Compliance officers have expanding responsibilities and must ensure that any risks for the company are known, shared, and if there are any concerns about these risks, that employees report those through the proper channels. It seems like an impossible task...how can it be done?

First: Compliance training of the past is no longer an option. Annual training that extends for hours cannot convey the constant change that is happening within the compliance sphere. And it won't hold the attention span of your leaners. If compliance is always evolving, so too should your compliance training.

Consider content that takes no more than 15 minutes to complete to ensure that people are engaged. 

Second: The means by which training is offered must change. Short, bite-sized videos, interactive PDFs, and even social media posts can gain traction with an audience more readily than a typical eLearning. Using AI software and the help of your marketing team, you can create exciting banners with announcements about changes to policies that you can post on your intranet, or even a private LinkedIn page for your company. 

Try your hand at a simple video that shares a new enforcement action or trend that your company should look out for. The key facts, the results of any enforcement, and the implications for the company are a great place to start.

Third: Keep it simple. Adding too much information, text, or screenshot images will be an information overload. If there is a lot to share, consider conducting a live presentation with relevant information and recording it for those who cannot attend. You can use your presentation to develop bite-sized videos to send out as a reminder later on. Trying to squeeze a lot of different areas of change and varying subjects into a 15-minute training will quickly become confusing and lose the attention of audiences.

If you are unable to conduct a live presentation, sharing interactive PDFs is helpful so that an audience can refer back to the resource as needed. 

Fourth: Allow feedback from your audience. A short survey at the end of a training, or even a follow-up department-wide call with your learners can help them to convey what they learned and also assist you in areas for improvement. What did learners find confusing? Where do you need to make adjustments for better understanding? Listening to learners will allow you to meet them where they are as much as possible to ensure retention.

Tip: Keeping surveys anonymous may improve your response rate.

Fifth: Review, audit, and update! Once training has been deployed and feedback gathered, make updates! Check recent trends and news alerts in the subject for which you are training and make edits to content alongside any changing legislation that should be addressed. If you are able, adjust training based on audience feedback and be prepared to send out training again. Consider training more than once a year, through different channels (conference calling systems, local intranet, etc.).

With these 5 steps, you can ensure that you are as agile as the expanding realm of compliance and that your company is well prepared for change. 

Blaise Stanicic

Associate Director, Compliance Training, TRACE