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Do you worry that your compliance training has grown stale? Have your employees become weary of the same old messages delivered in a predictable way? Perhaps you wish you could dramatically impact prevailing attitudes and behaviors but you’re just not sure how.
If so, here are five simple strategies that may prove helpful.
- Don’t Rely Solely On “Traditional” E-Learning
E-learning generates training records that vastly increase the defensibility of programs over those that lack such records, and that is reason enough to continue using them. Best practices dictate that a 35- to 60-minute course may be used for all-employee, once-a-year Code of Conduct training, or for highly targeted compliance training given to an individual whose risk profile demands in-depth exposure to a specific topic.
But, to depend on e-learning as your sole mode of compliance communication does not make sense. Most compliance communication is about awareness. In many cases, long e-learning programs can be replaced by quick bursts of information that are much less intrusive, are received much more appreciatively (for being brief!) and, ultimately, can be much more effective. Plus, these bursts allow you to leverage the power of repetition throughout the year for an impact you cannot achieve through longer training events.
- Take A More Holistic Approach To Communications
Many compliance professionals found one or two avenues that were easy enough to use when they started communicating, but haven’t been able to grow their communications capabilities since then. Instead of relying upon email and occasional memos as your sole modes of communication to employees, take an inventory of all of the existing channels your organization uses to share information. Many of these could be used to make your compliance communications more effective.
- Create A Plan For Regularly Reinforcing Key Messages
Once you’ve targeted three or four communication channels, it’s important to learn how to use them and to establish a schedule for regular, ongoing use. Do your research about who manages the channel and how to partner with them. Like internal channel managers, they are often looking for high-quality, engaging content. What is the process and format for submitting materials, and what are the appropriate deadlines for submission?
Taking this simple but necessary step will ensure that you’ll be reaching employees consistently and repeatedly. A coherent and structured plan will make sure that plugging communications into your selected channels becomes part of your regular workflow, and not a series of one-off events that interfere with your “real” work. As you craft your plan, look to offer short, non-intrusive interactions that can easily be incorporated into your employees’ workday and that appeal to all learning styles (e.g., visual, auditory, reader/writer and kinesthetic learners).
- Structure Your Messages Into Short, Powerful Bursts Of Knowledge
Learning bursts are all about breaking long, complex messages into a series of short, simple, repetitive messages. Consider that six 5-minute messages delivered at intervals throughout the year can be much more effective than one 30-minute message delivered in January. Your only real requirement is to make sure the content is compelling and to the point, and that the messages reinforce one another through repetition.
- Integrate Behavior-Change Principles Into Compliance Training
Effective compliance communications must focus on fostering a change in behavior, not just a change in what employees know. Using behavior-change principles helps not only to change employee behavior in the near term, but also to change employee attitudes about compliance that will determine their behaviors in the long run.
Ready to engage and empower your employees with a dynamic compliance communication plan? Download our free report, “5 Ways To Increase The Effectiveness Of Your Compliance Communications.”
