Welcome to a special five-part blog post series on building a stronger culture of compliance through targeted and effective training, sponsored by Diligent. In Part 2 of this series, we consider the value of targeted training with Kevin McCoy.
Navigating the complex world of international compliance requires a thorough understanding of regional regulations and a commitment to keeping your workforce informed and prepared. As a corporate compliance and ethics professional, it falls to you to create robust training programs that cater to the specific needs of your organization across various regions. Improved engagement and effectiveness of compliance training has significant implications on both personal and professional levels, ensuring that employees understand their responsibilities and the consequences of non-compliance. This guide will take you through the essential steps to enrich your training content, provide additional resources and establish a successful learning culture within your organization.
Targeted training is not just a buzzword; it is a necessary step toward improving engagement and effectiveness in our compliance and ethics training programs. By understanding our audience’s needs, creating interactive content and measuring the impact of our efforts, we can significantly improve our employees’ compliance knowledge and behavior, while making a commitment to prioritize targeted training in our strategies and achieve the desired results. Here are the steps needed to achieve improved engagement and effectiveness in compliance training:
1. Analyze regional regulatory requirements
Compliance training can be an essential aspect of the corporate landscape, ensuring that all employees remain up to date on the latest regulations and company policies. However, these training programs can sometimes be perceived as bland and as disconnected from the day-to-day activities of the workforce. This is why it is vital for organizations to analyze regional regulatory requirements and create targeted training that is engaging and relevant to their participants. By understanding the specific compliance concerns for each region, organizations can develop tailored content that effectively addresses the most pressing issues. This not only produces more meaningful training sessions, but also increases the likelihood of employees retaining and applying the acquired knowledge in their jobs. Kevin McCoy noted tailor their compliance training to regional regulatory requirements and examine the distinct rules and guidelines for each area in which the company operates and utilize this information to create targeted learning initiatives. By continually monitoring and updating training materials to reflect the evolving regulatory landscape, companies can ensure that their employees are equipped with the knowledge and tools necessary to navigate today’s complex business environment.
2. Customize training content for specific regions
Customizing compliance and ethics training content for specific regional requirements is a crucial factor in ensuring its effectiveness. This approach ensures that the material is relevant, precise and engaging, leading to better retention and understanding among employees. Adapting the content to suit regional rules and regulations, customs and cultures ensures that employees are better equipped to navigate the challenges they face in their specific locations. Furthermore, it demonstrates the company’s commitment to being culturally sensitive and respecting the diverse perspectives of its global workforce. Ultimately, this targeted approach fosters a more ethical, culturally aware and regulatory-compliant workforce, lessening the likelihood of legal and ethical breaches.
McCoy emphasized that targeted training is equally important in the global business landscape, as you should create compliance and ethics training content that caters to different regional requirements as well as varied risk-based areas within a company. For instance, sales teams would require training around conflict of interest while manufacturing teams would need training on health and safety regulations. Follow strategies including the creation of animated videos tailored for specific regions and languages, using native speakers to ensure the content is culturally sensitive and accessible to a wider range of employees. By adapting the content to the specific needs of your employees, you will foster a more comprehensive understanding of compliance and ethics across diverse global teams.
3. Develop engaging micro-learning modules
Developing engaging micro-learning modules is an essential step to create effective compliance and ethics training programs for employees. Micro-learning consists of short, easily digestible pieces of training content that employees can access and engage with at their own pace. Implementing micro-learning modules allows companies to address specific topics and target unique segments of their workforce, ensuring that employees receive relevant and timely information. This ultimately leads to increased employee engagement, improved retention of knowledge and a greater overall impact on the company’s compliance program.
McCoy noted that engaging micro-learning modules can focus on such diverse topics as conflict of interest, anti-bribery and anti-corruption. These modules can also be culturally sensitive and translated into different languages using native speakers to ensure proper understanding and engagement for a global audience. Moreover, they tailor the content to target different risk-based areas in the company — for instance, sales teams may receive training on conflicts of interest, whereas manufacturing teams might focus on health and safety. By providing offline training options in various formats, such as PowerPoint presentations and PDFs, they further enhance accessibility and engagement.
For corporate compliance and ethics professionals, mastering the art of delivering engaging and effective training is crucial in fulfilling their obligations and safeguarding their organizations. These steps outlined by McCoy, ranging from regional adaptation and micro-learning to offline training formats and supplemental resources, provide a comprehensive blueprint for achieving the desired result. By adopting these strategies, you are laying the foundation for a solid compliance training program that not only keeps employees engaged but that also actively contributes to upholding the organization’s ethical standards.
Join us for our next episode on what effective compliance training looks like. To explore this topic further, learn more about the targeted content available within the Diligent Compliance and Ethics Training Library.
