Helping Employee Compliance Training “Stick”
Posted March 26th, 2012
For many employees, compliance training is a necessary evil, something that you just need to grit your teeth over and get through. And for the most part, that attitude carries over into outcomes – compliance programs generally are not very effective when it comes to time, money and results.
Businesses spend a lot of money on these programs. In 2010, for example, companies spent more than $170 billion on worker training and development programs, about 10 percent of which was for compliance training.
So, given that compliance training as it currently is organized could use a shot in the arm, what can be done to improve it?
The first thing to look at is the content. Does the material covered apply to real situations, real responsibilities and risks that people actually face on the job, rather than just a general overview of abstract concepts and generalities?
If workers need to learn straightforward facts and figures as part of the training, the information should be made available in written form, whether online or as a hard copy. There also should be some way for the workers to confirm that they have received the information, as well as follow up to the initial learning, with periodic reminders. Workers also should be able to ask questions and get answers. Doing this will help employees to better absorb the information, because it will make the training more of an ongoing enterprise rather than just a one-time data dump.
Any individual training session should revolve around only a few key themes or ideas, rather than introducing a laundry list of items. Also, the classes should give the workers the opportunity to put the learning into practice, through some type of simulation or role playing, for example, so that they can put their knowledge to use, further helping them absorb the information.
Also, the learning should receive reinforcement with follow-up notices, where key ideas are repeated and emphasized, so that the learning becomes a continual process. These reminders will help to prevent employees from falling back into old habits.
Bayside Solutions has been helping Bay Area companies find great temporary, temp-to-hire and direct-hire employees since 2001 and we look forward helping your firm in 2012 and beyond. Contact us today!
