An article from our partners GO1.

Let’s face it, compliance training doesn’t have the best reputation.  From legal jargon to lengthy pointers on the importance of occupational health and safety, it can be difficult to remember, dry, and challenging to ensure your employees have taken it all on board.

Most of us wouldn’t prioritise brushing up on the latest compliance policies in an average working day, yet a robust understanding of the key concepts is essential for employees in many industries.  It can be tempting, but cutting corners can be costly in the long run.

Thankfully, eLearning courses provide a great way to both speed up the compliance training process and make it a far more engaging experience for learners.

Why choose eLearning for compliance training?

Speed and simplicity are both excellent reasons to make the switch to eLearning solutions for your compliance training, but there are a variety of ways they can improve the employee learning experience:

Storytelling

The inclusion of stories in compliance learning is a useful training method. Rather than explain compliance through a theory-focused, textbook-led method, the use of stories makes lessons relevant, exciting, and practical so that they can be put to use quickly.

Manageable learning

Students can engage with their learning in a flexible manner. eLearning can be done anywhere there’s an internet connection – spare minutes on the bus become productive mini-lessons!

Ease of assessment and review

It is crucial to be able to review what students know about compliance before they’re ready to be placed into a position of responsibility. This is particularly important when failing to meet requirements can result in a costly fine.

eLearning offers major benefits for employers wanting to check that their employees have got the hang of compliance regulations. eLearning platforms store all data that is entered onto the platform, which can be quickly assessed to review a student’s performance.

Engaging learning activities

Compliance training can be multifaceted and complex. With such a large amount of information for employees to digest, it is important to teach it using a range of methods to keep them engaged. eLearning is characterised by the range of activities and learning methods it incorporates.

eLearning platforms use simulations, quizzes, stories (as mentioned above), gamification, role-play, audio, video, and almost any other multimedia you can think of! There is a whole range of ways to take students through the complicated maze of compliance.

With engaging activities, there is also a higher chance of learning becoming embedded. This makes online training one of the best ways to reduce compliance risk for your organization.

How to optimise eLearning in your organisation

Although eLearning courses will cover the majority of your compliance training needs, it is important to create the right environment for employees to make the most of their learning experience.

Leadership teams and HR managers are advised to take steps to consolidate the compliance knowledge staff have learnt, and that they understand how to apply this practically when completing day-to-day tasks.

Here are our tips to be sure your staff members make the most of their eLearning experience:

1. Allocate time and space for learning
   Finding time during a busy working day for compliance training can be a challenge.  To ensure your employees make the most of eLearning courses, encourage them to block out time during their week to complete the training and digest the new information. If employees are expected to complete the bulk of the training in their own time after work, they will likely rush through it and want to complete it as quickly as possible.  Allocating time during the working day, although it may take up valuable time, will be worth it in the long run. The environment where learning is taking place is also important. You want your employees to take the information on board and ensure they are able to do so in a quiet space with no distractions. A busy, open-plan office won’t be ideal.  Book out meeting rooms or find calm spaces for your employees to take the training.  This will significantly reduce the time you spend consolidating the learning afterwards.
2. Talk about the learning
   While eLearning systems are engaging and easy ways to deliver compliance training with minimal fuss, talking about learning is a great way to consolidate new concepts. eLearning courses do offer participants the opportunity to converse with each other and discuss what they have learned, but face-to-face follow ups will ensure that new knowledge becomes more embedded in student’s memories.
3. Schedule refresher training
   Keeping your staff up to date with the latest compliance training is also key.  Policy and legal requirements are updated frequently, and your employees need to be across the most recent guidelines. Even if policies and requirements haven’t been updated, your employees will need regular recaps to ensure they can remember the specifics of their training. This could take the form of twice-yearly sessions, or perhaps refresher training is a compulsory aspect of compliance in the industry you work in.  Regardless, jogging your employees’ memories will be helpful for everyone.
4. Check in with employees
   As well as organising a recap session for learning, it can also be helpful to check in with employees post training. This could be a part of their performance review meetings or a more informal conversation to check that they are confident and comfortable applying the new information they have learned. Checking in needn’t be an interrogation – keep it light and friendly.  When they feel supported, employees will be far more likely to ask questions and let you know when they need help understanding a challenging concept.

To optimise the eLearning the process, GO1 has partnered with Roubler, an all-in-one HR solution, to deliver high-quality eLearning for all your compliance needs.