What is compliance training?
Maybe you have heard others talking about compliance training, but are not really sure what it is. Don’t fret! We have you covered. Compliance training means your employees are fully educated on company mandated laws, rules, and regulations, as well as those on the state level or at an industry level that pertain to the job they are performing. With the use of compliance training, a company can better protect its organization’s values, as well as protect its policies.
Through the use of compliance training, an employee will be ready to tackle whatever situations they are placed in that are relevant to their specific job. Areas that are focused on include those that pertain to their well-being, their safety, and their job. By allowing every employee to be trained with compliance training, the company empowers its employees so they can conduct business with sheer integrity. They will also recognize when a violation has occurred on either their part or the part of another employee.
Compliance training may be mandatory for your company based on what industry you are in. For other companies, you do not need to comply with the training. If it is mandated, and your company fails to do the training, you can be fined through a steep fine, litigation, and possibly your license to operate.
Did you know that 44% of all new employees will have compliance training as part of their orientation? Eighty-three percent of businesses feel that it is important to offer this training and do so.
Examples of compliance training
- An employee working at a doctor’s office would receive HIPAA training.
- A manufacturing employee would receive compliance training for safety.
Benefits of compliance training
There are numerous benefits to implementing compliance training for your company. These include:
- Protecting your company reputation;
- Your workplace will be safer to work in;
- Legal action will be reduced;
- Less injury will occur, which means less injury pay;
- Your workplace will be more productive; and
- Your company may have an easier time obtaining insurance.
Types of compliance training
Many individuals are shocked to know that there are different kinds of compliance training. Businesses use security training and safety training most often, but there are also other types that some businesses need to incorporate. These may be:
- Diversity training;
- Data protection and privacy training;
- Environmental training;
- Anti-harassment training;
- Violence training;
- Export compliance training;
- Ethics training; and
- Anti-corruption training.
Employee health and safety compliance training
In order to have all employees educated about any safety issues that may arise while on the job, safety training is used to understand all the dangers that may occur on the job. This training will not only protect the well being of the employee but also the interest of the company.
If a company is not willing to partake in any compliance training for this, they leave themselves wide open for unfortunate outcomes, which could result in fines or litigation.
For health and safety compliance training, there are both low-risk and high-risk corporations.
Low-risk corporations
Employee safety training can be done on various topics for employees to understand the content of the training and agree to abide by it. Topics for this may include fire safety or prevention, or even office ergonomics. Most often, employees do this training by watching videos.
High-risk corporations
Those that work at high-risk corporations need health and safety training. This is essential for those that work in the mining business, manufacturing, and agriculture.
Security training
It is crucial for many companies to have security training. While a company may believe they are safe from things happening, it is better to be safe than sorry. If there is an emergency, your employees need to understand how to keep themselves safe. This type of training should be basic training that every single employee must attend.
When a crisis strikes, one of the first things people do is panic. However, if a plan is set in place, and everyone knows exactly what is expected, things can run smoother. While your company certainly never wants any crisis to occur, planning for one is something that is inevitable.
Compliance training that works
In order for your employees to be able to agree to abide by the compliance training, they need to understand it. If it goes above their heads with vocabulary that is difficult to understand, your employees will not remember what to do. Consider using any of the tactics below when developing compliance training for your business.
Simplified
A compliance training that is simple and to the point will work the best for your employees, regardless of their education. Concise wording should be used that is easy to understand instead of technical vocabulary.
All required training completed by your employees must be relevant to their jobs. You would not expect a receptionist to know the protocol for something a surgeon would do during surgery, therefore, you can not expect someone working in a different area of the company to know about another job within the same business.
One great way to keep compliance training simplified is to use examples. This is a surefire way to get to the gist of what you mean. You can also provide scenarios where various aspects of the training would fit into play. When these types of examples are used, your employees will be able to learn better as they can assess the situation to determine what the best course is to take.
With compliance training, it is important as to how the training is presented. Thirty percent of employees feel that when compliance training is made into a game, it is more effective. This means user engagement will be increased, and characteristics of game elements will be applied to the situations.
Provide documents
When going over your compliance training, it is best to provide small tidbits of information from your policy. But do not add all of this in the training itself. You can provide your employees with a copy of the entire policy. Or you may have a central place where the documents are located for your employees to read at their leisure. You might also consider providing employees with a link where they can access the policy online.
Mini-lessons
Small lessons, also called mini-lessons, may be better for your employees to better grasp different objectives. Instead of cramming all your sessions into one lesson, consider smaller chunks to keep your employees interested.
Videos work
There are many different types of videos that can work for your compliance training. With the use of videos, your employees can stay engaged to learn better. In fact, 96% of companies feel that video training does a much better job at training their employees when doing compliance training versus any other method. As for employees, 75% of them stated they would much rather watch videos than read articles, documents, policies, or emails.
- Animation: These videos are most suited for explaining intricate subjects that do not have an easily-recorded visual;
- Live action: This demonstration-style video is perfect for showcasing various role-playing scenarios, such as the interactions that employees and customers would face;
- To-camera: In this video method, a narrator tells the data being covered in an interview-style format, conversing directly to the employee watching; and
- Screen recorded: These videos record the measures taken on a computer, offering a wonderful way for guiding workers through how to use new digital devices.
Implementing compliance training
Wonder what compliance training your company needs to offer? Take a peek at these training sessions to see if they fall into your company category.
Franchise operating
A franchise owner will put into place regulations that must be followed by all franchises.
Food prep, storage, and transportation
Pieces of training fit for restaurants, logistics, hospitality, food, and aviation industries.
Healthcare
Hospital and pharmacy training can also be focused on within many other industries. An example of this may be a material safety data sheet (MSDS) which contains information about various chemicals used in many businesses, such as cleaning products.
Compliance training: A crucial aspect to your company
Take into consideration how important it is to have compliance training for your company. This will provide your employees with the exact information they need to professionally handle any situation they are in.
And when you think of all that is at stake if you do not participate in compliance training, you risk losing a lot. Not only can your company lose revenue, as you may have to spend that on fines, but you could also lose your license to operate your company.
Every company, no matter how large or small, can greatly benefit from compliance training. These are invaluable training that can assist your company in having employees act professionally on the clock.
