Employees Disengaged with Online Compliance Training? 5 Ways to Fix It!

As a training manager, you might have noticed that mandatory compliance training is not something employees embrace with ease. Neither are they the least bit enthusiastic about it. This is something you might be worried about as being disengaged with online compliance training means employees have not grasped how to act compliantly, putting your reputation at risk.

Are you wondering if there is something you can do about this? Well, we are right here to offer you a helping hand. Like the saying ‘A spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down’, all you need to do is use a spoonful of the right strategies within an online compliance training course to pull learners toward the compliance course. Here are a few strategies we have been using to deliver engaging compliance courses to our clients:

Strategies to Liven Up Online Compliance Training

1. Make Online Compliance Training Realistic

The major reason employees do not take online compliance training seriously is because they do not know the actual purpose. Since the training is usually mandatory, they end up feeling they are being forced. Remember the good old principles of Adult learning by Malcolm Knowles? One of the five principles says, adults are more interested in engaging with subjects that have immediate relevance and impact on their jobs.

Hence it is highly vital to link compliance training to the real world and on-the- job situations to make learners understand that the training being provided indeed will have an impact on their job. The introduction screen of the course should provide the key takeaways, thus making it clear to them as to why it is necessary to take it up. 

How we used this: One of our clients wanted to train its employees on the risks of improper information security. We decided to use a scenario-based approach to train employees. We let learners choose the character they prefer from a list such as ‘Vigilant Vicki’, and ‘Delusional Donnie’, after which they were taken to various scenarios pertaining to information security. They were then assessed on how they would tackle those situations if they were to face them in real life. This allowed learners to identify how information security pertains to their work.

2. Keep Online Compliance Training Short and Focused

It is often noticed that the important aspects of compliance training are lost within a sea of information. This is another reason learners cannot relate to online compliance training as topics of compliance, be it laws or policies are often very lengthy. As long as you do not provide information that is on the point and makes sense to learners, there is no way they are going to pay attention. Hence, ensure you break the training content into different modules making it short, crisp, and focused.

Well, this is exactly what microlearning is all about. Delivering training using the microlearning strategy helps learners focus on one single learning objective per module. Additionally, microlearning can be delivered in a wide variety of formats such as videos, infographics, PDFs, and podcasts. For example, you can train your employees on the laws pertaining to the prevention of sexual harassment using a video-based approach.

3. Present Actual Case Studies of Positive Experiences

Compliance training is all about providing training to employees to ensure they stay compliant. Another great way to train them on this topic and help them understand the relevance is by presenting actual case studies within the course. Specifically speaking, case studies of situations where staying compliant benefitted organizations can be presented. Once learners are aware of how staying compliant in a particular situation helps, they will definitely realize the importance of the course, paying more attention and changing their attitude toward online compliance training.

For example, if you want to deliver a training program on fire safety measures, you can provide learners with a case study of how adhering to fire safety measures aided in reducing the overall fire accidents within an organization. This will help them understand the benefits of the training.

4. Make Online Compliance Training Interactive

Making your online compliance training passive is the last thing you should do. Instead of providing chunks of texts on static slides, make it as interactive as possible. For example, use the scenario-based approach. Take learners through hypothetical scenarios they would face in their workplace and ask them how they would deal with it. This will make them think, not making the learning passive anymore. Or you can gamify the course and introducing a leaderboard to reward employees who complete courses the fastest or score the highest in the assessments. 

How we used this: One of our clients wanted to train its employees on a few new updates to their data privacy policy. We decided to use a gamified course to deliver training. After introducing the new updates to the learners, they were taken to an ‘Employee Personal Data Privacy Challenge’ where they had to face a few fictitious scenarios related to handling personal data. Once learners analyzed the given situation, they were asked to respond to a set of scenario-based questions. On answering them, learners scored points, thus instilling a sense of competition and increasing the engagement quotient. 

5. Go Mobile

Do not restrict the choice of accessing compliance training to just the desktop. Learners should be given the flexibility to choose the medium in which they can access training. According to recent statistics, 64% of learners find accessing training content from a mobile device essential/useful than accessing from desktops. Hence ensure your online compliance courses are truly responsive, allowing learners to access courses as and when they want to, rather than when they are required to.

At times, delivering an entire compliance course in a mobile device will not be possible. In this case, micro videos, PDFs, infographics, etc., can be provided, covering important aspects such as ‘Things to Remember’ or ‘Dos and Don’ts’. These act as a mode of performance support, allowing learners to access relevant information as and when they require it.

Yes, online compliance training might not be so well received at times but making it as engaging as possible is your task. Making the course engaging, keeping the above 5 factors in mind, will definitely ensure your employees do focus on the training and thus comply with the regulations. Interested to know more such tips? Download the free eBook to get instant access to 32 amazing eLearning eHacks!