Elephant in the room

Let’s get real about compliance training. We hate it! Not only do we hate taking compliance training courses, but we hate building them even more.

There. I said it.

Oh! Hello Mr. Elephant sitting in the room! Would it be okay if we called you Compliance Training just for today?

Yea, I know you’ve been sitting in the L&D room for a long time. And for SO many reasons. Sorry about that. Today I just need you to be “Compliance Training” okay?

Cool! Thank you.

Recently I tweeted a question, asking if anyone has ever taken a compliance training event that they really enjoyed. Nobody responded. Of course that doesn’t really equate to any sort of real survey but it’s enough for me to recall the many instances of compliance training that I’ve endured over the years.

There is a difference between mandatory training and compliance training. And while compliance training is always mandatory, not all mandatory training is compliance training. The difference is basically whether or not a governing body outside the company can enforce laws requiring that your business be compliant with the documented rules.

Sexual harassment training is probably the first training course you thought of, right? On a personal note I find it quite sad that we need a law mandating training on how, basically, to not be a jerk. And seriously, does anyone really think that an hour, or two, or eight, sitting in a classroom is going to change a lifetime of bad behavior? No. It’s actually more about learning how the law defines sexual harassment, and knowing the legal, and business, consequences for sexually harassing someone. The good news is that reports of sexual harassment to the EEOC have been declining…slowly…but at least they aren’t going up, right?

So why do we hate it?

There is very little room for creativity when designing a compliance course. Most of what needs to be taught is outlined in the rules, or law. And we all hate being on the learning side of a compliance course for the same reason everyone else hates it: We have no internal motivation to learn the content. If we did, it would not be a problem in need of a law forcing us to be compliant.

If you are in charge of the training function, compliance training courses are the best training packages to purchase instead of create. You’re likely overwhelmed with training requests as it is. There are a lot of compliance training content libraries available. If you’re new to your organization, be sure to check with HR first. Most compliance training is part of HR services. If that is the case for you, then you will want to keep that in mind when looking for a learning management system.

Compliance training is a necessary part of your role, if you are dealing with employee training. Even if it’s already part of an automated system within HR you will need to understand how to manage it at some level.

As always, don’t be afraid to reach out and just #askBschlenker @bschlenker.[:in]Elephant in the room

Let’s get real about compliance training. We hate it! Not only do we hate taking compliance training courses, but we hate building them even more.

There. I said it.

Oh! Hello Mr. Elephant sitting in the room! Would it be okay if we called you Compliance Training just for today?

Yea, I know you’ve been sitting in the L&D room for a long time. And for SO many reasons. Sorry about that. Today I just need you to be “Compliance Training” okay?

Cool! Thank you.

Recently I tweeted a question, asking if anyone has ever taken a compliance training event that they really enjoyed. Nobody responded. Of course that doesn’t really equate to any sort of real survey but it’s enough for me to recall the many instances of compliance training that I’ve endured over the years.

There is a difference between mandatory training and compliance training. And while compliance training is always mandatory, not all mandatory training is compliance training. The difference is basically whether or not a governing body outside the company can enforce laws requiring that your business be compliant with the documented rules.

Sexual harassment training is probably the first training course you thought of, right? On a personal note I find it quite sad that we need a law mandating training on how, basically, to not be a jerk. And seriously, does anyone really think that an hour, or two, or eight, sitting in a classroom is going to change a lifetime of bad behavior? No. It’s actually more about learning how the law defines sexual harassment, and knowing the legal, and business, consequences for sexually harassing someone. The good news is that reports of sexual harassment to the EEOC have been declining…slowly…but at least they aren’t going up, right?

So why do we hate it?

There is very little room for creativity when designing a compliance course. Most of what needs to be taught is outlined in the rules, or law. And we all hate being on the learning side of a compliance course for the same reason everyone else hates it: We have no internal motivation to learn the content. If we did, it would not be a problem in need of a law forcing us to be compliant.

If you are in charge of the training function compliance training is the best training to purchase instead of create. You are likely overwhelmed with training requests as it is. There are a lot of compliance training content libraries available. If you are new to your organization, be sure to check with HR first. Most compliance training is part of HR services. If that is the case for you, then you will want to keep that in mind when looking for a learning management system.

Compliance training is a necessary part of your role, if you are dealing with employee training. Even if it’s already part of an automated system within HR you will need to understand how to manage it at some level.

As always, don’t be afraid to reach out and just #askBschlenker @bschlenker.