How to create an effective compliance training for employees

There are norms and rules in all companies that employees must follow.

They differ from company to company, so even an experienced worker may not be fully competent in all nuances when starting a new job. Adhering to such rules is mandatory and not up for debate. These rules are known as compliance.

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Compliance training is an essential element of employee training in any responsible company. If the company is small, such training might be done personally and individually. However, even in a small company, this involves costs and organisational complexities; as the size grows, automating this process becomes critical.

This article focuses on what employee compliance training is, why it is essential, what topics it may include, and what can help you create a quality compliance training program.

What is compliance
Topics typically included in compliance training
How to organise staff compliance training
FAQ

What is compliance?

According to the Cambridge Business Dictionary, compliance is defined as
"the fact of obeying a particular law or rule or acting according to an agreement".
In relevance to the workplace, compliance encompasses a set of rules and laws adopted by the company, thereby ensuring its reliability, security, and adherence to legal norms existing in the regions where the company operates.

Non-compliance can have dangerous consequences, such as information leaks, phishing, conflicts, an unhealthy team atmosphere, the spread of
negative information about the company, and associated legal, financial,
and reputational risks.

That is precisely why it is so crucial that all employees, particularly those with access to sensitive and confidential information, such as financial or personal data, rigorously follow the established rules.

Topics typically included in compliance training

General rules in companies can cover various areas, yet there are common topics often included in employee compliance training. Here is a list of them:

🦺

Workplace safety

(Occupational Safety and Health Administration, OSHA regulations). This item is particularly relevant for industries involving physical labour and machinery that can pose a hazard.

Workplace compliance training includes descriptions of potential threats to health and life and how to avoid them, emergency guidelines, rules for equipment handling, and more.
🔒

Cybersecurity,

a crucial point for companies handling data.
Cybersecurity training covers protecting company and client data and devices from hacking, including specific password recommendations, recognising potentially harmful mail, links or software, and following basic rules for protecting personal devices.
More on cybersecurity can be read in a separate article.
🗂️

Personal data and medical information protection

(e.g., GDPR – General Data Protection Regulation or HIPAA –
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act).
Various documents and laws regulate handling personal data depending on the industry and country where the company operates, so specific recommendations can vary, but the essence remains the same: employees with access to client information, including personal, medical or financial, must clearly know and follow the rules for handling it.
📋

Company values

Companies often adopt the practice of sharing specific values
that shape their public image; in such cases, it's crucial to instil these values not only in management representatives or employees interacting with clients but also among all ordinary workers. Information such as what can and cannot be disseminated about the company or how to behave on social networks can be dedicated to separate educational materials if these points are important for the organisation.
☑️

Diversity and inclusion

This item addresses specific ethical issues related to differences in employees' backgrounds. It highlights that company employees should have equal opportunities and a respectful environment regardless of their cultural, ethnic, and religious affiliations, gender, sexual orientation, and other individual characteristics not related to their job performance.
🛑

Anti-harassment

and other points related to injustice detection within the company environment. Such compliance employee training explains how to recognise harassment, discrimination, bullying, etc.

The educational product dedicated to these issues should clearly define the actions an employee should take to report the discovered problem.
🚣

Anger management, violence prevention,

and other items aimed at maintaining a healthy workplace environment. Such training helps understand one's and others' emotions, minimise conflicts, recognise aggression, and respond appropriately to discomfort in the work atmosphere.
🫸

Fighting corruption and bribery.

Bribery or corruption can seriously negatively impact a company's image, though it is relatively easy for employees to make mistakes
in this area. Therefore, many companies pay particular attention
to training on this issue.

This is an approximate set of topics that can be covered in compliance training.
The actual scope of each company may be larger or smaller.

Some of the issues listed above may be irrelevant for certain industries; at the same time, any company might have its important specifics and types of compliance not described in this article.

How to organise staff compliance training

To decide how compliance training should be organised in a specific company, you need to answer several questions outlined below:

1. Do you prefer single or multiple educational solutions?

Depending on the number of topics relevant to your industry, determine

the amount of material.

If there's a lot of material, it might be a good idea to break the compliance training into separate educational solutions for specific topics and spread them out over time for better material absorption.

In this case, the most important topics (e.g., related to safety and information protection) should be assigned for study first, while less critical topics related

to the workplace atmosphere might be slightly postponed.

2. Do you need separate training for different roles?

This question is related to the format and size of the organisation and the differentiation of roles in the company.

You can reduce the number of training for regular employees without access to some information and equipment and, conversely, prepare separate educational modules or courses for employees whose roles involve increased risks.

3. What training format should you choose?

This is a regular question when creating any learning solution.

Different topics can use different formats: describing situations at work and developing soft skills work well through introducing characters and work-related scenarios with decision-making. For equipment handling, displaying interfaces and step-by-step action descriptions can be helpful, as well as options for downloading the primary information might also be beneficial. Some points are easier to demonstrate using videos, while others should be shown through well-structured text with illustrations and tasks ensuring material understanding.

To make the correct choice of format, you can seek advice from learning experience designer s – professionals who can clearly explain which form can work better for every material variety.

4. How do you determine which topics should be included in compliance training?

First and foremost, focus on minimising risks following the specifics of the industry and the countries or regions where the company operates. Organise training in such a way as to avoid legal, financial, and reputational losses.

Analyse how relevant the issues related to maintaining a comfortable work atmosphere are for you and which specific aspects in this regard should be emphasised; for example, training for online and offline companies in this area can differ. Remember that you can supplement and improve your training as you work, creating new modules or separate courses.

5. How do you motivate employees to take training?

Introduce a recognition system for employees who have passed a certain educational product. At the same time, you can use restrictions, for example, limiting access to medical information if the employee still needs to complete training explaining how to manage it properly.

To ensure that employees consciously undergo the assigned training,

create a well-composed assessment – quizzes or scenarios that check understanding of the studied topic.

6. Which platform should be used to host the educational materials?

Many companies use their own platforms (Learning Management Systems, LMS) for internal educational products, which provides maximum flexibility in settings.

If the company does not have its platform for online courses, a ready-made solution can be used. To learn more about LMSs, you can explore this article.

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Overall, creating compliance training is a multifaceted and complex task that requires a thoughtful approach. However, despite the volume and complexity of the work, this is an issue that should not be addressed as a residual, as the success and well-being of the entire company directly depend on how compliance-aware your employees are.

FAQ

Kseniia Putilova

Instructional designer

My favourite activities are designing edutainment, consulting, and course review. I can tell you what is not so good about your course and what we should do to fix it.

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How to create an effective compliance training for employees

What is compliance?

Topics typically included in compliance training

How to organise staff compliance training

FAQ

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