Compliance training isn’t exactly anyone’s idea of fun.
It’s (often) mandatory, and there are (often) fines if you don’t do it right.
OSHA, HIPAA, GDPR: These are acronyms that strike fear into the hearts of many.
Nevertheless, a well-executed compliance training program has many benefits.
It’s not just about risk management and avoiding possible fines from regulatory bodies.
We’ve created this guide to convince you that compliance training is both necessary and valuable—for your company, employees, and other stakeholders.
You will discover:
- What compliance training is and why it matters
- The many benefits a compliance training program offers
Now, let’s get right into it and have some fun with compliance training!
What is compliance training?
Compliance training is a kind of employee training that laws, regulations, or corporate policy mandates. Training courses cover subjects such as data protection, health and safety, and diversity training.
It’s a process that makes your employees aware of all the relevant laws, regulations, and company policies concerning the functions of your organization and their roles within it.
There are two main types of compliance.
Regulatory compliance has to do with regulations that are mandatory for your sector by law. This includes industry-specific workplace safety as described in OSHA rules, HIPAA for the healthcare industry, and so on.
Corporate compliance deals with industry policies and procedures and any applicable laws that often vary by location. It allows a company to operate safely and efficiently in line with the vision of its founders.
Compliance training topics are often decided by governmental regulatory agencies, but that doesn’t mean learning experience design has to take a back seat.
Leveraging e-learning features such as gamification, interactive activities, and simulations can bring dull training material to life and make it stick in learners’ minds.
Compliance training programs are typically made up of theoretical modules and interactive quizzes to test employees’ knowledge.
Since organizations need to provide proof that compliance training has been completed, most companies deliver compliance training through a Learning Management System (LMS). That way, they can closely monitor all training activities in the organization, including compliance topics.
In the next section, we’ll look at why compliance training is so important.
Why is compliance training important?
The news is full of examples of companies landing in hot water over regulatory non-compliance.
In the process, they lose both money and reputation.
According to the Association of Corporate Counsel, every dollar allocated to compliance training decreases fines, damages, and settlements by $1.37.
Also, organizations that invest an above-average amount into their compliance training courses can see 45 percent higher average returns than the S&P 500 index.
In brief, effective compliance training will reduce your financial risk, make your employees more productive and engaged, and maintain your organization's reputation.
We’ll now go over the main areas that show the importance of compliance training.
1. Ensure your workplace is free from violence, harassment, and bullying
A big part of creating a welcoming company culture is making sure there is no violence, harassment, or bullying going on.
Anti-harassment training covers harassment and bullying in general, as well as sexual harassment.
Your employees deserve a work environment that is free of workplace violence of any kind. And it’s your organization’s responsibility to build a safe and inclusive culture.
After anti-harassment training, your employees should understand what sort of behaviors are inappropriate in the workplace. Your code of conduct should also outline your anti-bullying and sexual harassment policies.
To remove discrimination from the workplace, many organizations add unconscious bias training to their mandatory corporate training programs.
Investing in compliance training is a great way to avoid inappropriate behavior, bullying, or discrimination in the workplace and potential lawsuits.
2. Ensure safety in the workplace
Workplace safety should be a primary concern. Governments tend to agree, and in the United States, this area falls under the purview of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
That’s why workplace safety is one of the most important types of compliance training.
Exactly what to include in it can be department or industry-specific.
For instance, construction and manufacturing companies will need to provide training in fall protection, ladder safety, machine guarding, and other training depending on the job function.
In the healthcare industry, employees may need to receive training material on airborne pathogens and safe needle disposal.
Training employees on compliance doesn’t just create a safe workplace, it protects your company culture too. Offering workplace safety training reduces the risk of accidents and injury. As a result, employees feel safe, confident, and engaged.
3. Reduce absence due to injuries
Injury-related absenteeism is a major issue, especially in manufacturing, so following proper workplace safety protocols as part of regulatory compliance training is vital.
An effective compliance program will teach employees how to minimize the chance of injury as well as how to identify potential hazards.
According to a recent study from Amdocs, 61 percent of employees in the US would like to see their employers invest more in health and wellness programs.
Better corporate compliance training can be a part of the initiative to make your workers safer and healthier.
Many companies choose to conduct their workplace safety as part of onboarding so that new employees know from day one how to keep safe and avoid injuries.
Worker illness and injury cost US employers $225.8 billion annually. If you want to avoid becoming part of that total, invest in good compliance training.
4. Increase employee satisfaction and productivity
These days, it’s typical to talk about employee satisfaction and engagement in terms of the perks the employer can offer. Whether it’s a nap room or a good talent development program, these perks are powerful motivators.
But, there is the saying—one must walk before one can run.
All the perks in the world won’t mean much if your work environment doesn’t pass basic safety, security, anti-harassment, and ethics regulations.
After all, can anyone feel satisfied and engaged if they don’t feel safe and secure at work?
5. Minimize the risk of legal actions
Every company on the planet has exposure to all sorts of legal risks, so the best they can do is try to minimize them.
Compliance training is an important part of this.
On the regulatory compliance front, it’ll be less likely for a fine from a regulatory agency to hit you.
Good corporate compliance training makes incidents of sexual harassment or workplace violence less likely. But, even if incidents do happen, you’ll be in a better legal position if you can show that employees undergo training to prevent them.
This way, the legal burden shifts from the company onto the direct offenders.
For both regulatory and corporate compliance, the key is to generate an audit trail.
This trail clearly shows that you mandate compliance training, and your workers complete it.
A great way to manage this is to track everything through an LMS, such as Docebo. With Docebo, your HR and L&D teams can pull LMS reports to show that all employees are up-to-date on their mandatory training.
Docebo’s custom reporting also allows you to see how learners performed on quizzes and assessments. That way, you can identify knowledge gaps and plug those efficiently.
6. Ensure your workplace is free from substance abuse
Substance abuse is a serious issue facing some 12.3 million American adults. Of those, 77 percent are in employment.
Employee drug use increases absenteeism and the number of sick days, reducing productivity.
Those who come to work under the influence can cause serious accidents.
As a result, many employers choose to add substance abuse awareness training to their compliance training program.
This way, you can preempt serious incidents while also encouraging anyone suffering from substance abuse to seek help.
7. Ensure you collect and store information securely
Information security training is a must for today’s companies. If you have any EU customers, you are subject to GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation).
GDPR is a stringent and wide-reaching set of rules around cybersecurity, personal data, and everything related to how people collect, process, and store customer data.
Your organization is responsible for delivering the proper data protection training to employees. Failure to do so can lead to hefty consequences.
It’s up to your business to comply with the relevant rules and regulations in your industry.
For healthcare in the US, the main regulation to follow is HIPAA. It’s a complex set of rules, and the fines for non-compliance are steep.
In 2017, Florida-based Memorial Healthcare System had to pay $5.5 million due to several employees within the company accessing privileged patient data.
To avoid this, you must train your employees on the rules around handling customer data.
In the next section, we’ll recap everything.
Ready to develop & improve compliance training?
Compliance training may not be the most glamorous thing your company will ever do, but the benefits are evident.
So are the risks. Non-compliance can result in legal action and potential penalties.
But it goes beyond just avoiding fines. Proper corporate compliance training means that employees and stakeholders are aware of all the relevant laws, regulations, and company policies and procedures. This keeps them safe, secure, and confident at work.
A high-powered LMS, such as Docebo, can support your organization in meeting compliance standards and increasing workforce efficiency. With Docebo, you can deliver and track mandatory training in your organization, minimizing potential risks in your business.