Common Compliance Training Mistakes Every Organization Must Avoid

Compliance training is a crucial part of an organization’s overall training and development program. This kind of training involves educating employees about the rules and regulations that govern their work environment.

Regulatory bodies and industry-specific associations mandate such training to ensure that employees have the necessary knowledge about compliance topics. Since non-compliance with mandatory regulations can lead to serious charges and penalties, organizations cannot afford to make any mistakes in their compliance training programs.

Unfortunately, a number of organizations do not take compliance training as they should. As a result, they make several mistakes while conducting the mandatory training programs. A compliance learning management system can help your organization streamline its compliance training programs.

However, it is important to have a clear idea about the common compliance training errors that often put organizations at risk of non-compliance.

IMAGE: PEXELS

Mistake 1: Using Lengthy And Unengaging Materials

If the employees at your organization find the compliance training materials monotonous and lengthy, it will fail to engage them. As a result, knowledge retention would drop.

In order to optimize compliance training, organizations need to present the training materials in an engaging and easy-to-understand format, with a focus on efficiency. Your learning management system (LMS) can help you make your training content more engaging.

LMS tools are capable of deconstructing training materials into more manageable, interactive modules. You can also add various multimedia elements, such as animations, videos, and knowledge checks, to make the content more appealing to the employees.

Consider introducing diverse learning options to cater to the different learning needs and preferences of employees.

The one-size-fits-all approach does not work when it comes to employee training. Some individuals learn better through hands-on experience, while some are visual learners. Personalize your compliance training content and ensure your employees can learn about compliance at their preferred pace via their preferred medium.

This makes compliance training a more effective and enjoyable experience for your employees.

Mistake 2: Using Generic Content

Compliance training should be specific to your organization and policies and procedures. Also, certain parts of your compliance training program may not be the same for every industry or organization.

So, before you employ a corporate compliance training module, make sure they are customized to meet the specific needs of your organization. Consider personalizing the following compliance training topics based on your organization’s needs, policies, and procedures.

Healthcare insurance and billing compliance
Evaluation of compliance risk areas
Professional courtesy discounts of services
Hiring practices
Medical records releases and informed consent
Diagnosis and procedure coding for medical services
Business and medical records retention
Medical necessity and documentation
Confidentiality
Environmental concerns
Employee safety, rights, and obligations
Patient rights

While choosing an LMS platform for employee training, make sure you can use the platform to create and upload your own courses. Some platforms offer a few generic compliance training courses that may not be relevant to every organization. Check the usability of the platform and then decide.

With a versatile LMS platform, you can upload your own course and take advantage of useful features like automated reminders, completion certificates, post-course assessments, and tracking. In fact, you can even facilitate compliance automation with the right tools.

Mistake 3: Absence Of Leadership And Commitment

Many organizations see compliance as a formality just to avoid legal penalties. As a result, the employees do not take the training as seriously as they should. If an organization wants its compliance training to be effective, it must display a genuine commitment to ethical conduct.

Strong leadership is essential for the success of compliance training and employee well-being.

A sincere commitment to compliance is essential for a healthy work environment. It helps foster a workplace culture that genuinely values compliance for the welfare of employees and the maintenance of ethical standards. When your entire workforce is sincerely committed to compliance, it creates a safer environment for every employee. It also answers the question, “What is in it for me?” for learners.

When you present compliance training as just another mandatory task to complete, your employees may not understand the importance of it. As they do not take the training seriously, it can impact their overall employee experience.

Instead of telling your team to complete the training and help the organization avoid fines and penalties, tell them that completing this activity will help create a safer workplace for everyone in the organization.

The latter approach fosters a sense of shared responsibility while highlighting the personal benefits of compliance.

Mistake 4: Lack Of Continuous Training

A majority of compliance regulations are updated annually. Since regulatory bodies conduct audits once a year, many organizations conduct the compliance training close to the regulatory deadlines.

While the organizations try to close compliance gaps, it becomes quite hectic for the employees to complete mandatory training in such a short timeframe. As they rush through the training materials, they experience poor knowledge retention.

Also, completing a whole year’s training materials in a few weeks (or days) severely impacts their daily tasks.

Organizations can tackle these challenges by implementing continuous compliance. Instead of asking your employees to finish the entire training within a few weeks, break up the compliance training program into multiple manageable modules.

This process, also referred to as microlearning, will enable employees to follow the guidelines more effectively. Also, learning about a compliance topic over multiple bit-sized segments promotes knowledge retention.

Continuous compliance training eliminates the risk of information overload. This way, employees can complete the compliance training programs throughout the year. As a result, they remain informed about the compliance regulations the entire year. Also, they can work safely as they practice compliance all year round.

Mistake 5: Inadequate Assessment And Feedback

Another major mistake most organizations make is not evaluating employee comprehension and progress in compliance training. If you simply facilitate compliance training and do not check employee progress, you may fail to notice the knowledge gap and lack of comprehension.

Any training program that prioritizes memorization over comprehension limits the application of acquired knowledge.

While memorization has its importance in compliance training, it may not be ideal for employees who need to effectively apply the data in practical scenarios. You can take advantage of a learning management system (LMS) to introduce regular assessments that prioritize comprehension of data instead of just memorization.

The assessment process may include scenario-based questions that require critical thinking to answer. This may allow the employees to analyze and apply their knowledge in real-life situations.

You can explore different assessment types within your LMS platform. Some of the common assessment types include role-playing exercises, video assessments, and other interactive formats. You should also focus on offering immediate feedback to help your employees learn from their mistakes.

This will allow them to continuously improve their compliance knowledge.

Wrapping Up

Organizations can reduce the risk of non-compliance by choosing a reliable LMS platform for their compliance training programs. However, it is important for the organization and its training and development teams to acknowledge the challenges faced by individual learners.

While avoiding the aforementioned mistakes can improve training outcomes, organizations must focus on creating a culture of continuous learning for long-term success.