Welcome aboard Flight 245. Please pay attention while we conduct our safety training. Here is a seat belt that must be worn while flying. In order to buckle your seat belt, place the metal tab into the open slot after lifting the tab. Then tighten the belt across your lap.”
Important? Yes. But almost every passenger knows how to fasten a seat belt, having done it thousands of times in their lives. Aviation rules require this information be retaught on every flight, regardless of the passengers’ existing knowledge. And, most of us pay less than 100 percent attention.
Today, compliance and regulatory rules shape much of workplace learning. In some organizations, as much as 70 percent of learning, as measured by worker hours, is dedicated to training or retraining employees on topics defined by mandated regulatory courses.
Keeping our workforce current and skilled on required topics is important; however, the growth of compliance and regulatory training is creating shifts in the corporate learning brand and might actually reduce employee attention, engagement and focus on key issues. Here are a few trends worth considering:
E-learning brand erosion: The greatest growth in compliance and regulatory training is seen in e-learning design models. E-learning is often considered a perfect format to deliver trackable employee exposure and mastery of regulation-based training; however, it is sometimes changing the e-learning brand to be very check-the-box and focused on rules instead of on performance improvement.
Re-teaching fatigue: Compliance and regulatory specifications often require regular, repetitive presentations like the aforementioned seat belt example. Many workers wonder why they need to sit through repeat presentations rather than take part in strategic retesting.
Legal staff confused about learning: Your corporate legal staff members make decisions about how to interpret regulatory requirements. They want to reduce the risk for the organization to be fined, sued or attacked in the media for noncompliance. However, check-the-box training does not necessarily protect the organization as deeply as previously thought. Furthermore, the legal staff does not have the perspective on how compliance training plays out in terms of employeeperception or total wage costs in learning time.
My organization is quite concerned about the almost unlimited growth of compliance and regulatory learning loads in the workplace. We are exploring alternative models that include:
Test, teach, test vs. re-teach: When certifying that an employee knows the required content or skills, let’s move to a pre-test mode. Start with a detailed test before presenting the information. Then, provide focused teaching on only those areas where learners lack knowledge. Follow and complete with a final test on those missing items.
Sampling vs. universal testing: What if we added sample testing as an option for some regular compliance cycles? Imagine administering a detailed compliance test to a quarterly sample of 2 to 5 percent of employees in a business unit. Patterns of compliance will emerge, which are often reflections of manager and culture focus on regulatory behaviors.
Performance support and compliance: There is a shift in how employees learn content, with increased use of online search as an alternative to memorization. As we incorporate more job aids and online performance support, compliance measures should shift to navigational access vs. memorization.
Legal, risk, learning and regulatory conversations: It is time for organizations to engage their corporate legal counsel, risk management offices, learning/talent leaders and regulatory agency staff in fresh conversations about strategic ways to honor compliance requirements. Together, these groups can develop more realistic and enduring approaches.
If we measure the loaded costs of wage hours and employee brand reaction against uncontrolled compliance training growth, we can see a crisis brewing. Yes, I want every passenger to have a seat belt safely fastened, but what if the flight attendant could say, “Everyone put on your seat belts,” and then check the passengers on either side of the aisle to make sure everyone is ready for a safe flight? It is time for a fresh look at the compliance and learning crisis.
