Here at Zensai, we spend a lot of time emphasizing the importance of skills training for employees. Some skills and knowledge are simply nice to have because they allow your people to work more effectively. Others, however, are strictly necessary for your business to operate within the confines of the law. So, what is compliance training and why do you need it?
Simply put, compliance training is any form of job training that’s mandated by regulations affecting your industry. You’re legally required to make sure your employees have certified training in these areas before they can work in their role.
That’s because compliance requirements exist to enforce safe and ethical behavior in the workplace. Any customer who enters your place of business, purchases from you, or shares personal data with you has the reasonable expectation that all staff and services meet compliance requirements. Failure to meet these standards has the potential to land your business in hot water, legally speaking.
What is compliance training?
As mentioned, the simplest compliance training definition is any form of certified training made necessary by laws and regulations that your business falls under. That said, there are many different areas of security and compliance training. These include:
- Data-handling regulations, like the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
- Anti-harassment and discrimination laws, such as federal protections against national origin discrimination in the US.
- Health and safety regulations, like food service hygiene laws.
- Certification for operating dangerous machinery, like forklifts, cranes, etc.
Since constantly breathing down the necks of employees isn’t practical, they need compliance training so you can trust them to avoid violations. This training can also help to create a more transparent and effective workplace culture.
Why compliance training is essential
According to the 2023 Global Business Ethics Survey from the Ethics & Compliance Initiative (ECI):
- Global employee pressure to compromise on standards and laws was 29%.
- 65% of employees admitted to witnessing violations within the previous 12 months.
- Fortunately, record rates of employees are reporting violations (72%).
- However, 46% of employees reported experiencing retaliation for reporting violations.
- 87% of employees reported that their workplaces lacked a “strong ethical culture.”
These stats highlight just how prevalent non-compliance at work can be, as well as how powerless employees can feel to speak out against it. But, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, right?
WRONG. Even if your organization has managed to skate by on non-compliance, failing to address these issues can have serious consequences. That’s why improving compliance training isn’t optional.
The legal and ethical risks of non-compliance
Now, you might be wondering, what is compliance training supposed to protect you from?
Since we aren’t a law firm, we won’t be offering any specific legal advice. It’s on you to be aware of the specific laws and regulations you’re subject to, which may vary depending on your industry and where your business operates.
In broad terms, however, failing to meet regulatory requirements with compliance training can have the following consequences:
- Fines, lawsuits and investigations: Failing to meet regulatory requirements leaves you vulnerable to legal action from affected parties or regulatory bodies. GDPR violations, for example, can result in millions of dollars (or euros) in fines, or even a percentage of your global turnover.
Even if you aren’t fined or sued, regulatory investigations can cost you indirectly by disrupting your business. Proper compliance training ensures everything is properly documented so that any regulatory enquiries go smoothly. - Harm from unethical behavior: Legal issues aside, compliance training is intended to prevent harm to employees and customers. Case in point, if you go into a restaurant that doesn’t adhere to health and safety requirements, you run the risk of food poisoning or exposure to allergens.
- Reputational damages: If your business gets a reputation for non-compliance, it can be very difficult to recover. You need compliance training to remain trustworthy to potential customers and business partnerships.
How compliance training benefits businesses
Don’t worry, it’s not all doom and gloom. Proper compliance training isn’t just about avoiding negatives. There can be real net positives for your organization too. These include:
- Increased employee accountability: Compliance training reinforces the idea that you won’t let violations slide, and helps you establish channels for people to report them. Employees are less likely to commit or overlook problematic actions when they’re part of a transparent, compliance-focused work culture.
- Employees can act more confidently: When employees aren’t familiar with compliance requirements, it makes it harder for them to do their jobs. They may be more hesitant to make certain decisions for fear of accidentally breaking the law. Proper training allows them to be more proactive, driven and productive.
- Useful compliance and training data: With the right corporate training software, you’ll collect a lot of useful data around compliance and skills training. Besides being documented evidence, compliance data can offer insights into the daily inner-workings of your business. This is useful for highlighting inefficiencies and keeping costs down.
Training data is equally useful. Teaching everyone in your business compliance skills lets you see your staff training policies in action and find areas for improvement.
Examples of compliance at work
The question remains, what is compliance training supposed to actually look like? So far, we’ve touched on a couple of compliance training examples. Now, let’s look at them in more detail. We’ve outlined four different instances of workplace compliance. Two that are general purpose, and two that are industry-specific.
Anti-discrimination training
Anti-discrimination training plays an essential role in Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI), as well as worker’s rights in general. Failure to protect employees from discrimination at work can leave you vulnerable to legal retaliation. On top of that, research shows that diverse businesses produce more revenue through innovation.
Important areas of anti-discrimination training include:
- Specific anti-discrimination laws affecting your business
- Protected characteristics (such as gender, race, religion or disability status)
- What you can and can’t ask employees or applicants
- Anti-bias training
- Training to prevent bullying and harassment at work
Let’s say a person with a physical disability applies for a role with your business. During the interview, your recruiter asks pointed personal questions about the applicant’s medical history. Then, when they get the job, they find you haven’t implemented basic disability-friendly infrastructure (e.g. access ramps, accessible toilets, office layout spacing, and ergonomic seating).
The employee in question now has multiple grounds to claim discrimination at work, which all could have been prevented with proper compliance training.
Data protection and cybersecurity training
Data protection training is another area that most modern businesses ought to cover. Whether it’s the personal information of employees and customers, or proprietary business knowledge, most organizations have data worth stealing. That’s why there are stringent regulations in place, which determine the obligations of companies handling sensitive data.
Essential aspects of data protection and cybersecurity training include:
- Relevant legislation (like federal data protection laws and the GDPR)
- Internal standards and policies training
- Handling access requests
- Spotting scams and phishing attempts
- Identifying vulnerabilities
- Security requirements (e.g. password strength, encryption and data back-ups)
Imagine you’re contacted by someone claiming to be one of your customers and requesting access to their account and personal information. Anyone with even a basic understanding of data protection should know you don’t just hand over access like that.
At the very least, you need to take them through verification procedures (as dictated by internal standards and policies). For example, you might collect their date of birth, address details, and part of an account number.
Next up, we have two examples based on industries we support with content libraries through Content365: Healthcare and manufacturing!
Compliance in healthcare
What is compliance training, if not an essential part of effective healthcare? Without it, you leave patients vulnerable to medical malpractice, neglect, and outright harm. It’s vital for anyone working in healthcare, from doctors and nurses to orderlies and administrators.
Key compliance areas for healthcare businesses include:
- As usual, key legislation for medical practice and healthcare (such as HIPAA, or the ACA)
- Data protection for patient medical info
- Certifications for administering treatment (such as administering medications, giving CPR, providing disability support, etc)
- Health and safety regulations like hygiene practices
- Official guidance from organizations like the CDC or WHO
There are all kinds of potential consequences for a lack of healthcare compliance, up to and including loss of life. For example, poor health and safety training could lead to surgical suites not being properly sterilized. Improper certification could also lead to unqualified personnel administering treatments, which leaves you vulnerable to medical malpractice claims.
Compliance in manufacturing
Last but not least, let’s look at how manufacturing compliance works. This is largely about a combination of workplace and product safety. Key compliance areas include:
- Laws and regulations as established by groups like OSHA
- Internal workplace safety standards
- Certifications for operating dangerous machinery
- Maintenance and documentation
- Product quality and testing requirements
Without proper compliance, manufacturing workplaces can quickly become incredibly dangerous. All it takes is one forklift accident or missed maintenance check for an employee to suffer a life-altering injury. And claims from employees aren’t the only issue. Product testing failures could release faulty equipment to the general public, which could lead to legal action and costly product recalls.
How an LMS supports compliance training
If this all sounds like a lot to handle, relax. After all, what is compliance training, if not another skill to teach? And all that takes is the right software solution. Of course, we’re not evaluating learning management software today. What we will do, however, is finish up by showing you how an LMS can support business compliance.
Consistent documentation
Documentation is a key aspect of compliance. Things like course sign-ups, progress reports and certifications are evidence that you’ve actually been meeting regulatory training requirements. While it may be busywork, it’s vital.
A good learning management system can streamline and automate this kind of thing. That way, you always have an up-to-date paper trail to prove you’ve done your due diligence.
AI-powered learning management
Don’t underestimate the power of AI in learning management. Besides enabling things like automated analytics and reporting, AI does a lot to enhance the learning experience for end-users.
AI assistants and dashboards can make personalized learning recommendations based on the needs and career aims of individuals. It can help you onboard employees more effectively, so they can start learning compliance skills from day one.
Learning in the flow of work
Learning in the flow of work means eliminating barriers between our workspaces and the ways we learn. For example, the insurance company Youi used Learn365 to enable employee training in the Microsoft 365 tools they already used. This made the system easier for employees to use, and helped it more closely simulate real working challenges.
Cost-effectiveness
The sheer inefficiency of manual management for compliance training makes it inefficient. An LMS offers a much more cost-effective way of coordinating employee training. Besides saving work hours through streamlining and automation, the best learning management systems cover a range of price points for flexibility.
For example, Anjuna Airline Solutions uses the Freemium version of Learn365 for their needs as a small business. With only 40 employees, they’re able to use our software with basically no investment.
Improve your compliance training today!
So, what is compliance training? To recap, it’s an essential process for making sure your business operates on the right side of the law. Beyond that, it benefits your work culture by making employees more careful and discerning.
If you want to learn more, check back soon for our upcoming piece on how to evaluate compliance training software. In the meantime, why not look into Learn365 for all your compliance and skills training needs?
