How To Mix Up Compliance Training And Make It More Engaging For New And Veteran Employees
If your organization is anything like mine, every year staff has to complete compliance training. You know, fire safety, harassment, etc. in order to be deemed competent by the regulatory bodies of our industry. For new employees this is fine, as they need to know how our organization deals with these topics. For staff who have been here for 10+ years, this information is not new and seems like a waste of time. So, how can organizations mix up compliance training so that the new employees get the information and the veteran employees aren’t bored to death?
Here are 6 tips you can follow.
1. Create Scenario-Based Modules
Create scenario-based modules that give the staff scenarios that they could encounter and give them an opportunity to learn how to deal with them. Have the Best answer, an OK answer, and the wrong answer with explanations of why these answers are this way. Some staff will go through the entire module just to see why the OK and wrong answers aren’t the Best answer. This gives the staff a risk-free environment to interact with the topics and to understand the best way to deal with these topics when they encounter them in their work.
2. Start Out With Questions To See What The Staff Knows
If the question is answered correctly, the information section that deals with that question is skipped and the staff can answer the question for the next section. This way, the veteran staff can get through the information quickly while those who don’t understand the material are given the opportunity to learn more about it. This curtails to the new employee and the veteran employees and gives them the best of both worlds.
3. Incorporate Critical Thinking
Many compliance training modules have the answers in the module and staff just have to remember the information and spit out the answer at the end. This is not really learning as most staff forget what they answered once the training is over. If giving information, have questions that make the staff think. Give the information but then formulate a question that makes the staff think about how to use this information on their job instead of just spit out the exact wording that was given.
4. Integrate Tool Use Into The Learning
If a tool should be used to find information while on the job, have the staff use that tool or choose which tool to use to give them that real scenario feel. This way, the staff have to use their resources for the module just like they would on the job for this situation.
5. Mix It Up
Don’t have all the modules as scenarios-based or all as information and questions. Create variety so the staff don’t know what to expect and can be surprised when there is a different activity. Instead of asking a multiple choice question, have a drag and drop or a sequence question. By giving variety inside the modules, the staff will be more willing to take them to see how they were presented this time.
6. Get Feedback
Ask staff which modules they liked and why. When trying new things, find out if the staff liked the new way or if they have suggestions on how to improve the topics or the documentation of the learning. Did they like the drag and drop question better than the multiple choice question or the scenarios better than straight questions and answers? Getting feedback from the staff lets them know that you value their input and want to find out the best way to present them with the information. Also, by giving variety inside the modules, this shows the staff that you are trying to make the information more meaningful to them and this will encourage them to give you more feedback.
Final Word
Creating compliance training year after year can be difficult to keep the attention of the staff, including the Instructional Designer. Being creative in how the information is presented and by challenging the staff, the information can have more meaning and, hopefully, stick more in their mind when these topics come up on the job.
