Suppose you need to run to a surprise birthday party for a colleague, but that requires securing your desk so that no sensitive information is at risk. Line up multi-step tasks that mimic real-life decision-making, with a timer that adds a gaming element to increase engagement.
The above example might represent the modern-day scenario for working professionals in the near future. Take these as one of the tweaks that can add a fun element to a workplace.
Fun, interactive, and visual training are on the rise, as many executives struggle to achieve balance between managing staff and addressing business demands. There always remains a competition for their time and energy. Reasons and concerns, such as “to foster an ethical culture” or “building a culture of compliance,” can seem tertiary to other pressing priorities at any given point.
The ubiquity of corporate misconduct is overwhelming, in spite of the staggering amount that industries spend on compliance efforts — be it training or other systems designed to prevent and detect violations of laws, regulations, and policies.
The phrase "you can’t manage what you can’t measure" sounds cliche, but it stands true. People who are decision-makers in industries strive for the industry journey that lies ahead — they continuously make rapid assessments of the organization’s current state.
And in the current scenario, the ability to reach learners via digital channels and understanding learner preferences becomes important. Everyone is now aware that it is imperative in shaping a potential digital roadmap.
What moves the needle for the learning professionals?
Gone are the days when just the training completion rates stood relevant for a firm. Currently, the priority remains building a comprehensive compliant training program for learning individuals. And Elearning helps in such cases.
A meaningful measure of effectiveness is directly tied to a clear outcome. Elearning programs or similar types of training aim at employees’ demonstrated understanding of policies and procedures, and their acquisition of useful skills for confronting anticipated scenarios.
Plus, their ability to discern the type of situations that pose risks, identifying the one at risk, along with deciding the best course of action to address the risk or a change in their behavior.
Compliance. Normally, it remains everyone’s groan and moan in the workplace, but does it have to be? Not really! Compliance topics can be interesting, compelling, and critical — but only given the kind of delivery that the learners are receiving. Via mediums such as Elearning, they can cater to a critical mass that is fun, thought-provoking, and relevant for our learners.
Build a Comprehensive Elearning Program in Just 5 Easy Steps
Step 1 – Imagine Yourself as a Learner
This can be tricky as one begins to design eLearning, but imagine what your learner might see as you begin to design. Will they know how to navigate the course, or is it confusing? Can your course work well with screen readers and keyboard tools, or does it require a mouse? Familiarize yourself and search answers for such questions with the best practices for design before you begin.
Step 2 – Understand the Requirements and Gather Resources
One does not need to reinvent the wheel here – new technologies to design accessible eLearnings pop up every day. As a result of the questions you imagine, understanding that training associates in the compliance topic is legally required makes it must-have training. If that’s the case, understanding the requirements and their points of impact on the organization, management, and associates will be critical to every step going forward.
Step 3 – Mapping the Points that Seem Impactful
Elearning is the read-and-click approach to delivering required compliance material, necessary training when it is valiantly being dressed-up with animations, interactions, games, and quizzes. But mapping the ‘most important’ that constitute:
- Situations with life-and-death implications
- Areas of industrial risks
- Site emergencies
Step 4 – Create Effective and Engaging Compliance Elearning Solutions
Creating training solutions is an intricate process that takes time. Mapping helps move things towards the next steps of scripting and development. While creating the content, one needs to:
- Provide examples of cause, highlighting instances when a safety-compliant behavior is applicable.
- Give examples of effect that show the outcomes of applying (or failing to apply) compliance guidelines.
- Display
a sense of feeling, and illustrate the emotions that may be present when
someone faces a compliance-related decision.
Presentation of skills, knowledge, and concepts should be done through a variety of video content, graphic content, written notes, and activities like branching scenarios and group assignments.
Step 5 – Provide Access to Assistance and Gain Training Effectiveness
One needs to create a feedback loop that helps build better learning. On the organizational level, going full distance with evaluations requires organizational buy-in. Participation of departments across your organization is needed. Some informal, yet qualitative approaches help – like anecdotal evidence and surveys.
In the case of the Elearning service provider, the team needs to make sure that all accessible eLearning courses come with help. When possible, it’s important that they are offered multiple methods of contact to ask for help, including live chats, phone, and emails. This ensures that all employees have a way to get the required assistance that works best for them.
Let’s bring virtual training full circle – compliance safety training is serious stuff that brings real positive implications. Active content is content that further engages learners in thinking, problem-solving, and practicing their knowledge and skills.
Content curation should be efficient, providing learners with a more varied perspective and interesting collection of learning activities to engage with.
For more on compliance eLearning solutions, visit Core EHS HSE eLearning.