You know that no one will memorize everything in your training course; that’s unreasonable. But the great news is that they don’t need to. Compliance is an open book test!
Move past the quizzes and scope your training around:
- What specifically your people need to do to avoid unnecessary risk
- When they should seek out guidance from a subject matter expert
And that’s it. As soon as you cross the line into explaining legal concepts and complex what-if scenarios, you’ve started training them on how to be a compliance officer, not a marketer, salesperson, accountant, or whatever they actually do at your company.
Your goal should be to reduce the burden on employees by keeping messages simple, like:
- “Disclose your personal interests when they arise using this disclosure form.”
- “Call privacy when X, Y, Z happens.”
- “If someone offers or asks you to pay a bribe, call the legal team as soon as possible.”
For everything that happens during a routine process, or if there’s a trigger-event you can monitor for, deliver training in the moment.
The power of real-time training
Just-in-time training (or JIT for short) is pretty self explanatory, but what may not be obvious is how insanely better this approach is. No matter how slick your training is, if you’re delivering it on an arbitrary schedule, it will never be more than a check-the-box activity in the minds of your employees.
I know that cuts deep so I’ll let that sit for a moment …
Source: Unknown on TikTok via Giphy.com
If you want people to view compliance as part of their job, make it part of their job. Otherwise, you’ll forever be refreshing your content so folks don’t get bored with it, which isn’t the problem that you were hired to solve, and it just creates more busy work for you. Training should provide the guidance necessary to avoid costly mistakes—nothing less, nothing more. And that’s where JIT training comes in. Cut to the chase and give people the information they need, when they need it, without five minutes of corporate ethics statements to sift through. 🙄
Here’s the kicker: you don’t need any fancy, expensive technology to accomplish this. It can be as simple as a printed poster or having hard hats at the entrance of a warehouse. Let’s dig in …
Beyond the buzzwords: practical examples
Every org is different so you’ll want to sit down with the people at yours who (a) are high-risk for these activities or (b) manage the related process to learn the best way to accomplish your goal and adapt your compliance messaging, but here are some ideas to get you started.
Hiring & promotions
| ⚡Trigger |
📣Training
|
|
A job is posted
|
Give the hiring committee guidance on what questions they can (and can’t!) ask candidates for this role and hiring red flags
|
|
Someone is hired into a people manager role
|
Send resources on what to do when an employee raises a concern, when to escalate concerns to Compliance, and how to create a speak-up culture on their team*
|
Performance reviews and goal-setting
|
⚡Trigger
|
📣Training
|
|
Scheduled performance reviews begin
|
Give people managers a job aid on effective ways to give and receive feedback to preserve trust
|
|
Annual performance goals
|
Provide a video or job aid to educate managers on how to avoid goals that may incentivize non-compliance
|
Incident reporting and investigations
|
⚡Trigger
|
📣Training
|
|
Someone reports a concern through your Helpline
|
Attach or link a document or flowchart that explains what happens next in your initial helpline response
|
|
An investigation begins
|
Email or assign training to department leaders and managers on how to avoid retaliation and how to spot social retaliation
|
|
An investigation interview is scheduled
|
Attach information on what to expect during an investigation to the calendar invitation
|
Travel & events
|
⚡Trigger
|
📣Training
|
|
Travel approval for a conference is granted
|
Schedule a follow-up email a few days before the conference that explains what’s OK to discuss with other attendees and what’s off limits
|
|
Someone books a trip to a high-risk country
|
Automate messages in your travel management system that link to guidance on what to do if someone asks for a bribe and when they need to get an export license
|
|
A workplace gathering is scheduled
|
Send a gentle email reminder on appropriate behavior during business events a few days before the event
|
Procurements and payments
|
⚡Trigger
|
📣Training
|
|
An RFP is posted
|
Provide conflicts-of-interest guidance to RFP committees before the kick-off meeting or to team members with influence over vendor selection
|
|
Invoice approval is requested
|
Include a job aid on invoice red flags to look for as a link or attachment to automated emails from your AP system
|
System access
|
⚡Trigger
|
📣Training
|
|
A new user is requested/added or permissions are expanded
|
Send information on what breaches look like and when they should reach out to the Privacy Team
|
|
Access to personal data is granted
|
Assign training for how to handle personal data responsibly
|
Third parties
|
⚡Trigger
|
📣Training
|
|
A request to hire a new service provider is received
|
Share what criteria will prompt special vetting processes so employees are sure to build that time into the project and to follow your procedures
|
|
A new service provider is hired
|
Train the employee who is managing the relationship on basic expectations and what third-party behaviors need to be reported to the Compliance Team
|
|
A reimbursement request is submitted by a third party
|
Give reviewers a tool to help them spot unallowable or questionable expenditures
|
Confidentiality
|
⚡Trigger
|
📣Training
|
|
Access to a secure location is granted
|
Place a hangtag on the door knob that reminds occupants to secure all resources before exiting
|
|
A meeting is held in a conference room
|
Place a poster on the wall beside the white board that reminds attendees to erase the board before they leave and be mindful of what is in view during video calls
|
It goes without saying that these lists aren’t exhaustive. There are countless ways to incorporate just-in-time training into your program.
When you’re ready to take the plunge, reach out to us! We’ve got hundreds of materials that are designed to be operationalized for super-easy implementation and to-the-max results.