The True Power of Engagement
So many people hear the words “compliance training” and get confused. Perhaps, for example, they immediately see a static, check-box activity consisting of too many slides, a monotone, an emotionless voice-over, and one or two missed questions. However, Ethics and Compliance (E&C) training should not be dull. It can (and should) be motivating, relevant, and truly beneficial to employees at all levels of the organization.
It’s not about forcing employees through courses that are inflexible and don’t reflect the different roles people play in the workplace. The idea that you can copy and paste the same training module for a newly hired financial analyst and an already hired HR director is probably like trying to teach everyone to dance by having them watch the same routine on YouTube. They may keep the rhythm, but only if they can catch all the choreography.
Why Standard eLearning Falls Flat
A pivot to online training has occurred. In the last few years, remote work has increased, and many companies have rushed to digital training as if it were the final frontier of E&C education. However, if you just upload your old slides to a slick digital environment and call it a day, maybe it’s like taking a fruitcake recipe and expecting it to turn into a soufflé by turning on the oven. Format alone does not dictate performance.
Standard online modules tend to fixate on cramming regulatory jargon into students’ heads. There is a lot of repetitive text. But it doesn’t have much to do with what the workers actually do. If people don’t see how it works in their role, the message gets lost.
Experiential Learning to Rescue in E&C Training
Enter the concept of experiential learning—an approach inspired by David A. Kolb. Here’s a quick summary of Kolb’s famous cycle:
- Visual experience
You start by letting people “do” something in a context that feels authentic. In compliance, that can mean a situation-based problem that requires ethical decision-making. - Visual observation
Next, they think about what just happened. Why was that situation simple—or complicated? Where did their thinking conflict with reality? - Abstract conceptualization
Students then connect the dots between the scene and the big picture. They begin to connect the event with the organization’s policies or global ethics. - Functional testing
Finally, they take this new knowledge and apply it to the next situation or even the real world. Clean and repeat, and watch your data retention go through the roof.
When you embed these knowledge principles into your eLearning setup, you avoid the trap of turning training into a glorified compliance dictionary. Instead, it’s about testing ideas, thinking about results, and slowly building a mental toolbox that employees can dip into when faced with the real thing.
Doing It Right And New
“Authenticity” can be a slippery term, but in E&C training, it’s all there. A scenario about an overworked HR manager struggling with a dysfunctional system, for example, may not mean much to a new product manager knee-deep in software documentation. Matching status and role is part of the battle to gain buy-in.
Another thing to do is to avoid repeating the dreaded. How many times do we click on the same abuse training slides we first came across as new hires? You may need to update—especially in areas like anti-bribery or data protection—but you can get creative. Change the storyline, increase the difficulty levels, or cast new cao characters. If your employees see the same story line from three years ago, they will tune out mentally.
The Power of Short Bursts and Slow Learning
We all live in an age of easily consumed content. People get their news in 280-character tweets or watch 15 videos and call it “infotainment.” So, consider following that guide. Instead of forcing employees to dive deep for two hours straight, break the lessons into smaller sessions—like a quick two-minute video or five-minute blind spot quizzes. A quick burst of relevant information, followed by a quick call to meditation, sticks in the mind.
Beyond the Head: The Lasting Value of E&C Training
Ultimately, experiential eLearning is the difference between telling employees about regulations and empowering them to adopt behaviors that conform to those standards. If a status-based question reveals that you are at risk of corruption in a vendor’s bid, you are not simply told to “be very careful of your actions and the associated consequences.” You get to see the results play out in a simulated environment, weigh the behavioral and professional implications, and remember that gut-check moment the next time a questionable gift or favor crosses your desk.
If E&C training uses experiential learning, it is more like practicing an instrument than learning how to play it. The more you practice, reflect, and learn from potential mistakes (safely, in a simulated situation), the better you’ll do in a real concert. By combining authenticity, role relevance, and concise, engaging content, you transform compliance training from a one-time slogan into a multi-stage journey—one that employees are excited to take.