There should be a limit placed on how many compliance eLearnings one person has to do!
Over the years we clock up some serious workplace training hours doing compliance eLearning. Are you noticing it right now? There is a lot of compliance to cover in every organisation and for some reason this time of year seems to be the time to get it done. Why? Could it be because we are high-spirited about the upcoming holidays or starting to wind down in readiness for some time off that our willingness to complete compliance training is greater. That’s possible. More likely it’s because the annual expiry for compliance training in workplaces is pre-set for the beginning of each year and the reminders are scheduled to hit our inboxes 2-4 weeks before that. How many have you got?
Workplace training woes
I can feel you cringing now. You know you still have to make time to log in and sit through those endless boring compliance eLearnings before Christmas (or even worse, during the holidays). Let me guess, there’s the Safety one, the Fraud and Compliance one, the Security one, the Bullying and Harassment one, and if you work in government there’s the Following Government Rules ones. On top of that there might be some you haven’t seen before like the Working Nicely with Others one, or the Having Difficult Conversations one. Oh my goodness they take ages and they are usually BORING!
Common phrases used to describe compliance eLearnings:
“They’re SO BORING!”, “It will take THAT long!”, “What does this have to do with me?”, “Why are there so many CARTOONS?”, “STOP all of the clicking!, “How many windows do I have to open to get through this?”, “There’s too much READING!”, “Why are they this SLOW?”, “There are HOW MANY modules to complete?”.
We may feel tired at this time of year, but thankfully we are never lacking in creativity. It might not be entirely above board, however if there is a way to find a short cut to get that awful eLearning done I know you will find it. And if you happen to help others in the office to make some shortcuts too, your gift will be more precious to them than anything they get from Secret Santa. Go ahead and do whatever you have to do to get through it!
But seriously, let’s be forward thinking. It’s time for compliance training to get with the times.
I’m sorry to be so cynical and cheeky. I’m sure I’ve made my point. Compliance training doesn’t have to be a whole bunch of text heavy eLearning slides with multiple choice questions thrown in. I know we have to do “compliance”, but it really could be designed better. Perhaps it could be concise and bite-sized for the time poor. Perhaps it could be integrated in existing work for those who can’t see the relevance. Maybe it could be delivered with different options and be released at different times of the year for those who are bored and weary right now. We don’t even need to call it Compliance Training or Workplace Training. In fact, those terms by their very nature imply that we are being “told” and “force fed” stuff. It’s not an adult approach. Adults learn by building on existing knowledge and we love to learn things for ourselves. Let’s face it, we could call compliance training anything really. Regardless of the name, it is definitely time to get rid of those time-wasting eLearnings. They are taking you and your colleagues ages to complete and leaving you remembering next to nothing.
So many learning designers are offering great solutions.
It really doesn’t have to be the responsibility of leadership teams or HR, People and Culture, and Organisational Development managers to think of better ways to deliver compliance training by themselves. A great learning designer will tailor meaningful learner experiences and quality learning designs to suit each environment based on what you need. They know how to cater for everyone, and they have the skills and tools to make it happen.
It’s time to throw out the boring, time wasting stuff and get some quality learning in your workplace.
Here is your challenge. Speak to your learning team. Give them the resources they need. Help them to help everyone so you are not bombarded with eLearnings again next Christmas. With just a little bit of thought and forward planning your organisation’s compliance could do a complete u-turn. Topics you are completely disengaging with this year could become meaningful, interesting, and worthwhile for you and everyone next year. You might even catch yourself saying something like “This is fun!”.
If your organisation needs help with compliance training complete the form below or contact us at LB Learning Solutions.
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