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Dutch society depends on rules. “Every citizen should know the law” is almost unattainable. Privately, we usually take it with a big grain of salt. But when it comes to business operations, it's a different story. An employer bears considerable responsibility for the knowledge and skills of the employees. If they do not meet the requirements of the law, trade association or safety manual, then turnips are done. That's where compliance training comes in.
First, let's answer the question “What is compliance?” Literally, compliance means “comply” or “comply”. You can probably already feel the mood brewing: here we mainly talk about laws and regulations. It may not be your favorite topic, but complying with it has become increasingly important today.
Since the financial crisis in 2008, compliance has become a very current topic of discussion, especially in the financial and banking sectors. By establishing more rules and the most diverse procedures, people hoped to prevent a recurrence in the future. Rules have been drawn up against fraud, money laundering, insider trading, you name it. And with the turmoil in the world, more and more rules were added, and you sometimes have to wonder how you can comply with them as an organisation. Can you really be sure that by trading with an external customer, you are not indirectly financing terrorism? How could you have guessed that that sweet grandma's money had been earned through criminal practices in the past?
Maybe the banking and insurance world feels like a long way from your bed. Yet almost everyone has to deal with compliance, often without you even realising it. In the health sector, for example, compliance with the rules is increasingly being monitored in order to ensure public health in the best possible way.
You dare to tell your lawyer everything because you know he or she will not disclose your information. After all, your lawyer must comply with the Code of Conduct, which consists of rules that every lawyer must comply with. Hey, isn't that... exactly! Compliance!
Another example. Customers often choose an ISO-certified supplier or service provider because they want to be able to count on good quality. And how do you get such an official ISO certification? Right, by complying with all kinds of rules and conditions. So compliance!
In short: almost every industry and profession has to do with compliance. One organisation can sometimes be teeming with compliance in various areas. After all, it can be about all kinds of topics, such as:
Of course, how to deal with these issues varies by professional sector. A construction worker simply works differently than a doctor; a hairdresser is not a childcare employee or accountant.
First of all, of course, there is an ethical goal: for example, protecting against risks, preventing disability, creating clarity and ensuring quality. Very important for your employees, and as a good employer, you naturally support it 100%. But there are also more business reasons to work on compliance.
If a supervisory authority finds that the rules in an organisation are being broken, the turnips are done. In the best case, the employer receives a warning, but a hefty fine is often imposed. And that's not even talking about the negative publicity that follows. Disastrous for your image with customers, let alone your employer branding. They go like this, get them in the trash!
“Isn't such a warning or penalty imposed on the employee who breaks the rules?” you might think. But it's not that simple. However, an employer's responsibility and duty of information and care for his (or her) employees weigh heavily.
As an employer, you will have to be able to demonstrate that everything has been done to inform people about the rules and to test their knowledge and skills in this regard.
It is therefore very important for an employer to ensure that compliance within the organisation is completely organised. No one wants fines, accidents or a bad image. That is why every self-respecting organisation ensures that each employee can and will follow sufficient compliance training.
Compliance training comes in many forms. Courses, e-learning and knowledge platforms are an important tool for ensuring that employees can comply with all laws and regulations, collective agreements, procedures and internal policies.
Please note: employees must not only be theoretically aware of the rules, but also have the necessary skills to comply with them.
That's a lot, which is why the compliance training itself is often outsourced to an industry organisation or external training institute. But that does not mean that the employer must ensure that the necessary information is always up to date internally and accessible to all people who have to work with it.
That's why compliance training is part of the onboarding of each new employee, and make sure that it is always under the attention of the staff. In doing so, make use of the power of repetition. Put a topic, procedure or new law regularly on the agenda of the work meeting, provide easy-to-click links on the intranet and also offer regular employees a refresher moment.
We hear you sigh. Indeed, compliance is not nothing. However, it's important not to get bogged down in the idea that you're only setting up compliance for the government or a supervisor. Above all, put on a different, positive lens: you can really make progress within your organisation in many areas by designing compliance properly and smartly.
We'll give it to you on a note: there really is always a good reason why a certain action or procedure has been made mandatory. The rules don't just come out of thin air. They are often drawn up in response to a crisis, accident or serious error.
So actually because of situations that you would not like to see repeated in the future. Make use of that knowledge!
Admittedly, sometimes laws and procedures are a bit dusty and corny, but they really benefit an organisation and its employees. For example, what do you think about:
... and so we can come up with some more reasons why it is actually very logical and useful to make compliance training part of every knowledge platform and LMS.
See the legislation and rules as frameworks, which, although important, are also best to color in yourself as an organisation. By responding to daily situations that occur in the workplace, and choosing the pace or words that suit your target group: employees.
OK, maybe after reading the above, you've gotten a more positive picture of all the rules and procedures you have to comply with as an employer. Then it is now time for the next step. How do you get your employees to take a fresh look at school for such mandatory training? How do you ensure that they will remember the knowledge they have acquired and also apply them correctly at crucial moments?
The best tip we can give you: first explain why you think compliance is so important. In doing so, don't focus so much on fines and warnings (no matter how important!) but above all, answer the question: 'What's in it for me?”
That doesn't have to be that difficult. Personal safety, clear working methods, pleasant working atmosphere, user-friendly equipment and nice onboarding are all topics that almost every employee is enthusiastic about. These reasons are understandable, almost tangible, and they affect people personally. It will be part of their world of experience. If you do it right, compliance will even become an important station for them. employee journey. Then colleagues also dare to speak to each other if they see that the other person is not following the rules.
Another golden tip: prevent dullness. Above all, make compliance training enjoyable and surprising for your employees.
With a sparkling experience, you have the best chance that that important subject matter will actually be top of mind remains.
How to do that? We'd love to give you some tips.
Learn in your favorite place, at the time that suits you and at the pace that suits you. E-learning, or asynchronous learning, it is not without reason that it has become very popular in a short time. It also has advantages for the organisation. Lessons don't always have to be organised during working hours, new participants can join at any time, and classroom rentals are not necessary.
Now, it doesn't work like you're simply done by digitising all the old course books and putting them online.
Asynchronous learning does require some preparation and maintenance to attract and keep participants. So read our tips for creating e-learnings.
No one wants thick books, pieces of text or long monologues that take up a lot of your agenda. Cut knowledge into small, attractive snacks, also known as microlearnings or called knowledge snacks. Serve the snacks in various forms: a podcast, video, gif or short quiz.
Whichever form you choose, keep the lessons short and sweet. It's not for nothing that they're called micro. You should be able to complete them in about 3 minutes. Collect them in a central location, for example on your knowledge platform. Then you can easily find them.
Remember the power of repetition. Hide microlearnings in various places, such as in an online newsletter, magazine or mail. Include a link in the text to the lesson in question, where the employee gains new knowledge or refreshes old knowledge almost unnoticed.
Keep the student's attention by using different shapes. Add clear images, work with videos, and supporting audio. By mixing written text with other media, you're not only making it more attractive.
Bet on different media, then you will reach a larger audience, which is of course very important, especially when it comes to compliance training. Every person has their own learning style and will be able to acquire knowledge in a different way. One person is visually oriented, the other reads easily and a third prefers to listen. So engage as many senses as possible.
Include as many practical situations as possible in the compliance training courses. This makes compliance a lot more concrete and understandable. By showing which choices can be made on a daily basis in the workplace, the meaning of a certain rule or law immediately becomes clear to the student. No theory can compete with that.
Scenario-based learning becomes even more fun and surprising by taking photos and videos in your own company in the workplace, where you don't hire actors but let colleagues play a role. Then you get ultimate familiarity. Do you have many non-Dutch speaking employees? Then make videos in different languages, or provide multilingual subtitles.
Ensure two-way traffic by using an interactive program in your compliance training. With game elements, a course is enriched and more interesting. By gamification When deployed, a student is immediately woken up and put into action mode. The knowledge you have learned can be used to earn points or compete with other colleagues. Playing makes people feel better. They want to score and compete in a positive way.
A few examples of gamification that you could use:
If you also attach a reward to the best performance (that can be anything, from a certificate or an honorable mention to a nice prize), you provide extra motivation.
Have we already inspired you to get started with compliance? Finally, we want to take you through a smart structure.
Pluvo is a powerful compliance tool because it combines comprehensive reporting capabilities with user-friendly training management features. The platform allows you to generate detailed overviews of employee progress and performance, including certifications and their due dates. You can quickly filter by date and validity, so you can immediately see which certificates are about to expire or have already expired.
In addition, Pluvo makes it easy to create e-learnings and organise classroom meetings, where you can easily keep track of who participated in which sessions. This combined functionality provides an all-in-one solution for managing compliance training, allowing you to monitor the status by department or team and act proactively to ensure that all employees meet the required training and certifications. This not only minimises the risk of compliance errors, but also keeps your organisation efficient and well-organised in its compliance efforts.
Try Pluvo for yourself and discover how easy it is to manage compliance training - request a free demo!
We at Pluvo have plenty of them! A knowledge platform that will actually be used to land compliance? Fun games and knowledge snacks about legislation? From smart online solutions to creative tips: we have them in-house. So feel free to contact us. We would love to think along with you!
