Mandatory Compliance E-Learning: Mandatory Compliance Vs Mandatory Learning

As I was reflecting on the financial year gone by, I chanced upon the fact that this was one year wherein we developed a variety of compliance related e-learning programs for our clients ranging from POSH, and Information Security to more specific topics like AML.

 While the needs were diverse, one word that was common to all of them was “Mandatory”.

When it comes to mandatory compliance courses, a very simple fact is that the course is mandatory because the compliance is!

 Usually mandatory compliance courses deal with very important and sensitive aspects and one very important question that we need to ask ourselves is :

Is our compliance e-learning program delivering results? Or is it rolled out to merely comply with the compliance policy (of running an e-learning program)?

 Merely completing a compliance course online is not good enough as the intention to comply needs to rest in the heart of the individual (subconscious competence).

So what can a compliance e-learning course actually do to get better results?

                       The simple answer is : make it more practical

 While facts and cases are great, adding simple practical simulations and real life exposure can transform the effectiveness of a seemingly mundane compliance e-learning program.

 Here are two simple examples or should I say food for thought:

1. Information Security

If we are talking about “phishing” as a part of Information security, merely going through the definition and seeing few examples online may not be good enough to prevent a catastrophe from happening.

As we all know an employee can succumb to a phishing attack mostly due to an error of “commission” by clicking a wrong link or entering data in a wrong place.

Hence, the best way to prevent such an “act” is to put the learner through an interesting simulation exercise as a part of e-learning where s/he has the potential to make a similar error. This not only helps give a practical perspective to a practical problem, but also gains “voluntary engagement” from the learners in a “mandatory” course!

2. POSH

Another example I would like to mention here is about POSH (Prevention of Sexual Harassment in the Work place).

A very important step of a POSH e-learning course is to sensitize the learner to bring an incident to the attention of the concerned authorities, even if the individual is not directly affected by it.

While POSH is a mandatory course, adding an online forum for the learners to engage “in real” with other people and experts to discuss their opinions and air their views adds a “human edge” to a “policy”.

 When it comes to compliance-we all expect action. Therefore while rolling out compliance related courses, adding a dash of relevant and contextual action (like email simulation or POSH discussion forum) can add an edge to the effectiveness of the course.

A technically correct but practically ineffective mandatory compliance course is akin to Operation Success.... but the Patient died!!