Why Consolidating Compliance Training onto a Single Platform is More Important than Ever

Fragmented training programs are holding organizations back

Most organizations don’t intentionally build fragmented compliance training programs – it happens over time as solutions are added to meet regulatory requirements or a new vendor is added with additional capabilities. A harassment course comes from one vendor, cybersecurity training from another. Code of conduct training lives in a learning management system. Conflicts of interest and privacy courses come from somewhere else. Chasing the training obligations that come with regulatory and business expansion, even well-operating compliance programs can find themselves piecing together point solutions to simply match the pace of change. 

In a scenario familiar to many compliance professionals, administrators eventually find themselves struggling to manage multiple systems. A holistic health check for the training program requires arduous work to compile, and ownership is fractured. Meantime, employees receive a disjointed and often frustrating training experience. 

While this fractured approach eventually risks compliance problems, the operational challenges it presents blocks Compliance’s ability to tackle more strategic concerns.  

With opportunities for innovation in compliance training programs looming large, a consolidated platform is more important than ever. In preparing for the future, administrators shifting to a single platform will achieve a better employee training experience and a clearer picture of the impact of their training program.  

Employees see a single training program – does yours behave like one? 

Employees are likely to experience compliance training as “one program” versus distinct sets of tasks addressing different aspects of compliance, culture, and risk management. Inconsistencies with delivery of that program create friction against the practical learner reality–confusion, frustration, decreased retention of material and lower completion rates.  

Consider that, for many employees, on-demand training seems like an activity that occurs outside of their core job responsibilities. When an opportunity to complete self-guided training presents itself during the workday, employees may find themselves fishing through their inbox for an associated reminder from an unfamiliar sender. Maybe multiple training requirements, each facilitated through a different vendor, have stacked up. When it comes time for the training itself, it may have been months between required rounds – does the employee have time to familiarize themselves with yet another interface before some competing obligation pulls them away from the task? How will they confirm acknowledgement that their training is complete? Reminders get put off for another day.  

If employees view training as one program, it makes sense that they also benefit from a centralized and consistent experience. This means there is one “place,” generally a web-based portal, to find and complete assignments. Navigation among training modules is consistent, building familiarity and efficiency. Confirmation of completed training is simple to find. Training itself is more likely to be tailored for the individual employee.  

Less friction, less frustration – better employee experience is possible with a connected platform approach.

What centralized training offers administrators

In addition to benefits for employee experience, a connected platform approach to training achieves a number of benefits for administrators and the business as a whole. 

One advantage is better visibility into the health of the training program. With a connected platform, administrators can see holistically how the program is performing across the employee base and identify areas that may need improvement. It takes much more work and resources to achieve a similar picture of the operations of a fragmented program–likely imperfect, and almost certainly with a greater lag time. With a more real-time picture of training operations, organizations achieve a clearer picture of completion and risk. 

With a consolidated training system, a consistent learner experience means employees spend less time figuring out where to go and can complete modules with greater efficiency and come away with better retention. This means less disruption to the core workday, supporting employee productivity and the organization’s bottom line. 

Managing a centralized program is more efficient than it would be across multiple training systems. From one location, administrators can manage assignments, reminders, and reporting. This also means stronger governance, facilitated through an easier ability to deploy and monitor training.  

These standardized and centralized processes make it easier to show compliance with training requirements and prepare for audits. 

A centralized platform creates a stronger compliance ecosystem 

A centralized training platform frees resources that might otherwise be necessary to stitch together the different threads of a fragmented approach, allowing administrators to focus on leveraging the system to achieve valuable synergies with other aspects of the compliance program.  

A centralized platform also allows employees to access not only training, but related resources in a single location. This includes access to policies and code of conduct, as well as means and instructions to make an internal whistleblower report. A centralized platform also provides regular regulatory updates and employee communications–essentially, a “one-stop shop” for not just training, but multiple key compliance activities. 

This consolidation benefits the organization–through efficient operations, but also through greater visibility into the health of the compliance program as a whole and indicators of potential risk. Rather than operating as isolated activities, these elements reinforce one another and support a stronger culture of compliance.