What does the future look like in compliance training, learning and assessment?
thomas.jenewein of SAP, simone.buchwald of EPI-USE and I have just published a white paper called "How To Do It Right - Learning, Training and Assessments in Regulatory Compliance". You can see an introduction to the white paper in Thomas's SCN article here and you can download the full white paper from SAP (free with registration) here.
One of the things we write about in the white paper is where we see as trends in compliance learning, training and assessments. We suggest 9 key trends and here is a summary for SCN readers:
1. Increasing interest in predictive or forward-looking measures
Many compliance measures (for example, results of internal audits or training completion rates) are backwards looking. They tell you what happened in the past but don’t tell you about the problems to come. Companies can see clearly what is in their rear-view mirror, but the picture ahead of them is rainy and unclear. There are a lot of ways to use learning and assessment data to predict and look forward, and this is a key way to add business value.
2. Monitoring employee compliance with policies
A recent survey of chief compliance officers suggested that their biggest operational issue is monitoring employee compliance with policies, with over half of organizations raising this as a concern. An increasing focus for many companies is going to be how they can use training and assessments to check understanding of policies and to monitor compliance.
3. Increasing use of observational assessments
We expect growing use of observational assessments to help confirm that employees are following policies and procedures and to help assess practical skills.
4. Compliance training conducted on mobile devices
The world is moving to mobile devices and this of course includes compliance training and assessment. See Mobile Learning - current status and where are customers heading for more on this.
5. Informal learning
You would be surprised not to see informal learning in our list of trends. Increasingly we are all understanding that formal learning is the tip of the iceberg and that most learning is informal and often on the job.
6. Learning in the extended enterprise
Organizations are becoming more interlinked, and another important trend is the expansion of learning to the extended enterprise, such as contractors or partners. Whether for data security, product knowledge, anti-bribery or a host of other regulatory compliance reasons, it’s becoming crucial to be able to deliver learning and to assess not only your employees but those of other organizations who work closely with you.
7. Cloud
There is a steady movement towards the cloud and SaaS for compliance learning, training, and assessment – with the huge advantage of delegating all of the IT to an outside party being the strongest compelling factor. Especially for compliance functions, the cloud offers a very flexible way to manage learning and assessment without requiring complex integrations or alignments with a company's training departments or related functions.
8. Changing workforce needs
The workforce is constantly changing, and many “digital natives” are now joining organizations. To meet the needs of such workers, we’re increasingly seeing “gamification” in compliance training to help motivate and connect with employees. And the entire workforce is now accustomed to seeing high-quality user interfaces in consumer Web sites and expects the same in their corporate systems.
9. Big Data
E-learning and assessments are a unique way of touching all your employees. There is huge potential in using analytics based on learning and assessment data. We have the potential to combine Big Data available from valid and reliable learning assessments with data from finance, sales, and HR sources.
If you want to download the white paper, with a longer description of these trends and other information on the subject, you can do so here.
Thomas, Simone and I are also running a couple of webinars and here are registration links:
- German-speaking webinar: September 22, 14.00 CET: Registration
- English-speaking webinar: October 1, 14.00 CET: Registration
I hope you find this summary useful. If you think there are different trends in the field, feel free to suggest them below.
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