Compliance Training: Types, Objectives & Benefits

Compliance, in general, means to conform to rules, specifications, and regulations. Compliance training tends to be mandatory in many organizations. It refers to the process of training employees about the laws, regulations, and company policies that apply to their job responsibilities and the organization for which they work.

Disregarding the required rules, regulations, or policies within an organization can have drastic consequences, including loss of employment, fines, criminal prosecution, audits, or damage to the business’s reputation. Having employees meet a standard of compliance training ensures that an organization has secured legal accountability. Employees will often need to complete compliance training by deadlines for the organization and its employees to comply.

The Need for Compliance Training

Compliance training ensures employees understand all the relevant laws, regulations, and internal policies that govern the function of your organization. It also guarantees that they know how – and why – they need to adhere to them in their work.

Effective training walks employees through examples of how issues of ethics and compliance apply to their roles in the workplace, and it can give them the guidance they need to handle different situations and dilemmas they may face.

Good compliance training helps employees flourish. They know their responsibilities and boundaries and can work productively with less supervision. They also know how to react and what steps to take when they encounter a new situation that puts their ethical training to the test.

How is Compliance Training Different from Other Corporate Training?

Compliance training is different from general training, which typically covers job functions and operations. Those types of training usually cover using the ERP software, filing a report, or requesting time off. Compliance training covers a broad spectrum of topics and rules.

The training can include business and employment laws and explain the penalties for violating them. It can also cover industry-specific regulations, such as financial disclosures, the privacy of patients/clients/members, and even reporting requirements. And it should also cover legal and ethical issues, as well as your organization's values, principles, and operating philosophies.

Compliance training should be mandatory and ongoing. Not only should every new employee participate in compliance training, but it should be an annual event for everyone in the organization. When all employees do this well, it lays the groundwork for a healthy workplace culture where you can discuss issues and head off potential problems before they arise.

Types of Compliance Training

For every industry, there will be regulations that the employees must follow. Your organization must explore compliance training for those rules to protect both the organization as a whole and your employees.

• Information Security Training

This training focuses on computer security. It comprises the usage of strong passwords to be aware of email scams to safe internet habits. It also includes security measures inside and outside the company premises to prevent social hacking attacks. Another aspect is handling data outside of the work environment on mobile devices and dealing with lost or stolen devices. Information security training shows employees how to ensure their computer habits and actions will not put the organization at risk. 

• Healthcare Training

Many regulations must be followed by those who work in healthcare. The organization must ensure the employees understand the rules, regulations, and standards of ethical conduct. 

• HR Compliance Training

HR compliance describes the employer-employee relationship regulated by law and legislation and upheld by the organization. This compliance training ensures the HR department handles complaints correctly and is defended against charges employees make. Having an effective HR department that follows regulations properly also means that there will be fairness and consistency in how they handle complaints.

• Insurance Compliance Training

For working in the insurance industry, knowledge of insurance laws is mandatory. The same applies to consultancy companies. In the case of insurance and consulting companies, employees need to complete a legally required compliance program to get their license. Employees must pass compliance regulations and tests to get their licenses to practice.

Some areas of compliance recommended in this industry are fraud awareness, conflict of inflicting, and anti-bribery.

• Workplace Anti-harassment Training

This training defines harassment, bullying, and sexual harassment. It covers strategies for responding to harassment incidents and intervention strategies. This training helps employees understand what is appropriate and what is not - and what to do about it.

What are the Objectives of Compliance Training?

Compliance training seeks to reduce risks and make sure a company and its stakeholders follow a set of rules that apply to them. The objectives of compliance training include: 

• Ensure that all employees follow the company's rules-

If the employees follow all the rules, there are fewer mistakes, fewer accidents, and the quality of the company's products and services is guaranteed.

• Ensure all employees and the company itself follow government rules-

 Following local and federal laws that apply to an organization prevents the fines and penalties imposed by disobeying the law.

• Maintain a good work environment for employees and stakeholders-

Compliance training helps educate employees and prevent ethical and harassment issues and accidents. That results in a better work environment for employees overall and a lower turnover rate.

• Maintain a company's reputation and prevent monetary loss-

 Compliance training makes employees and stakeholders liable in case of wrongdoing or malpractice based on compliance training records. The company can prevent mistakes and penalties and distance itself from problematic stakeholders.

Benefits of Compliance Training

The benefits of compliance training are often ignored because of a more pressing issue – avoiding the consequences and penalties of non-compliance. It is still crucial to focus on the big picture and the benefits arising from compliance training. These benefits include:

• Safer Workplaces
• More productive workplace
• Ability to secure insurance
• Protection of business reputation
• Minimized risk of legal action
• Reduced absenteeism due to injury

Examples of Compliance Training

Here are some examples of the different topics compliance training includes.

• Harassment- This type of training shows how to identify harassment and what to do if you are a victim of this behavior. It can ensure the work environment is safe for everyone and functions as a warning for possible perpetrators.

• Safety- Focused on the company's guidelines on using safety equipment and how to complete tasks correctly, preventing accidents. 

• Cybersecurity- It explains what it is and how each employee can prevent cyberattacks on the company's computers and servers.

• Ethics- This type of training explains the company values ??and how each employee must abide by them. It covers what is considered ethical behavior and what is not.

• Corruption and Money Laundering- It explains the handling of finances and appropriate behavior with the company money. It teaches an employee to recognize corruption schemes in the company and report them safely. 

• Government Rules- This type of training relates to any industry laws and regulations that a company should follow and how each employee is liable for following the rules.

Final Thoughts

Compliance and ethics training helps employees understand how to stay in compliance and follow these rules. It helps them identify and report any violations they see. They can assist in spotting potential compliance issues before a violation occurs and aid their colleagues to avoid a problem. That lets the entire organization stay in order by ensuring everyone is responsible. When everyone understands the expectations and standards, the organization can operate optimally.