Navigating modern business compliance can feel like tiptoeing around landmines. With boobytraps and quicksand (aka legal obligations and ethical business practices), making sure your employees are prepared and your organization is protected can become a real life game of Jumanji.

We’re sure you’ve been here: once a year your HR team requires all employees to sit through a yawn-inducing corporate compliance training where someone reads off a slideshow. Probably of their Code of Conduct “Dos and Don’ts.” At Ethena, we know the problem with this approach is, to put it simply, it doesn’t work. In fact, ineffective training was a main reason why two women co-founded Ethena.

In today’s super-informed, transparent world, corporate compliance training has become more important than ever before. The modern workplace is no place for the lawlessness of the Wild West or the Seven Seas. So how do we make corporate compliance training effective? At Ethena, we know that modern learners need to be invested, informed, and, yes, sometimes even entertained (minus Robin Williams crashing the party in a loincloth). We want to elevate business compliance training from something that checks the box to a valuable tool. If you’re wondering, How do I make corporate compliance training actually stick? Keep reading, we’re here to help.

What is corporate compliance training?

Phew, that’s a big one. At its core, corporate compliance training is a form of training designed to teach employees about company policies and the laws and regulations relevant to their field or organization. Corporate compliance training courses provide learners with the tools to meet the standards of government policies, the company, and professional workplace culture.

Corporate compliance training topics include Code of Conduct, HIPAA, Sexual Harassment Prevention, Conflicts Of Interest, Anti-Bribery & Corruption, Data Protection, and so much more. Effective (and memorable!) corporate compliance training helps to protect the business and its employees from costly fines, loss of client trust, and ruined reputations.

At Ethena, corporate compliance training content makes us feel alive (like jumping out of a plane … after triple checking the parachute). But we know not everyone feels this way. So how can you effectively use corporate compliance training to bolster your team? Let’s talk about it.

8 ways to make compliance training for employees more effective

1. Determine individual problems to build better solutions

Business compliance training isn’t one size fits all. Different government and industry policies can affect different departments in your organization in different ways. Honor your staff by helping them work smarter, not harder. At Ethena, we design corporate compliance training courses for each learner across every department. As we like to say, getting your team up to speed on critical topics shouldn’t be in conflict with getting work done – but that work needs to be in their job description.

A screenshot of the Ethena admin hub enrollment features

2. Stop focusing on just “compliance”

Wait, what did you just say? Didn’t you just give me an entire spiel about the importance of compliance training for employees?

Sure did. But we know that the word “compliance” doesn’t exactly bring up the same workplace excitement that, let’s say, the after work happy hour does. So let’s put a new spin on corporate compliance training. Instead of that yawn-inducing slide show of old, emphasize the importance of the positivity employees can bring to the workplace. Talk about why a healthy work culture matters. After all, at its core, business compliance training is about respecting the organization, rules, and people involved.

3. Corporate compliance training, but make it fun

We can almost guarantee that you’ve never heard those words in the same sentence before. And at Ethena, we believe that is a huge problem. We create compliance training content that is enjoyable, memorable, relatable, and stuffed full with puns (like chili poppers, but minus the heartburn). When corporate compliance training is easy to enjoy, it’s also easy to learn. We want learners to walk away with smiles. That way, your workplace is already off on the right foot.

4. Be there for the feedback

You know the saying “don’t look a gift horse in the mouth”? Well, when it comes to compliance training for employees, we want you to get that horse to a dentist. Listening to learners before, during, and after their corporate compliance training courses will help ensure that everyone understands the proper technique for flossing. That way, there won’t be any pesky cavities to fill in the future.

Thanks to our easy administrator dashboard, you can review all feedback, comments, and employee sentiment after every training module. Know where to take a topic deeper through manager one-on-ones, or if it’s landing well and no further action is needed.

At Ethena, we’re huge fans of feedback. We’ve instituted Feedback Fridays into our culture because we know there’s always room for improvement. But also, we take customer feedback seriously. We’re excited to share that we’ve recently hit the 1 millionth positive rating for customer satisfaction – and we’re not stopping there.

5. Start from a level playing field

No matter the hierarchy within your organization, you know that when one domino falls, the rest will come tumbling down with it. Effective corporate compliance doesn’t let any person or department slack off in learning their part. Instead, it holds everyone accountable. That way, everyone — from the CEO to the front desk manager — takes ownership to create a positive workplace environment.

Our CEO recently wrote about the potential devastating outcomes of C-Suite leaders when there is no accountability or effective compliance training in the workplace.

6. Understanding the consequences

Hypotheticals are all fun and games until someone breaks the rules for real. We believe that making a big impact to inspire accountability involves accurately breaking down the costs of compliance violations — whether that is monetary, personal, or emotional. Putting what’s at stake into perspective invests learners in both the actions and the outcome.

A scene from our Harassment Prevention – Mentorship and Office Romance Training Microlesson that is designed to go over consent.

7. Build in workplace culture

You’ve worked hard at creating a culture that employees want to be a part of. Now, let’s invest in protecting it. At Ethena, we teach learners how to be active bystanders who stand up for their coworkers and the organization. That way, when they see someone who may be thinking about disrupting that positive environment, they can help to shut those actions down before they go too far.

8. Make room for future growth

We know that in today’s ever changing world, businesses need to adjust quickly to stay healthy, relevant, and accountable. The same goes for compliance. At Ethena, we create corporate compliance training courses that work for what your business is now, not a year ago. This includes remote and hybrid environments, current workplace scenarios, and how to handle not just black and white situations – but the “gray area” ones too. Businesses and people grow, so compliance solutions should as well.

Ethena: corporate compliance training with a lasting impact

After all is said and done, we know creating corporate client training that sticks can require a lot of work. At Ethena, we take the guesswork out of effective corporate compliance training. You know the problems that your team most struggles with, whether they occur in the break room or the boardroom. Ethena knows the way to create lasting solutions. Together, we can chart a course for making a real impact with corporate compliance training tailored to your business.

So takes us for a spin. Request a sample training today to see it in action yourself. Or if your ready to talk details, let’s set up a no-nonsense chat to go over pricing and company fit. You could be five minutes away from assigning out corporate compliance trainings to your employees – wherever they may be.