OSHA penalties are currently at a maximum of $136,532 per violation. Today's organisations have a responsibility to protect their people and their customers. Yet there’s a cultural barrier attached to compliance training. It is perceived as pointless box-checking. A tedious and expensive distraction from meaningful, profitable work. 

From a cybersecurity attack to a corruption violation, a compliance breach could shut down your business. Throughout this guide, we’ll cover the steps to implementing a training strategy that lifts that barrier. It is a crucial process that can enrich your working environment. 

Do I need a training strategy?

Compliance training applies to all industries. A standard blue-collar office job poses many serious long-term risks, such as:

• Eyesight deterioration
• RSI injuries
• Spinal injuries
• Stress and mental wellbeing
• Bullying and harassment

Positivity

Embrace the positives that compliance training offers. It can help you:

1. Increase productivity

If you reduce stress, eliminate bullying, and promote good mental health then your staff will naturally be more productive. 

2. Reduce churn

Losing a team member costs time and money. You have to find a replacement and train them. It takes them time to settle and adjust. Adequate training can improve job satisfaction, boost employee engagement and reduce churn.

3. Reduce absentees

Bullying and stress can have catastrophic consequences. Anxiety and depression are devastating. You might lose days of labour because an unhappy employee just can't face getting out of bed. Training can reduce this.

4. Happier customers

People like to deal with businesses that look after their staff. And customers like dealing with staff who are happy, engaged, and efficient. 

That doesn't look like mere box-checking. These are real-world benefits that drive profits and ROI. Everyone's happy!

Categories of training

Health and safety: Highlight the benefits of good posture, healthy habits and taking regular breaks. But H&S is much more than preventing the occasional twisted ankle. It can save lives. Identify hazards to prevent accidents. Ensure your staff is prepared to deal with natural disasters, threats as extreme as armed intruders and educate them about fire safety.

Diversity: Cultivate a culture of tolerance and respect regarding age, gender, orientation, disability, race, and religion.

Anti-harassment: Harassment and bullying can take many forms. It can be unseen and insidious. Educate your staff - what seems like harmless office gossip or a casual joke can be deeply damaging. 

Data protection: The amount of data that businesses store is growing rapidly. A misplaced document or a weak password could have disastrous consequences. 

Business ethics: From a conflict of interests to fraud and corruption, it's vital to adhere to healthy ethics and standards.

Cybersecurity: Due to cybersecurity breaches and the potential for vast data leaks, 60% of companies go out of business within six months of being hacked.

Types of learning

Varying your learning techniques can increase engagement and help imbed information. Let's look at some key methods: 

• Scenarios and storytelling - stories are great for retaining information. Use videos, case studies, and role-play scenarios. 
• Gamification - competition and rewards are powerful motivators. 
• Microlearning - split online courses into 5-10 minute segments. Staff can break their learning down into manageable chunks. 
• Personalisation - make training more relevant to your staff. Tailor the courses to their roles and their environments to increase engagement. 
• Adaptive learning - online courses can be responsive to the ability of learners. More advanced users can get more challenging content. Struggling learners can get follow-up training. 
• Quizzes and assessments - interactivity and competition are motivating factors and certificates are a reward. This data helps H&S gauge the quality of their training and helps staff know where they've succeeded and where they can improve. 

Use multiple methods in conjunction to enrich the learning experience. For instance, you can conduct training by leveraging technology such as the use of video calls and virtual meeting platforms. This will allow employees to have access to training regardless of their location.