Whilst compliance training is considered a necessity; there is a risk of seeing it as a box to tick rather than something beneficial to learners.
So, how can businesses harness best practices to get the most engagement and positive participation, which will lead to a greater likelihood of consistent, compliant behaviour?
Is blended learning for you?
- What is blended learning?
- Benefits of a blended learning approach
- Learning engagement statistics
- Example of a blended learning programme
- Choosing a learning provider
What is blended learning?
Blended learning, sometimes referred to as hybrid learning, is defined as the approach to learning which employs both online learning and the traditional face-to-face style of learning. The combination of online learning and in-person education gives learners the opportunity to engage with the training material in a way that suits their style of learning.
The concept of blended learning has gained popularity in recent times with many institutions using this approach in response to the Covid pandemic. However, this is not a new approach to learning. Blended learning has long been an effective way to learn.
Benefits of a blended learning approach
The ultimate benefit of taking a blending learning approach is improving employee engagement. This indicates how learning can be more enjoyable, which is beneficial to the company. Some of the other benefits of blended learning include:
- improved feedback with better facilitation of learner feedback
- adaptation to an individual's learning style
- better reporting to identify, assess and respond to learner trends
Learning engagement statistics
How can businesses ensure their employees are more engaged in learning and development?
"Employee engagement is the emotional commitment the employee has to the organization and its goals."
Unfortunately, staff engagement is a big challenge for employers. Did you know that 67% of Workers in the USA are not engaged?
Gallup State of the Workplace Study (2017)
- 51% of US workers are not engaged at all
- 16% of US workers are actively Disengaged
This means that it is:
- Harder to retain employees who will constantly be looking for alternative opportunities.
- Employees who do not get the opportunities to learn and develop will not be as productive or committed as they could be.
Providing quality training and development opportunities is one way to improve employee engagement – and it looks like it's needed!
Example of a blended learning programme
To give you an example of how one could take such an approach, here's how one could approach the subject of GDPR compliance using different methods to ensure comprehensive coverage of this topic.
E-learning Primer
What GDPR is, the key rules around data acquisition, and how it must be retained, processed and ultimately deleted.
This could include gameplay on specific subjects,such as spotting the correct consent from various scenarios and choosing the right response to requests for erasure.
Face-to-face Sessions
GDPR in the workplace. A deeper look at understanding what GDPR means in practice on a daily basis. Sessions could look at how data is stored, what security measures are needed when travelling, how to maintain data security in the office, how to handle DSARs, what to do when requests are received from someone other than the data subject etc. It could include role-playing exercises for someone wanting their data erased to highlight when the right can be exercised and when it cannot. Also, a group session could explore how to identify if a data breach may have occurred.
Focused Mentoring
Focused mentoring involves one-to-one mentoring sessions for the Privacy Officer and senior data officers (if appropriate) to help them understand and be comfortable with the new, more stringent requirements and the risks of greater fines that authorities can levy on firms. Also, to provide them with assurance over the standards of job performance in the post-GDPR world.
Choosing a learning provider
This paper aims to show how tried and tested best practices can enhance your compliance training and improve the levels of engagement and trust with staff in terms of your training provision.
Most importantly, whichever training you select when working with a training provider, it must:
- Be efficient;
- Be interesting;
- Have the right coverage (both mandatory and risk-based topics); and
- Be sponsored by the senior management.
But above all, it should be an enjoyable, educational, and, if possible, a fun experience!
Looking for more compliance insights?
We have created a series of comprehensive roadmaps to help you plan and execute compliance in your organisation.
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