Tips for Effective Compliance Training

In September of 2014, the Governor of California signed AB 2053 into law, adding to the required AB 1825 sexual harassment training for supervisors. Beginning January 1, 2015, the training must include information on how to prevent “abusive conduct.”

• Require all employees to attend the compliance training, including executives and board members. It sets a bad example if the upper management team is allowed to miss the sexual harassment training. Additionally, sexual harassment by an executive can be devastating financially and to your entity’s reputation. In other words, the amount you save by exempting executives from the training is minimal compared to the millions a sexual harassment lawsuit could cost you.
• Focus the training on values, ethics, rules and policies. You want your employees to be educated on your company’s vision and ethical standards. It is also essential that they understand how to make ethical decisions and practical guidelines on how to apply the rules and policies to everyday situations.
• Include interactive scenarios in the training process. You cannot expect your employees to memorize a stack of rules, you need to use tools that will help them remember what they learn and reduce the exposure to liability. If you make the training something your employees can relate to, they are more likely to remember and implement it.
• Don’t limit the training to a one-time event. It is important to have awareness campaigns periodically throughout the year.They don’t have to be anything time-consuming or complex. Instead, hanging posters or sending out emails can reinforce what was taught during the compliance training.