No matter what industry your organisation is in, legal and regulatory compliance is essential to protect it and your employees. Therefore, it’s important your employees are well-trained for it. This is particularly relevant for the finance sector, as the increasing demand for digital services, such as online banking, has changed regulations and increased the need for compliance. ‘Compliance’ is a broad term for the various regulations that affect businesses, such as health and safety, corrupt practices and social responsibility.
Although compliance training can be viewed as boring among employees, it does add value to a business. By training employees to become more knowledgeable about the regulations that affect their specific job roles, it protects the organisation from a variety of detrimental impacts.
Compliance training takes time and should be an ongoing process, as opposed to bombarding employees with large amounts of information in one go that they are unlikely to retain. A lack of knowledge surrounding compliance can have disastrous effects for an organisation, as this is ultimately reflected in an employee’s behaviour.
The most important purpose of compliance training is to stay on the right side of the law. As workplace laws and regulations are constantly evolving, it is even more important to keep up -to -date with ongoing training. This directly affects an organisation’s ability to maintain a well-respected reputation, as legal complications could create a negative public image for them. A good reputation will naturally attract new clients and maintain old business, as you will be seen as a trusted, professional company. This, in turn, increases sales and profits.
As well as improving profit, compliance training saves money. Although there is a cost to implement compliance training, non-compliance can cost even more. This may include legal fines, business disruption and losses in productivity and revenue, which can equate to around $14.82 million.
Applying effective compliance training also has positive impacts for the people within the company. For example, ignoring health and safety regulations leads to a higher number of employee absences, which can lead to low morale and productivity. Compliance is also important for employee retention levels, as employees who feel unsafe or unfairly treated at work leave employment sooner.
Internal compliance covers aspects such as safety, wages, employee benefits, compensation and employee protection. If a company is fully compliant in these areas then it will result in a better working environment. Employee morale and satisfaction are boosted when they feel that that they are well compensated for their efforts and that they are in a safe environment.
Compliance training is also important in terms of protecting the company over the long-term. Compliance is aligned with the best practices for an organisation, so as this and the requirements for compliance evolve over time, it ensures that businesses are compliant with regulations before they have come into effect.
Adhering to laws and regulations prevents legal complications that can result in high costs and low productivity among employees. It creates a pleasant and safe working environment, where employees can perform to the best of their ability.
To encourage this culture at work, an ongoing training programme is most effective. This can be done in various ways, including bite-sized e-learning that is accessible for employees, while also helping them retain higher amounts of necessary information. Interactive, real life scenarios are also effective for teaching compliance, as involvement in these exercises resonates more with employees and makes the learning more memorable.
