How to keep your team compliant as they safely work at a distance
Having employees and contractors work remotely is nothing new, remote work has been a common practice for years. That said, the scale at which employees and contractors are working remotely has grown exponentially due to the COVID pandemic. The health and safety of your team are paramount, and many people have embraced this new reality. Working remote has many benefits for both employers and employees, however, it also comes with obstacles, that if left unaddressed could lead to costly issues. While there are many issues to discuss, we want to focus on the all-important topic of administering compliance training and testing.
When we use the word compliance, we are referring to ensuring your team has the right training and knowledge on topics like safety, workplace policies, harassment policies, HIPAA/privacy, process training, etc. Compliance and compliance training is often mandated by federal, state, or local laws and regulations. Having just one employee in violation of compliance could cost you financially through fines, lawsuits, interrupt productivity, and could even cause your operation to shut down temporarily while violations are addressed. In short, ensuring your team is compliant is of the utmost importance and we are here to provide you with everything you need to administer compliance training and testing no matter what obstacles come your way.
Here are 3 ways you can ensure your team remains compliant while they work remotely:
1.) Simple User Experience
More often than not, employers focus solely on testing content (and rightfully so), after all, it is essential your team gets the knowledge they need to perform their duties while remaining in compliance. However, a key component that is overlooked is the user experience… is the testing platform intuitive for users at every knowledge level? Let’s face it, most people don’t enjoy taking training courses or completing tests, it interrupts their workflow and schedule, and it also comes with a bit of anxiety… yes testing anxiety is real and it impacts performance. As important as these tests are, it is crucial that when an employee starts the process, they can navigate it smoothly from reading clear and concise instructions, understanding when the testing begins, clearly distinguishing between multiple choice answers, understanding long-form written responses, and distinguishable navigation buttons.
2.) Time Efficient
Help your team get the most value from compliance training and testing by treating their time as a valuable resource. The time commitments required by compliance training and testing are a major contributing factor for resistance from employees to complete assignments in a speedy manner. In most cases, compliance tests and assessments should be no longer than 10-15 minutes long. This ensures for maximum information retention and reduces mental burnout, after all, when your team completes the test during the workday, they are expected to resume their normal daily work activities. Additionally, help your team along by displaying their progress-to-completion in a clear manner as tests and assessments are being taken. You can do this with a timer, page numbers, and even a progress bar that fills in as they move along.
3.) Engaging
Let’s face it, training and testing for compliance can be incredibly boring, which can lead to inattentiveness and mistakes. This does not have to be the case for your team. While compliance training and testing will never be as exciting as a video game, there are simple ideas you can keep in mind to make them as engaging as possible. In addition to clearly articulating the importance of remaining compliant, you should tailor compliance training and tests to the employees taking them. This means making the material relatable at all levels in your organization. It may be necessary to administer variations of the same compliance training or test to different employees in an effort to help them be as engaged as possible and retain as much knowledge as possible. Other factors to consider include the overall aesthetic of the testing platform. Customizing colors, shapes, and using graphics enhance the overall experience and assist in user engagement. Lastly, consider using compliance topics and best practices in everyday conversation and communications. At the end of the day, teams that remain compliant are driven by leaders who underscore the value and importance by demonstrating it every day. Learn more about how your leadership can drive a culture of compliance throughout your entire organization from our Building a Culture of Compliance blog post here.
An online testing platform that we strongly recommend is Gauge. With Gauge, you can create, customize, and deliver high-stakes tests that meet your organization’s unique needs by building and maintaining a team that lives and breathes compliance best practices. From simple training, testing and certification tests to managing sophisticated courses and programs, Gauge is the compliance training and testing solution for organizations of all sizes.
Find the right compliance training and testing options for your organization here.
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