Turning Compliance Training On Its Head

Compliance training. Just two words, but they have the power to fill employees with dread and loathing every time they hear them.

Not because they’d prefer to behave unethically, but rather that the way the training is delivered is often tedious, confusing and unmemorable.

Studies clearly show that, although the global compliance training market was worth over $6 billion in 2024 – and is expected to hit over $14 billion by 2029 – companies are still struggling.

After over two decades in this industry, we know that the secret to effective compliance training is to deliver it in a way that aligns with your employees’ psychology and culture. Because when you help your teams connect with your compliance message in way that’s meaningful for them, behavioural change comes naturally and authentically.

As a child, you were probably told to eat your greens. Your parents made it a rule and expected you to comply on that basis alone: “We’ve said so, so just do it.”

Naturally, you fought against it.

Greens are boring. Eating them every day is tedious. Surely ice cream would be a better option…?

But what if, instead of a rigid, greens-eating policy, your parents had taken the time to help you understand why green vegetables are so good for you. Imagine if they’d explained that eating them gives you more energy for playing with your friends and running around in the garden.

Or that greens are like a superfood and eating them will make you a superhero. What if you knew that vegetables help build your muscles and keep you healthy and strong?

All of a sudden, you’re eating greens not because you have to but because you really want to.

It’s all about approaching the issue through the lens of human behaviour. It’s understanding what makes people either follow or ignore the rules?

The secret is not to tackle compliance as a regulatory box-ticking exercise you want off your To Do list as quickly as possible.

It’s vital to engage and empower your employees to make the right decisions because they want to, not because they have to.

When you make compliance training less about enforcing regulations and more about communicating the benefits of behaving ethically, you encourage a culture of shared values and a true connection to the purpose behind the procedures.

Although South Africa continues to fight an exhausting war against rampant corruption, we know that most people don’t break the rules because they’re inherently “bad.”

In the same way rivers carve channels where it’s easiest for them to move, human beings are hardwired to choose the path of least resistance – more so when they can’t see an obvious reason not to.

More often than not, incidences of incompliance come from unintentional acts. A quick shortcut here, a procedural bypass there…

Phishing scams are a classic example. It’s frighteningly easy for an employee to unwittingly cause a major security breach simply by clicking on a fraudulent email. They may well have had compliance training, but because it likely took the form of complex, uninspiring and lengthy modules, they couldn’t connect it to any practical, real-world risks.

If your employees don’t feel a sense of shared responsibility and purpose, and if there’s no cultural connection to your company’s values, then there’s also no connection to the reasons behind the rules they’ve been told to follow.

The problem is, there’s often not an immediate consequence of a particular action, so there’s no incentive not to continue doing the same thing. The false sense of security this creates is the thin edge of the wedge that can ultimately break an organisation apart.

“It takes many good deeds to build a good reputation, and only one bad one to lose it.”

Benjamin Franklin

So, what’s the solution? How do you ensure the compliance training you give your employees actually hits home and fundamentally alters attitudes and behaviour?

As with so many things in life, and as well-known speaker Simon Sinek always tells us, “Start with why.”

Stephen Osler, from cybersecurity services provider, Nclose, agrees.

“Compliance training is about creating a human firewall that recognises and responds to potential threats,” he says. “When employees understand the ‘why’ behind compliance measures, they’re far more likely to adhere to them consistently.”

At the end of the day, the best compliance training isn’t about forcing employees to follow apparently meaningless rules. Instead, it’s about empowering them to make the right decisions organically naturally.

That sounds very nice, but how do pretty words translate to actual, practical and effective action? What can you actually DO to make compliance training more effective for your organisation?

Try these tips:

Instead of only focusing on developing compliance-related skills, back that up with ensuring employees have a safe space to practice those skills without fear of reprisal if they make a mistake. Ongoing coaching and reinforcement, and giving constructive feedback, also help to embed positive behaviours.
When training is personal and relevant, it feels less like training and more like communicating a shared vision. Your employees need to feel invested in what they’re learning, and understand the benefits it has for them, as well as the company.
Eliminate the overwhelm by breaking down training into bite-sized, snackable modules that are easy for employees to assimilate and apply. Make sure the content is tailored specifically for the employees concerned, instead of being something generic and cookie-cutter that’s impossible for them to relate to.

At JGL Forensics, we’ve been teaching effective compliance, good governance, and fraud awareness skills for over 20 years. We help you minimise risk and keep your business running smoothly by helping you understand the link between operational inefficiencies and increased fraud risk, and then showing you how to manage and mitigate these risks.

Our training helps you:

Build a culture of integrity in your organisation.
Create the right context for ethical and sustainable practices to thrive.
Implement ongoing risk assessments and prevention measures that evolve with continuous shifts in the economy.
Create sustainable growth through ethical practices.

If you’d like more information, or just an informal chat, we’re here to help.