Rethinking compliance training

Why we keep forgetting the stuff we learned and why traditional compliance training is not helping us to become ‘compliant’

Job Bilsen
Aug 28, 2017 · 3 min read

We all know that the things we learn during training can be hard to remember after a while. And it will be even harder if the things we have to learn are not the things that we apply in our daily job routines.

Of course this is not a problem for those rare pieces of knowledge that are hardly ever applied. In these situations performance support can be very helpful for giving learners access tho the right chunks of knowledge when they need it the most (maybe it shouldn’t even be part of the initial training). But how can we make sure that when people learn important knowledge they retain this knowledge overtime? For example, compliance or safety related content that employees simply have to know.

I have a few thoughts on how we can help our learners to not forget the things they have learned (and that are important to remember) so that they can apply this knowledge on-the-job. Because in order to make learning efficient, retention of knowledge might be as important as learning stuff in the first place.

Forgetting Curve of Ebbinghaus

Margie Meacham refers to the forgetting curve of Hermann Ebbinghaus: “If we don’t repeat the learning, our new knowledge wil very soon diminish overtime.”

To solve this issue the spacing effect (repeating knowledge overtime) can play a major role.

Continuous compliance

So, what if we’d use this insights to redesign compliance training? Is it really a good idea to train people once a year, give them a test and call them ‘Compliant’ for at least one year? How can we use the concept of the forgetting curve and spaced learning to make compliancy a continuous concept in which we serve both the organisation and the individual learner? Maybe it is time to use smart technology and make ‘being compliant’ a continuous and living thing that you should give attention now and then.

It is therefore that we designed the PowerApp and created the algorithm to meet the ideas of spaced learning and to keep learners knowledge up-to-date. As Karpicke and Roediger (2007) mention repeated retrieval during learning is the key to long-term retention. The PowerApp presents knowledge in in short bursts at individual user level in a smart, efficient way. Scores automatically fall back again if subjects are not repeated, so you always have the actual ‘up-to-date score’.

Scores of topics in the PowerApp, if a user doesn’t come back scores will fall back over time.

#Rethink Compliance

Coincidentally it occurred that when writing this post my friend and fellow learning expert Wilfred Rubens published a post discussing the exact same topic. He refers to some interesting articles by Clive Shepard and Allison Rossett who see that checking the boxes is not sufficient or effective in acchieving behavioral change. Rubens states that compliance training should be related to performance on the job and that we should focus on shown behavior.

I am totally agree with Rubens, but in order to be able to show compliant behavior on the job we (the L&D folks) might have some work to and take the compliance course to a next level.

Want to learn more about the PowerApp? Check out www.powerapp.nl/en or give me a shout.

)
Job Bilsen

Written by

Learning, technology & innovation. Skate to where the puck is going

Welcome to a place where words matter. On Medium, smart voices and original ideas take center stage - with no ads in sight. Watch
Follow all the topics you care about, and we’ll deliver the best stories for you to your homepage and inbox. Explore
Get unlimited access to the best stories on Medium — and support writers while you’re at it. Just $5/month. Upgrade