Typically, every year, organizations need to conduct different compliance training programs for their employees. These trainings may vary from ‘Social Media Policy’ to ‘Code of Conduct’ to ‘Anti-bribery Policy’ etc. Apart from the common compliance and regulations training of the industry, employees also have to go through role-specific compliance training. For example, a salesperson has to be trained on the Anti-bribery policy whereas a customer service rep has to be trained on the customer service standards.

How is compliance training done now?

Compliance training usually follows the instructor-led training sessions or online training where employees have to sit through long hours of training sessions. In these training sessions, they need to learn and retain non-contextual information which is often challenging to remember and apply.

Disadvantage of this approach - Disengaged Learner

The disadvantage with this approach is that it makes the employees disengaged with the training. Different learners have different learning needs. One size doesn’t fit all when it comes to training. Learners enter the learning environment with different levels of knowledge. For instance, one learner might have deep expertise and mastery, while another is new to her role and therefore needs more training.

While courses may be assigned based on role, department and/or competencies, employees still have to complete training they don’t really need. This takes time away from their productive work, and negatively impacts employee engagement.

Solution - Adaptive Learning

The solution lies in delivering learning that’s personalized to each learner’s needs. This technique is called Adaptive Learning. Personalization focuses on targeting individuals, addressing their needs, context, and goals, and providing the right content, tools and/or experiences to help them.

Adaptive learning transforms an organization’s training strategy so you can focus on the needs of each individual employee while supporting the full scale of your business.

Consider the example of a Compliance training program. An experienced employee in an industry will be able to progress through the course quickly as he is familiar with the basic compliance policies of that industry. On the other hand, a new hire in the industry is likely to face slower progress. Both the employees will get to take an assessment before starting the course which will test their existing compliance knowledge. Based on their responses they will be taken to a learning path that is customized according to their knowledge level.

What are the benefits of adaptive learning?

The top 3 benefits that resonate with most organizations are:

1. Increases effectiveness of learning
Traditional learning techniques are not effective for today’s millennial workforce who have a very short attention span. The average knowledge retention in a seminar or a one-day training session is only 5%. One of the most important benefits of adaptive learning is that it identifies learning needs and customizes the learning experience, thus making it very effective.
2. Improves the learner experience
Adaptive learning provides a better learning experience. It has the ability to adjust to learner’s needs on the fly and provide feedback, keeping them more engaged and motivated throughout the learning process. It addresses the need of the employee and is a very powerful mechanism to gain the trust and confidence of the employee.
3. Reduces training time
Instead of forcing all employees to sit through the same training for a set amount of time, adaptive learning technologies allow learners to achieve mastery at their own pace. Learners who prove an understanding of the material, move through the course faster than those learners who need more remediation and review. This can reduce a 1-hour training to 20 minutes and everyone can return to work with the knowledge they need to succeed as quickly as possible.

Implementing Adaptive Learning - Role of Technology

Today’s advancements in AI and ML is capable of delivering tailored learning experiences to the learners in your organization. It can identify the level of knowledge in individual learners and customize the learning activities to address their needs.

Depending on what each learner already knows and needs to know, a unique learning path is provided to the learner within the course. Based on their responses to activities in the online training program and questions posed to them, algorithms are used to adapt upcoming content to the individual learning needs of each learner.

With adaptive learning, learners will spend more time in the topics where they lack sufficient knowledge and is sure to help them master the training content. It enables the employees and makes their talent a true competitive edge for the organization.

Adaptive learning offers a way to standardize the learning outcomes of corporate training programs.

In order to implement adaptive learning for your organization, you need the right data, technology, and content, but it’s ultimately about people. It’s about acknowledging people’s individual needs and using the best techniques to provide the right support at the right time to help them solve problems and achieve their goals. It’s about enabling people to focus on the right things for themselves and for your business.

Looking for more information on the best ways to drive compliance training?

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Curious to learn more about it? Book a demo today!