Fast Facts About Compliance Training

The world of business is ever-changing as we progress into the twenty-first century.  Naturally, the office is becoming a more diverse place.  Sometimes this can lead to clashes or disagreements as we adjust.  Harassment in the workplace is no laughing matter and can lead to complications for both parties involved and the hiring business.

It is for this reason that we should learn about compliance training.  It helps to mitigate risks on all ends and assists the process of both personal and professional growth.  The nature of this training can vary, but there should be certain points touched upon.  For this reason, I will explain some of this here!

Purpose of Compliance Training

I’ve mentioned this word a few times now.  You might be wondering – what is compliance training, and why should I care about it?  There are a few ways to answer this.  I’ll start with the reasons behind pursuing it.

For a fast definition of this training, it is intended to teach and reinforce any internal regulations and policies, as well as laws, that relate to the function of a business or organization.  Usually, the training also teaches employees ways to follow these rules as they perform their jobs.  There are a few subcategories.

These are all good to learn and keep in mind, as they help a business be more successful over time.  That’s one of the many reasons to consider pursuing this training for employees on all levels.  You never want your employees to feel insecure or worried about the place that they work.  The risk of being unsafe or having an accident can hamper work activity and even lead to personnel loss.

Types of Training

There is some information on this page about the different between corporate compliance and regulatory compliance.  That’s not incredibly relevant to what I’m talking about, but I wanted to mention it, because the corporate side covers industry and several levels of laws such as state, local, and federal.  The regulatory aspect is when business actually follow these rules.

As far as the different types of compliance, there are a few different aspects.  The first I will cover is Cyber Security training.  Unfortunately, cyberattacks have been on the rise in the business world in the past few decades. 

This means that getting training for preventing these attacks is incredibly important.  It’s essentially an advanced form of risk prevention, at its core.  There are specific regulations for most industries for security and preventing virus breaches.

This form of compliance training can vary from something as simple as teaching employees to avoid suspicious emails, to things more complicated.  In the case of emails, it should be important to note that any unknown senders or links that look strange should not be opened or clicked.  Viruses can invade our computers and systems incredibly quickly.

Either way, it’s probably something good to keep in mind.  If your business is not within the industry standards, you could potentially incur fines.  It also poses a risk of losing important data or having it stolen.  None of these are positives in a business.

The other form of training that I will touch upon is workplace violence.  You can find a whole page about this on the United States Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration website: https://www.osha.gov/workplace-violence.  This is obviously quite important, as workplace violence is a huge business and personal risk.

If you’re wondering, the definition of “workplace violence” as OSHA cites it is any situation or act that involves physical attacks, intimidation, threats of violence, or harassment.  To fall in this category, it obviously must occur at the place of work.  Unfortunately, many instances of such attacks or threats are often not reported.

Training can clearly help prevent tragic situations like this.  Businesses should establish zero tolerance policies for physical attacks or violent activities in their places of work.  This should be in the code of conduct for employees, ideally. 

Why It’s Important

This might seem unimportant or like a side effect of the world’s progression into “political correctness.”  I can assure you that this is not the case.  Establishing a compliance program and training employees in it can reduce risks and encourage a happier work environment.

After all, when employees feel safe and secure in their place of work, they are often more productive.  Healthy work environments are key to a productive business.  Positive relationships between co-workers tend to improve efficiency.

If an office opts for training, it starts the process of projecting a positive attitude from the leadership team to the rest of the employees.  It demonstrates that the administrative team cares about the well-being of the people who work with and for them.  That’s just one of the many benefits that can come from this.

Adam Hansen
 

Adam is a part time journalist, entrepreneur, investor and father.