Find a Reliable Training Partner forYour Compliance Training Program

This was originally posted on eLearning Industry on October 19, 2018.

Finding The Perfect Training Partner For Your Compliance Training Development

So, you’ve been tasked with overseeing the development of a new corporate compliance training program for your company. Maybe some new regulation has just been rolled out, or the organization is refreshing its code of conduct. Or, recent harassment scandals have hit your industry a little too close for comfort. Whatever the reason, it’s up to you to facilitate the process.

The stakes are high – it’s been estimated that the amount spent for workers’ compensation costs due to workplace incidents and scandals is almost $1 billion per week, and that doesn’t even get into lost productivity and reputational damage. And, as with any training initiative, the solution itself needs to justify both the budget dollars spent (to the company’s executives) and the time spent completing the program (to busy employees).

This is what makes finding a reliable partner for your corporate compliance training so important. With the sheer volume of vendors just a Google search away, it’s easy to be overwhelmed. How can you know which L&D partner is the best fit for your needs? How do you know what to look for to develop effective corporate compliance training specifically?

For this discussion, we’ll assume that a budget has already been decided. Instead, let’s talk about what you can do to improve your process as you vet potential partners in search of the vendor that’s right for you and your company.

1. Be Prepared

Begin your compliance training partner search with a strategy. If you can identify upfront what needs you have and what specifications are necessary, you can more easily narrow potential partners down based on what they can offer. Start by asking yourself the following questions:

• What goals does the organization wish to accomplish through this training?
• What requirements, if any, are necessary to be included in order to comply with regulation?
• What tools and technologies should be used? Is there room in the budget to invest in innovative strategies?
• What timeframe will the corporate compliance training project have? When is the deadline for launch?
• What components will be developed? Web-based training? Instructor-led training? Performance support job aids? A combination?
• What areas of the project could be performed in-house?

Even if you don’t have all of the answers to these questions yet, asking them can still help you define exactly what you’re looking for. When you know what you need, it can be much easier to get a feel for whether a potential training partner can fit the bill.

2. Find The Experts

Once the parameters of your project have been defined, at least loosely, it’s time to review potential vendors for expertise. After all, your training budget is only a good investment if the final corporate compliance training product is effective, professional, and well suited to the needs of your organization. A reliable partner will have a good deal of experience under their belt and should be able to show expertise through leadership, innovation, or an impressive repertoire.

Experience should be measured in work done, just as much as it is in the number of years. Look carefully at the number of projects that have been completed, the industries, and training types the vendor has worked with, as well as the overall quality of the work that they have finished. It’s important to look for a partner that specializes in corporate learning and is familiar with your organization’s specific environment.

Another factor to consider when determining expertise is the vendor’s perspective, strategic outlook, and thought leadership. What do they have to say? Do they run any communication platforms (like a blog – hello!) or offer insights to the L&D community as a whole? Does their messaging match up with the work in their portfolio?

3. Focus On Process And Scale

A good partner will be able to work with your organization’s culture while also bringing new insight and strategy to the table. As you examine your potential partners for your corporate compliance training, look carefully at their process. If it’s built on a solid foundation but allows for flexibility on top of its structure, your partnership is less likely to end in a clash over process styles. Likewise, keep an eye out for a vendor’s ability to scale to your needs. An off-the-shelf or one-size-fits-all approach may result in a solution that doesn’t reach everyone you need it to, and a vendor with a fixed scale for their team size could bring you over budget all too quickly.

Lastly, look to the future. Consider your potential partner’s capacity and compare it to the needs your company may have moving forward. If the match is there, you may have built the foundation for a reliable partnership that can benefit your organization for years to come.

Not to toot our own horn, but we at AllenComm have been in the business of providing custom corporate compliance training solutions for an impressive array of clients for more than 35 years. Find out more about how we do it.