[00:00:00] Speaker A: Hi, everyone. In today's episode, Broadcast CEO Jennifer May will discuss how you can take your organization's compliance training and communication to the next level. I'm your host, Bill Coffin, and this is the Ethicast.
Training and communications are crucial aspects of a successful ethics and compliance program. But in recent years, the old orthodoxy of how to train people, including the dreaded peanut butter method of providing thick, universal levels of training across the enterprise without regard to existing knowledge or actual need, is being overtaken by far more effective methods grounded in behavioral science, audience engagement and data analytics. Helping to lead that charge is broadcat, a compliance design company which develops innovative training solutions designed to integrate into business processes, thereby giving employees the information they need to do their jobs right when they need it. This reduces risk, improves efficiencies, and empowers sustainable success.
Joining us today to talk about best practices in compliance training and communication is broadcast CEO and head cheerleader Jennifer May. Jennifer is a veteran compliance practitioner who blends her experiences with building and supporting compliance programs with her passion for behavioral science and compliance training and communications. Jennifer, welcome to the program. Thank you so much for joining us.
[00:01:26] Speaker B: Oh, thank you, Bill. I'm so excited to be here and have this conversation with you today.
[00:01:31] Speaker A: Ethics and compliance training is in an interesting place right now. There's a lot of talk out there about next generation training techniques, but it's hard to really define what that is or if you do define it, how to best integrate that into existing programs. We're hearing from a lot of organizations that they see a need for some sort of transition and just haven't quite determined what that is or how to make that leap. How would you characterize the current state of ethics and compliance training?
[00:01:57] Speaker B: Yeah, Bill, that's a great question. And I really don't think I'll be too far out on the limb to say that it's not awesome.
For as much innovation as you mentioned that has occurred over the last few years, the proliferation of LMS systems with lots of bells and whistles, tracking, quizzing, gamification, and even some of the things we're seeing recently with AI tools, I'm still hearing the same overarching issue from ENC pros, and that is that whenever they assign that training, they get a collective groan from their employees. And so that's why I say it's not awesome.
But it also begs the question, given all this innovation, given all of this new technology, why is that still the case? Why are we still getting that collective grown? So here's our hot take. Is that enc training kind of as a general theme. That's not the problem. The problem is when we over rely on any one particular approach or methodology to creating and delivering our content, what.
[00:03:03] Speaker A: Are you seeing ethics and compliance officers do that limits their ability to drive better outcomes? Are E and C officers sometimes getting in their own way?
[00:03:12] Speaker B: Before we start getting a ton of comments down below that you know, Jennifer hates technology, Let me, let me be clear. There's really nothing further from the truth. I really genuinely believe that technological improvements have really helped to elevate our profession and are really helping to push our community forward in not only all of our training, but all of our communication styles.
What I've seen though, and where, you know, I personally have tripped up in the past is when I over rely on a technology that limits me from really using those good hallmarks of good communication that are just kind of general things and sometimes you forget about those things are there. Coming back to those basics of good communication, it's kind of easy to get caught up in that mindset of I'm going to technology my way out of this training problem that I'm having. But what you're seeing is, and what I saw too, when you review your metrics, you're not seeing that level of risk reduction that you might have expected despite having pushed out all these great courses or doing these games or all these other things. Really taking that moment, stepping back and looking at what's going on and saying where has it gone off the rails? Where has it gone wrong? Which is a really uncomfortable question to ask, but it's the right question to be asking ourselves to help get out of that mindset.
[00:04:33] Speaker A: What is the best kept secret about obtaining really exemplary ethics compliance training results? I'm talking. It could be something that maybe folks generally don't know about. It could be a misconception or maybe just something that doesn't get enough spotlight.
[00:04:45] Speaker B: Yeah, you know, I don't know that it's really a secret at all. It's something that you gotta remember. It's really four simple things. It's getting that right message to the right folks at the right time and in the right way for them.
So it's pretty simple. But sometimes those simplest things are really, as you know, the very hardest thing to do.
So what I would propose is a yes and approach to this. Push yourself to really think differently about your communication delivery beyond just this kind of theory of training. It's really about communication. So for example, is your technology solution, your lms, your data set, your game, whatever is that important? Yeah, sure it is. And so are a ton of other ways to communicate. So all of those things should really be part of your mix. So physical and digital media. Yes. And leader led conversations, internal social channels, embedded just in time, reminders, all of those kinds of things, all of them should play a role in your messaging. Then you need to really move quickly to thinking about who your audience is for a given message and do the work to find out how the best to communicate with them. So you might find that what you thought was a good way, like pushing a course through your lms, is really not effective. For certain types of groups, like sales folks who are on the road a lot, or customer facing workers who aren't sitting behind a computer, the LMS is probably not going to be the best way to reach them. But in order to find out how to reach them, you've really got to put in the work, the hard work of getting out there and building those relationships with them to understand what it is that's going on in their day. So asking them about what they do each day, what are the ways that they're getting their messages currently? Are those working? And if they are, great, lean into those. If they're not, what would they recommend as a good way to communicate with them? Don't get me wrong, don't bend every single whim that you hear from somebody out there. But what you're doing when you go out and you engage in that way is that you're not only learning about the organization, you're learning about what they're doing in their day, where additional risks are going to be. And that's absolutely going to pay dividends. When you're doing your risk assessment, which is something that you need to do as well. But at the same time, and maybe more importantly here, you're really going to start building those relationships to get buy in for the things that you're talking about. So going out there and meeting people where they are, that's really going to help to build that relationship and then keeping that message tight based on what you learned, you know, targeting those, targeting that relative relevant audience, getting rid of the corporate speak, the compliance babble, all those kinds of things, really starting to get engagement and connection. And those are two things that are key and primary aspects to adult learning.
[00:07:51] Speaker A: We get a ton of questions from ethics and compliance officers who are trying to figure out how to get their organization to embrace better training and learning methods. What are some of the most common internal objections or roadblocks that you see towards embracing new Training paradigms.
[00:08:06] Speaker B: I think the barriers that I see generally boiling boiled down to two things. There could be a lot, but in general I'm seeing two things, and it's simple inertia or a cultural resistance to change. That latter one, that cultural resistance, that's really, really tough spot to be in. And honestly, it's signaling an issue that's probably bigger than training and communications can fix. That's one that you're really going to have to wrestle with. So let's go back to that simple inertia, one that's obviously still a challenge. It can, you can kind of get stuck in either old way of doing things or get stuck because you want to make something perfect and you're nervous about rolling it out. That's totally understandable. But you can chip away at that. You can chip away at that inertia with some persistence and effort, balance that with some chutzpah, get a little bit of mojo going there, but also be humble about it. So you're spending that time where you need it, spending that time to connect with folks and really solidifying that vision that you have to process, embed those messages or to provide just in time guidance or to really just kind of remind people, hey, we're still out here, we're here to help, we're here to support you. All of those kinds of things are really going to help to internalize for folks the right thing to do when they face those risky moments.
[00:09:29] Speaker A: So how important is it to get internal champions for supporting this kind of an overhaul to training and learning? And what are some approaches to that internal partnership building that you have seen prove especially helpful for ethics compliance officers?
[00:09:42] Speaker B: You've hit the nail on the head, Bill that is such a vital aspect to all of this, is to really get that buy in. And when we think about buy in, you know, we're certainly talking about senior leadership there. That's absolutely important to make sure that you've got that buy in from that team. But also finding those individuals, you know, at the mid levels, at the base levels of your organization who are willing to come with you on this journey of change and trying some new things, that's so key as well. The only way I've ever really seen that effectively done is by spending the time to get out there into the organization and really build those relationships up so that you understand what they're doing and they understand what you're doing. A couple of things that I would recommend in this space, you really, you do that generally so that you have a good sense of the organization, you're really embedded in it. You understand what's going on. But take the time to look cross functionally, especially at those groups that share a lot of synergy with ethics and compliance. So that could be like the security team, the HR team, IT legal. Those are kind of probably your big four that can really come along and help you to sell that message. They can also be your internal champions.
You can also support them with some of the things that they're doing. So by getting out there, talking with the organization, you're really focusing on those four teams. But talking to everybody about their jobs, people love talking about themselves, they really do. And that's a great thing when you're trying to build a relationship, because when you're doing that and you're open to hearing about them, then they'll be open to hearing about you. And that's when you can be honest about what you're trying to achieve and share your why. So a really great behavioral science approach, make sure that they know your why behind the decisions and the actions that you and your team are taking. That will help to demystify compliance and really help to solidify those relationships. So you kind of have a plan when you go out there, but then be willing to adapt or scrap it based on what you learn.
[00:11:36] Speaker A: Given that we see some organizations practicing next generation techniques, some using older and arguably less effective techniques, and others somewhere in the middle that see the need for transition, but maybe just haven't quite determined how to make that leap, what are some final thoughts you might have to share?
[00:11:51] Speaker B: Yeah, so I've talked to folks across that whole spectrum, so I think you're absolutely right about that really wide range of where everyone's at. And that's okay. That's what's helping to move the profession forward. And I love it. So whenever I'm talking about that, regardless of where someone is on that spectrum, I really like to come back to basics, come back to what the foundations of an ethics and compliance program should be established to do, which to me is providing support and grounding to your organization, helping to drive your mission while staying on the right side of risk. As everyone listening to this podcast knows, one of those primary elements of an effective program is education and training. But as we talked about earlier, the simple things, those are sometimes the hardest to do. So really finding that right tempo, finding that pace, creating that messaging, that's the challenge.
So my advice, the thing that I would recommend for folks to do is to just start, just start trying something out. Don't let perfection be the enemy of good. Just do something, any one thing. So one of the easiest things that maybe feels even kind of simple, but it's totally effective, is to go put a Speak up poster in a break room somewhere. Make sure that people know how to get in touch with you and your team know how to reach out to your hotline or your helpline. Just put that poster up in a break room. It's going to be there as a reminder each time they go in. And that will help you maybe even try some visual backgrounds, like change the background on your screen.
Remind them with some just in time checklist. There's some decision trees you can start building, but just start somewhere, start small and that's really it. Then see how it can grow from there. And so we want to help everybody to do that too. So I think we've got some freebies that we'd love to give to your listeners. And so I know you're going to give them the website to check that out. And that's really what I would say. Just start somewhere, just try it, just go for it and then see how it grows from there.
[00:13:51] Speaker A: Well, Jennifer, thank you so very much for joining us on today's program. I learned a lot and I just want to thank you on behalf of the community for doing the work that broadcast does for to really advance the state of the art when it comes to compliance training and learning. This is a really important part of the program and we can never be too far forward on this. So thank you so very much.
[00:14:08] Speaker B: Thank you, Bill. And thanks for giving us the platform to talk about it with a wider part of the community. We really enjoyed it and look forward to continuing this relationship with you.
[00:14:17] Speaker A: To learn more about how broadcat can help transform your compliance training and learning program, please visit www.thebroadcat.com. there you can learn about Broadcast compliance Design Club compliance videos, risk training collections, and their terrific blog. And while you're there, be sure to check out their freebies page for some outstanding free resources. I'm Bill Coffin and this has been the Ethicast. For more episodes, please Visit the Ethisphere YouTube
[email protected] ethisphere and if this is your first time enjoying the show, please make sure to like and subscribe on YouTube, Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Thank you so much for joining us. And until next time, remember, strong ethics is good business.
[00:14:56] Speaker C: Business laws are complex, but your employees aren't lawyers or compliance officers, so we shouldn't expect them to memorize every solution especially not unforgettable and frustrating. Once a year training.
That's where Broadcat comes in.
We frame training around real world tasks. By integrating it into business processes, your employees can do the right thing year round.
This helps you measure real outcomes and get buy in from your leadership.
