News & Articles

Human Resource Management
Published in the Rochester Business Journal
August 3, 2003
© 2003 HR Works, Inc.

E-learning: An important tool in effective compliance training
By Candace Walters

The courts have repeatedly found that employers who fail to make good-faith efforts to comply with anti-discrimination laws suffer greater exposure to expensive punitive damage awards.

In recent years, organizations including Rent-A-Center, Mitsubishi and Wal-Mart have been ordered to pay out millions after courts deemed insufficient their efforts to comply with specific aspects of employment law.

Publicity surrounding such cases have heightened many employers' awareness of the need to adopt policies that comply with all local, state and federal employment laws, and to subject those policies to frequent review and update by professionals well-versed in employment law.

But adopting policies is only part of a protective strategy. Rulings from the Supreme Court, the Department of Labor and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission consistently underline the need for employers to show good-faith efforts by instituting a regular schedule of training for employees, especially supervisors, to ensure that those policies are understood and applied consistently. That training typically focuses on Interviewing and hiring practices, preventing discrimination and harassment, managing leaves, managing disciplinary and termination issues, and handling other issues such as proper use of e-mail and Internet use.

Why train?

The desire to reduce legal liability, while a compelling reason for instituting training policies, needn't be the only impetus.

For one, employment practices liability insurance is getting more expensive. And insurers are increasingly requiring employers to provide regular training in order to reduce their risk.

More important, however, may be a focus on the larger goal: Organizations bent on building a culture of long-term success will foster excellent employee relations as a vital and natural part of that strategy.

E-learning: Fast, flexible, convenient

Good training can contribute powerfully to a positive work environment, improving productivity and morale, reducing turnover and minimizing the distractions that occur when mild employee dissatisfaction turns hostile.

But when tough economic conditions chip away at training budgets, many employers are left wondering: How do we continue to provide beneficial and essential training with less money?

For more companies, e-learning has become a key tool in the quest to leverage knowledge in ever-better ways. With fast, flexible, convenient Internet-based learning, the return on investment can easily surpass the payback generated by customized instructor-led training.

Yet many companies have yet to discover the advantages of e-learning or know how to evaluate the wealth of offerings out there. When I spoke recently with a client about his dilemma of delivering consistent training, he acknowledged that he just hadn't thought about e-learning but that it might be an excellent solution.

The benefits of e-learning

While e-learning is not new, its applications are proliferating. Most employers like the idea of saving money by reducing the need for instructors, facilities and travel. For companies with various locations, web-based learning may be the only way to deliver a consistent message in a timely and cost-effective manner.

Learners can access training instantly -- from any location, 24 hours a day. And the message or information being delivered can be updated regularly. With e-learning, employers can monitor employees' progress through detailed reports, which will prove vital should a legal challenge surface.

For delivering compliance training, e-learning can be particularly appropriate. New-hire orientation, for example, is an ideal time to begin indoctrinating employees on company standards for avoiding harassment and discrimination.

Some companies will recognize aspects of e-learning that are similar to those used in self-serve benefits administration, which allows employees to enroll themselves in benefits programs and manage their 401(k) accounts on line.

Components of effective on-line HR training

A good e-learning program that supports employment-law compliance should:

• Be created, reviewed and updated regularly by legal professionals who specialize in workplace law.


• Present consistent information to all employees across all locations.


• Allow for monitoring supervisors' and employees' progress, since defending against a legal challenge often includes documentation that all employees completed the training.


• Offer separate tracks for supervisors and for employees.


• Include expert commentary, real-life scenarios and quizzes that test the learner's retention and ability to apply the information.


• Be available on the Internet or adaptable for use via a company's Intranet.


• Be self-paced, allowing employees familiar with the material to complete the training faster. It also would allow employees to go back and review a module anytime they choose to.


• Be available around the clock so employees can complete the training either in the office or off site, over several sessions if desired.


• Be supplemented with alternative training for employees who, for whatever reasons, have difficulty completing the on-line course.


• Continue at regular intervals, to reinforce the learning, provide refreshers and allow for the inclusion of new material.

Conclusion

In today's demanding business and legal climate, few companies can afford the luxury of viewing compliance training as an expensive annoyance or frill. The most successful organizations believe that building and maintaining a winning culture for the long term includes successfully managing employment law and practice issues. Within that context, the dollars invested in regular compliance training -- particularly in e-learning -- would seem a modest investment given the expected ROI in terms of productivity, profitability, employee and customer satisfaction, and community goodwill.

Candace Walters is President of HR Works, Inc., an HR management outsourcing and consulting firm serving more than 600 clients in the Rochester, Buffalo, Syracuse and Baltimore/Washington areas. HR Works provides HR Department outsourcing, part-time and interim HR managers, affirmative action plans, HR*Stars recruitment services, legally reviewed employee handbooks and supervisor manuals, compensation programs, training and more. To offer comments, write walters@hrworks-inc.com

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