COMEDY & COMPLIANCE:
ENGAGING A GLOBAL WORKFORCE
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Ethics and Compliance programs have a tendency to avoid some of the more innovative, creative training, communication and employee engagement strategies because, as they say, “we’re global and comedy doesn’t work globally.” To that I say, Ha! Now THAT is a real joke! The sentiment behind this misconception may have some foundation in that there are different cultural nuances around the world. Going further, there are a variety of different sensibilities within regions, based on age, education, religion and a variety of other factors. But this misses the point. Using the global nature of your workforce as an excuse not to try innovative, creative things for fear of it not engaging everyone just leads us to continuously circulating mind-numbingly boring, preachy, training and comms that are sure to engage absolutely no one.
“Translating that boring programing into multiple languages just ensures that you are boring them in their own language.”
Variety is the Spice of Life: There is no single way to engage a global, multicultural, multigenerational, diverse workforce. Everyone likes different things. People learn in different ways. So don’t put all your eggs in one basket. (Cultural translation: don’t risk everything on the success of one venture.) The most effective way to engage the most people is to try lots and lots of little things. BE MORE CREATIVE & TRY MORE THINGS! It’s more efficient and effective. Not every strategy will work for every audience. But over time, you’ll engage more people. It mitigates the risk of any one initiative. Engage your audience through variety and surprise.
Entertain To Engage
There are cultural differences, but we all know that people from all walks of life like to be entertained and people like to learn new things. There are a variety of creative techniques that have proven successful in engaging a global workforce. Here are a few:
Music:
Utilizing songs, jingles and music tends to work well globally. Why? Because it’s not about clever wordplay, which sometimes doesn’t translate. Reciting the actual policy and putting it to music is direct but also oddly entertaining. Singing the lesson is super weird in and of itself without having to try and make nuanced jokes. Songs and music create emotional connections and can get stuck in your head like an earworm. It’s a great way to get your audience to engage and remember. Try different musical styles. It’s one of the most effective ways to engage a global workforce.
An example of this: L&E Jingle: Code Promotion.
Shameless promotion alert. The creative programming examples being shared are part of the L&E library of creative training and communications. They are provided to show examples of how you can blend entertainment with learning around these serious subjects. Please note that the links will take you away from this article to the L&E website. Enjoy!
Animation:
Animation tends to work well globally. It makes it easier to show a variety of settings, a variety of ages and ethnicities. You can use objects or animals instead of people. You can pull an elephant out of your pocket if you need to. You can still show real scenarios and situations but you can jump space and time to cover more ground quickly. There are a variety of animation styles. And you’ll still need good writing and voice-over talent to make it good (sorry Gen AI, but you’re not there yet). But as strategy, animation is an efficient and effective technique for engaging globally. At the end of this article we’ve provided a link to see an example.
An example of this: L&E Tales from the Hotline Story – It’s All Relative
Parody:
While there are cultural differences in entertainment around the world, there are a few things that are common. Talk shows, game shows, commercials, music videos, sitcoms, dramas. These techniques are somewhat ubiquitous. Wrapping your anti-bribery, COI, Privacy and other corporate risk programming in one of these styles will feel familiar to a majority of your audience.
An example of this: L&E Commercial Parody: Integrity
Specificity:
One thing that everyone has in common at your company is YOUR COMPANY. Referencing acronyms, people, inside jokes, departments and stories that are specific to your company is a great way to engage people across your organization.
Involve Your People:
A great technique to engage your global workforce is to involve them. Creating a Zoom-style interview show with a charismatic host speaking with different leaders and SMEs around the globe is a great way to engage and educate the workforce while representing different parts of the business. Person-on-the-street style interviews with employees also work well to showcase how employees feel about an issue. Selfie-video campaigns and contests are another way to involve people around the world. Set up a contest; “tell us what integrity means to you” or “create a 60-second song about conflicts of interest.” It’s interactive and fun on the front end and generates content you can reuse to engage others going forward
Local vs. Dubbing vs. Subtitling:
The best situation is to produce things locally in the local language with the local people. But since time and cost are factors, the next best thing is to dub the video with voices in that language. The next best after that is subtitling. Some of the new AI tools are helpful with this. But please remember, just because subtitling isn’t as good as producing it in the local language doesn’t mean you shouldn’t do it. If you’re being creative it’s still a better engagement tool than the same old-same old.
Halo Effect
Let’s remember that blending entertainment with learning is a more effective solution. Sure it’s more fun for them and more fun for you, but we’re not doing it just to do it. It makes our jobs easier as ethics & compliance professionals and is a more effective way to mitigate risk.
- It helps to rise above the noise, stand out and get noticed
- It helps get airtime and exposure on more training and comms channels
- It helps improve engagement and stickiness of learning
- It helps us engage and involve others to carry the message forward
- It helps create a Halo Effect, i.e. a cognitive bias that makes the E&C team and its resources more welcoming and approachable, which makes it more likely that you’ll get invited to meetings, that employees will ask questions, report concerns and seek out your advice and support.
“While not all humor translates globally, one thing for certain is that Boring does!”
Boring programming alienates and undermines your ability to influence behavior. Spending that extra time to be creative and entertaining across all your training and communication touchpoints isn’t a luxury. It’s essential. This doesn’t mean that every attempt will work. But as long as the messaging is clear and you’ve done your homework to scrub out any of the things that are truly offensive, there is no downside. Your audience will think better of you which builds trust. You will engage more people. Even if it’s 10% more people that’s still more people! So don’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good. Be creative. Try new things. You will be more effective and your employees will appreciate it and you!
