WHAT COULD GO WRONG?
Addressing Concerns from a Risk Averse Community
In this episode of Creativity & Compliance, Tom & Ronnie discuss entertainment-infused training and communications and ask the question, What Could Go Wrong? Common misconceptions and concerns are addressed.
The ethics & compliance profession tends to be a risk averse community. Makes sense. The main charge is to mitigate risks for your organizations. This unfortunately leads many to avoid some of the more innovative solutions. So, while Tom & Ronnie tend to be positive, solutions-oriented individuals, in todays episode we ask the questions:
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WHY NOT?
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WHAT COULD GO WRONG?
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WHAT DO YOU HAVE TO LOSE?
Entertainment-infused training and communications has a long history of improving engagement, awareness and stickiness of learning. There is precedent outside of compliance which we see everyday when we watch TV, Films, Commercials, Podcasts and educational programming of all types. There is also a long history of success within the compliance community. L&E Founder, Ronnie Feldman and his team has been developing comedic compliance programming since 2009, with hundreds of success stories across more than 25% of the F1000. This includes a wide range of global, diverse, multicultural, multigenerational, conservative work environments. There is precedent for success. So why not? Let’s review the common concerns.
GC & CCO
Q. This is a serious stuff. We don’t want to “make fun of” important topics.
Q. This is a serious stuff. We don’t want to “make fun of” important topics.
A. The issues are important. They are so important, we need to make sure employees pay attention, engage and remember. There’s a difference between having a difficult conversation and a conversation about a difficult thing. There are thousands of real world examples showing how you can take these very serious messages and wrap them in an entertaining wrapper to increase the likelihood that people will engage. Airline safety videos, Schoolhouse rock, charity benefits, commercials for most products on TV. There are a variety of different entertainment sytles – comedy, music, drama, parody, etc. that have proven successful. It’s simply a more effective solution for impacting learning, changing behaviors and winning hearts and minds.
“Entertainment-Infused training & communications is simply a more effective solution for impacting learning, changing behaviors and winning hearts and minds.”
Q. Is it cost effective? We don’t have the budget.
A. The current methods of compliance training cost more and are less effective. Programs spend a large part of their budgets on long, bloated, boring, e-learning that annoys the learner and then there are countless hours spent chasing down completion rates with a “do it now or else” attitude. All of this has proven to be ineffective in changing behaviors. It actually teaches them that its not important and that you don’t care. It’s an open secret that employees are multitasking in the background and they come away resenting you for “wasting their time.” It undermines trust. Short, entertaining, frequent communications and nudge-learning is a far more efficient and effective way to mitigate risk. It costs less because the model does not use a per-seat license for content, so you can integrate and circulate more. It engages more by every measurable standard. It helps promote the support system and helps stay top of mind. It certainly can’t engage less!
“Short, entertaining, frequent communications and microlearning certainly can’t engage less! It’s a far more efficient and effective way to mitigate risk.”
Q. We’re a global workforce and humor doesn’t translate?
A. We’ve dedicated several articles and podcasts to this subject. You can read the most recent in Joe Murphy’s C&E Ideas & Answers Blog.
“Translating that boring training only ensures that you are boring them in their own language.”
LEARNING PROFESSIONALS
Q. Does it improve learning? Can you measure success?
Q. Does it improve learning? Can you measure success?
A. Adding some creativity and entertainment to training improves learning by almost every behavioral science study. It disrupts patterns and stands out. It makes emotional connections which helps with recall. It can be played in higher rotation to help combat the forgetting curve. It creates a halo effect which makes you and your team more approachable. It’s fun, so you can get others to carry these messages forward on your behalf.
A. We’re advocates for train less, communicate more. You certainly can make e-learning better by adding some creativity and fun and you will receive measurable improvement and satisfaction from your employees. And while measuring communications can be trickier, it still can be done. Measure click through rates and access to policies, which almost certainly will increase. Survey awareness and attitudes which will improve as well.
“Adding some creativity and entertainment to training improves learning and recall by almost every behavior sciences study”
BUSINESS LEADERS
Q. Please just don’t waste our time.
Q. Please just don’t waste our time.
A. The business will always be happy with approaches that take up less of their time. If your programming is short and has some entertainment value, they will gladly participate in more frequent communications and microlearning. If it’s fun, they won’t mind. If it’s short, they’ll be happier. They’ll learn more and will also learn that the ethics & compliance team is friendly and approachable.
“You may have a conservative company, but your conservative approach to training and communications isn’t helping”
Simply put, there is very little risk in pursing shorter, more creative, more entertaining, more frequent communications and nudge learning. It certainly can’t engage less. It will almost certainly help you promote an ethical culture, make you and your team and the support system more approachable, positively influence behaviors and mitigate risk.
Ronnie Feldman is the CEO & Creative Director at Learnings & Entertainments, a learning content provider made up of comedians and entertainers with a focus on corporate risk. www.LearningsEntertainments.com