In this blog post, we explore the value of taking a campaign-based approach to your compliance learning to boost engagement, drive completion rates, and embed long-term behavioral change.
Every year, thousands of compliance courses are rolled out. And many organizations invest significant time and resource into delivering high-quality learning to employees. But that effort is wasted if learners:
- Do not complete (or even start) the learning
- Complete the course but do not apply any of the learning to their role
For compliance courses in particular, poor completion rates also pose a serious risk to the organization. With heavy fines and even prosecution imposed on regulation breaches, the stakes are high.
A campaign-based approach to learning delivery can help decrease risk by driving up completion rates and ensuring learning has maximum impact.
Why Take a Campaign-Based Approach to Learning?
To understand the value of a campaign-based approach to learning, we need to look to other parts of the organization—namely, the marketing team.
When a business has a product, how do they ensure that the right people a) know about it and b) want to buy it? Answer: they utilize marketing teams or external agencies to design effective campaigns that spread the word about their offering across many different channels.
Whether through social media, TV, online advertising, or printed collateral, marketing teams have a range of ways to target potential customers, build up interest, and raise awareness of products and services.
There is no benefit to creating a great product if no one knows or cares about it. The same applies to learning. Creating high-quality eLearning courses is really just the first step. Generate awareness and interest for an upcoming course and you will raise its chances of long-term success—and ensure everyone in the business is primed for its arrival.
Designing a Campaign-Based Approach to Learning
If you’re considering taking a campaign-based approach to amplify the impact of an upcoming course, there are a few key elements to consider:
1. Agree Campaign Objectives and Messages
Define upfront what the main objectives and messages of the campaign will be.
Drumming up interest in the course and awareness is a given aim. A pre-launch campaign also provides valuable opportunities to:
- Begin communicating key messages and behaviors
- Prompt exploration and reflection on current knowledge and behaviors
- Deliver a bite-size piece of the course upfront
The campaign objectives should broadly align with your overarching learning and corporate strategy. If the course focus is around an incoming piece of legislation, then simply alerting learners to some of the key changes ahead in an exciting, engaging way is a valuable objective.
When a course has been designed with long-term behavioral change in mind, the pre-launch campaign can aim to aid reflection and prompt the first stages of change.
For example, you could share teasers of scenarios featured in the course and ask learners to consider what they would do in each situation. Then you could intrigue them to find out if their decisions are correct by accessing the course.
Using the pre-launch campaign to deliver a discrete ‘chunk’ of learning content is particularly useful if your overarching strategy is already based around a microlearning approach. A mini eLearning module can engage learners at an early stage and start their learning journey.
More from the blog: 'A Practical Look at Microlearning for Compliance Training'
2. Choose Appropriate Formats and Delivery Channels
The format and delivery of a pre-launch campaign will need to be tailored to your organization and learning audience.
Consider a multi-channel approach that utilizes:
- Digital content including video or animation
- Printed collateral such as posters and deskdrops
- Other internal communications such as newsletters and intranet pages
At LEO GRC, we have created animated infographics to accompany some of our generic solutions, such as Conduct Rules courses for Asset Managers and Insurance firms.
Animated infographics can be shown on video screens around office premises or embedded into company newsletters. They can also be shared on internal communication channels and networks.
Physical collateral such as deskdrops can also be a novel way to gain attention, especially when used as a starting point for a wider campaign.
Take some time to understand how employees prefer to access information about the business and tailor your delivery to these channels.
To create maximum engagement, it’s also recommended to phase the delivery of pre-launch content. This should ensure interest is maintained up to course launch.
Maximizing Learner Buy-In Beyond the Pre-Launch Campaign
A campaign-based approach has the potential to generate strong learner buy-in for a course ahead of launch, but it shouldn’t stop there.
Design principles that can maintain interest and engagement both during and after course delivery are also critical to the long-term success of the learning.
You might also like: '4 Ways to Revitalise Mandatory Training Through Engaging Learning'