Contrary to tradition, the majority of the training in healthcare is now available as eLearning. Of course, there will always be courses that need to be facilitated via face-to-face, like CPR, but the rest of the statutory and mandatory training is completed in front of a PC at the learner’s convenience and pace.
In this post we will look at 5 tips on how you can boost the compliance figures of an organization, focusing primarily on healthcare.
Popularity of LMS
The LMS is the car that drives the learners to training success. But not everyone in an organization has yet driven it and those who haven’t rely on the comments of those who have. The smoother it is, the more enjoyable the ride, the better the reviews.
The word of mouth is very important when it comes down to the reputation of an LMS. What people have to say about it influences directly all those who haven’t used it. How easy is it to log in? How responsive is it? How fast? How many clicks does it take to launch a course?
This is why acquiring an LMS that suits best your organization’s needs is the first step to increase your compliance levels.
Engaging courses
No matter how many times we point this out, it will never be enough. No one wants to do a course that is not fun, easy and as short as possible.
If the content and the interface of a course are not engaging, it is more than certain that the learner will quit. They will exit the course thinking “Nah… maybe some other time”. We don’t want that, do we? And we don’t want that because, most of the times, there is no other time.
As L&D professionals, we want to keep our learners happy and we can only do that by offering courses that amount to a pleasant break in a busy shift.
Protected time and facilities
The majority in a healthcare organization are frontline staff who deal with patients and emergencies throughout their shift.
Even when there’s no knocking on their door, they are busy filling out paperwork and responding to emails and phone calls. The only time they can actually pause is when they go for their break.
So, when is the best time for them to complete a mandatory course? This is an answer only a good manager can give. They need to reassure their staff that they can leave for an hour or two without worrying about the hectic situation they are leaving behind.
Having access to IT facilities, where staff can go and find the peace of mind needed to absorb the information of an eLearning course, is absolutely essential. The lack of such facilities is traditionally associated with low compliance.
Spirited managers
We just mentioned how managers can help their staff to update their outstanding training. They chase up their team’s compliance by reports they run themselves, or by reports they receive on a regular basis, or –very rare!- because they are so organised that set reminders about trainings that are about to fall out of date.
No matter what an L&D team may do to increase the organization’s compliance rate, if a manager is not up to speed with keeping their team in date with their training, they will never be.
Culture
OK. I don’t know whether I should write it in bold or in capital letters, but the culture of eLearning is the most crucial, pivotal and paramount factor in training compliance.
If staff frown every time they receive an email from the L&D team, if a manager doesn’t get alerted by his team’s low compliance, if the organization has not invested in a fully functioning LMS or has not provided the facilities required, then it is obvious that there is something fundamentally wrong.
Training and eLearning should be considered as an opportunity to grow and develop and not as something that needs to be squeezed in a diary so we can get the L&D team off our back.
Conclusion
It is not actually difficult to increase the training compliance in a healthcare organization. You just need to take into consideration all the special attributes that can pose a burden. And if things don’t seem to work out, never blame your staff about the low numbers. Revise your strategy and start over.
