How to Engage Your Audience in Compliance Training

by Trey Anderson, Senior Consultant, Capco Academy

Compliance training can be a challenge. It can be difficult to make training engaging for the audience, keep up with new training styles, and ensure proper documentation for examiners. We will address those issues and provide some solutions to help improve your overall training program.

Want to Catch Your Audience’s Attention? Tell a Story

We know that engaging your audience is the key to boosting attendance. People learn in different ways, but one thing has held true throughout time: People love stories. Before we developed written language, people passed on information by telling stories. At Capco Academy, we have found that one of the most effective ways to teach compliance is by including stories in our training. We look at the history of a particular regulation to pull some interesting facts to share with our attendees.

For example, did you know that Senator William Proxmire, who introduced the Truth in Lending Act in 1968, was an aggressive critic of wasteful government spending? He introduced the Golden Fleece Award to focus attention on wasted taxpayer dollars. Is it any surprise then that the same senator introduced legislation that would allow consumers to shop to avoid wasteful costs and fees in obtaining a loan?

Or did you know that Unfair, Deceptive, and Abusive Acts and Practices (UDAAP) arose, in part, from a Supreme Court case brought by S&H Green Stamps, a trading stamp company? Or that two brothers started their credit investigations business in 1899 by going door-to-door among merchants, asking about their customers, and noting the findings in ledgers? The two brothers, one a former bank employee, and the other a lawyer, employed simple notations to reflect merchants’ comments about their shoppers’ payment habits: “Prompt,” “Slow,” or “Requires Cash.” They published these findings as “The Merchant’s Guide,” and later sold it for $25. That company later became Equifax. This business contributed to passage of the Fair Credit Reporting Act and its implementing Regulation V.

Introducing these fascinating tidbits and stories into your training narrative can bring the training to life and help attendees understand better why compliance is important to their role.

Keeping Up With New Training Styles

Today, virtual training is all the rage. People travel less and training is done virtually over Zoom, Teams, Webex, or specific Learning Management Software platforms. No matter the platform, you still must keep your audience involved. Here are a few tips and suggestions that Capco Academy has seen in successful training:

•  Interactive Content 

Incorporate interactive elements such as quizzes, polls, or interactive exercises to actively involve participants and keep their attention.

• Visuals and Multimedia

Utilize visuals, graphics, videos, and other multimedia elements to enhance understanding and make the training more visually appealing.

• Gamification 

Introduce gamification elements like leaderboards, badges, or rewards to create a sense of competition and motivate participants to actively participate and excel.

• Breakout Rooms 

Utilize breakout rooms for smaller group activities, discussions, or case studies. This encourages collaboration, engagement, and active participation.

• Engaging Delivery Style

Use a dynamic and enthusiastic delivery style, varying your tone and pace to keep participants interested. Encourage questions and discussions to maintain an interactive environment.

• Virtual Whiteboards and Collaboration Tools 

Take advantage of virtual whiteboards or collaboration tools to facilitate brainstorming, idea sharing, and real-time collaboration among participants.

• Real-Life Scenarios 

Incorporate real-life scenarios or case studies relevant to bank compliance to make the training more practical and applicable.

• Q&A Sessions and Feedback 

Allocate time for Q&A sessions, where participants can ask questions and seek clarification. Additionally, gather feedback after the training to identify areas for improvement.

Remember, it is important to foster active participation, provide opportunities for interaction, and create a virtual learning environment that is both informative and enjoyable for the participants.

Always Remember Documentation

Documentation is critical. Retention and use of written materials after any training session preserves a record for examiners. We often recommend that you keep two master copies of a regulatory training notebook in which the compliance officer can put notes and document all training sessions, with full sets of all handouts organized either in chronological order or organized regulation by regulation. Two copies are important so that the compliance officer always has one even if someone has borrowed a copy. Each set of handouts for a particular training session should have the date the session was delivered clearly stated in it. Regulations change, and compliance officers should be able to show their training was correct when it was given.

We also recommend two records for all training sessions. The first record will show the names and titles of everyone who was supposed to attend. The second record is the names and titles of those who actually attended. Keep both in the permanent records, as in many cases, later problems will be traced back to individuals who, for whatever reason, did not attend the training session on the topic for which the problem occurred.

Compliance Training Through Capco Academy

Capco Academy offers a variety of training solutions, from virtual and live custom ILT to webinars and workshops. If you are interested in having Capco lead your compliance training utilizing these solutions, whether in a virtual environment or exclusively for your financial institution at your facilities, contact us and inquire about courses Capco Academy offers, such as:

• Hot Topics in CRA and Fair Lending.

• KBYO/TRID Exam Readiness.

• Hot Topics in Regulation E Debit Cards, Credit Cards, and UDAAP.

• Managing the Risks of Financial Crime.

• Foundations of Compliance Seminar.