For many of us, the phrase ‘compliance training’ conjures feelings of drudgery. Dull, mandatory training that you just want to get out of the way. While it may not be anyone’s favourite part of the job, compliance training is foundational for any business. 

Luckily, it doesn't have to be this way! Compliance shouldn't be a slog, as we recently discussed in our article on levelling up your compliance training. We believe it’s time to shatter that stereotype, giving employees the engaging compliance training they deserve. It’s a lofty goal, but maybe, it’s time to make compliance training sexy.

When done right, the benefits of compliance training are significant and far-reaching, ranging from higher productivity and profitability to increased employee engagement and risk reduction. These benefits apply to both small businesses and large global organisations, regardless of industry.

These benefits, coupled with your legal obligations, mean you are doubtless eager to ensure your business complies with state laws and industry regulations. However, like many, you might be unsure where to start. Compliance is a vast, intimidating topic, after all. Where to begin? You understand compliance is essential for the security and reputation of your business, but how can you improve compliance within your organisation? Thankfully, it’s easier than it sounds. 

Below, we’ve outlined three essential steps to get started on better compliance for your business. But first, we’ll examine the state of compliance training globally, sharing the key statistics you need to know. 

Let’s start with the good news first. Globally, compliance training is maturing. This year, the number of organisations with "mature and advanced" risk and compliance programs grew by 29%. Likewise, the number of compliance programs deemed “reactive and basic” fell by 34%. These statistics are hugely encouraging, showing that organisations are thinking more deeply about their compliance programs to deliver engaging, forward-thinking content. 

Even so, there is still work to be done, as just 17% of teams say their compliance culture is ‘fully aligned’ across the company. 70% say their compliance culture is somewhat aligned, while, more concerningly, 13% say it’s not aligned. On a brighter note, Deloitte finds that 57% of organisations rate their compliance culture as either positive or exceptional. 

These positive advancements make sense, as organisations lose an average of $4 million in revenue per non-compliance event, making a mature and comprehensive compliance culture essential. Similarly, CEI finds that US businesses spend an average of $10,000 per employee on regulatory costs, while regulatory monitoring can save $1.03 million on average. Moreover, there has been a 45% increase in non-compliance costs in the last decade. 

It is also interesting to note that remote work has impacted the cost of non-compliance. According to IBM, data breaches cost over $1 million more on average when remote work is a factor. Put simply, non-compliance is prohibitively expensive, meaning it pays to invest in an up-to-date compliance program. 

So, how much do teams invest in compliance? Bloomberg finds that 50% of organisations spend 6-10% of their revenue on compliance costs, while 20% spend less than 5% of their revenue on compliance costs. 

Further, according to Deloitte, 72% of teams say their compliance budget has increased over the last five years. Yet, 36% say the level of investment in compliance is inadequate, and it’s hard to argue. When the cost of non-compliance is so high, it’s well worth investing in a dependable compliance program. 

How are teams delivering compliance training?

In the wake of the pandemic, compliance costs now include 62% of organisations that use eLearning to deliver compliance training. 30% of teams use blended learning for their compliance needs, while 9% favour instructor-led training. Additionally, 34% of organisations outsource some or all of their compliance functionality. 

This shift towards eLearning has helped teams streamline their compliance programs, with 70% of compliance experts saying COVID increased their reliance on technology to improve decision-making, performance monitoring, and risk management. Overall, these figures represent a major paradigm shift, with teams discovering the benefits of eLearning for compliance training. 

While this shift to eLearning is a broadly positive step, there is still room for improvement, particularly for alignment and capacity. 60% of teams say their compliance training is only “somewhat tailored” to individual business units, while just 13% believe their compliance training is “highly tailored.” Further, 87% of teams say their compliance function has no spare capacity due to being understaffed, which is cause for concern. 

Top challenges and skills for compliance teams 

With these statistics in mind, it’s worth asking: what challenges are compliance teams facing, and what skills will they need to overcome these challenges? 

For starters, MetricStream identified some of the top challenges compliance managers face. These are: handling compliance assessments, undergoing control testing, and implementing policy and process updates. 

Likewise, Deloitte identified the biggest challenges compliance teams face: 

Coordination between business functions (17%)

To overcome these challenges, Thomas Reuters revealed the top three skills compliance officers need: subject matter expertise, communication skills, and anticipating future regulatory trends. 

Similarly, Deloitte found that the three most important skills for compliance teams in the future will be: influencing skills, communication skills, and stakeholder management. Future-ready compliance teams would be wise to start developing these skills. 

3 steps to better compliance training for your business

Now that we have a broad overview of the state of the compliance industry, the question becomes: how can my business deliver better compliance training? Here are three steps to exceptional compliance training. 

Compliance communication means informing staff of all policies, processes, and procedures that apply to an employee's industry and role. Essentially, it’s about getting staff to read, understand, and comply with relevant legislation and regulations. This can include anything from fire safety to cybersecurity, and everything in between. 

To achieve this clear communication, you must tell all staff that a compliance program is in place and ensure compliance regulations and policy changes are distributed, received, understood, and acknowledged by each employee. Many compliance programs focus on changing employee behaviour, while also communicating what to do in the event of non-compliance.

At this point, getting employee buy-in can often be challenging. Many employees may associate compliance training with negative stereotypes, such as wading through pages of legal jargon to understand the latest compliance updates.

Other challenges include competing priorities, which mean employees might not have time to read long compliance updates. Others still may be unaware of where updates are shared. Therefore, sharing compliance updates in plain, decipherable language is vital. You can also try summarising the key points of your compliance updates to ease time pressures. Finally, ensure all employees know where to access the latest compliance updates.

Thus, to create an effective compliance communication strategy, EQS recommends taking the following steps:

1. Maintain a central source of information so employees always know where to look if they’re confused. 

2. Establish a mechanism to communicate new regulations and amendments (i.e. a Slack channel, monthly meeting, or email updates). 

3. Align compliance messages across internal communication channels to ensure everyone sees them.

4.Generate continued interest in compliance topics by prompting employees to engage in continuous learning and upskilling. 

5. Harness the potential of microlearning to make compliance training seem less intimidating and time-sensitive. 

6. Make sure your compliance trainers also receive regular training to stay up-to-date with current information and trends. 

Most importantly, your compliance communication materials must carry the same key messages repeated over time to encourage behavioural change.

Compliance training for all employees is essential to make your company more compliant. 

Investing time and money into your compliance program to teach staff about company regulations and standards will ensure your organisation stays up-to-date, relevant, and on top of compliance issues, while also minimising the risk of legal problems. As outlined above, non-compliance can be exceptionally costly, so it’s never worth the risk. 

Satisfactory training coverage is an important measure of an effective compliance program, so you must ensure that all staff receive ongoing, relevant training on your company’s policies and procedures.

The easiest way to achieve this is via eLearning. As mentioned, 62% of organisations already use eLearning to deliver compliance training. Online training courses are available for all areas of compliance, making training incredibly easy, convenient, and effective. To learn more, check out Go1’s vast library of compliance training courses. 

3. Collect feedback on your compliance processes

Developing an effective feedback channel is a critical aspect of any compliance program.

Collecting feedback tells you what is really going on in your organisation, allowing you to identify problems before they become a risk. For example, you might want to ask some of the following questions:

Is your compliance training covering the topics your employees want it to cover? 

Are there any blind spots in your compliance training? 

Are employees retaining information after completing the training? 

What is your compliance training doing well? What could it be doing better? 

Are there additional topics on which employees would like to receive training? 

Do your employees find your compliance training engaging? 

What improvements would employees recommend to optimise your compliance training? 

Do your employees enjoy microlearning or gamification with their compliance training? 

These questions are only the tip of the iceberg, providing a wealth of practical, actionable insights that tell you exactly how your employees engage with your compliance training and how you could optimise your training in the future.

By encouraging staff to provide honest feedback and report any concerns, you can improve your processes, thereby improving your compliance.

It’s also essential to have a process that allows ‘whistleblowing’ without fear of retribution. Encourage employees to report any compliance failures or unethical behaviour and have clearly-communicated consequences in place for non-compliance.  

By following these steps, you’ll provide employees with clear communication, training, and feedback channels. Accordingly, you will be well on your way to building a stronger culture of compliance.

Keeping on top of compliance ensures greater transparency in the way your business operates, allowing you to improve your processes and efficiency. Improving your compliance training will also allow you to relax, knowing you’re doing the right thing for your staff and organisation.

For more insights, subscribe to the Go1 newsletter to stay on top of all the latest L&D trends. Or, you can book a demo today to find out how Go1 can help with your team’s learning needs.

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We’ve outlined three essential steps to get started on better compliance for your business. But first, we’ll examine the state of compliance training globally, sharing the key statistics you need to know. 

Getting started on better compliance training for your business

On a global level, compliance spending can be seen to be increasing, as organizations worldwide recognize the numerous benefits compliance brings to their business.

With the current boom of compliance happening across organizations worldwide, compliance specialists are in high demand globally, and this trend isn’t likely to change anytime soon.

However, there are still many companies choosing to invest only a small amount of time and money into making sure their business is compliant. Neglecting compliance issues can put companies at significant risk, in the way of hefty fines and penalties, as well as damage to their brand and reputation.

How much time and money are you spending on compliance for your company? 

Today we’ll look at the benefits of investing in company compliance, and show you why it’s worth spending more time, money and energy on this area of your business.

The Benefits of Investing More Money in Compliance

In the last year, between 2015 and 2016, there’s been a significant increase in the amount of money companies are spending on compliance, with a 60% increase in North America, 75% in Europe and 80% in the Middle East.

With compliance not actually generating income or profits for a business, why are so many organizations choosing to increase their financial investment in this area?

We’ve already mentioned the risks of neglecting compliance and the potential damage it can cause. With good policies and procedures in place, you can avoid considerable damage to your company’s finances, as well as your reputation. In many cases, the long-term damage of non-compliance will be far more costly than the financial resources needed to fund and operate an effective compliance program.

While these aspects are important, it’s also important to see the positive benefits compliance can bring to your business, rather than thinking of it only as a way to minimize negative impacts and risks.

With an effective compliance program, you’ll be making sure your organisation is staying true to its values and ethics, which is an essential component of your brand’s identity. A good compliance program demonstrates to both your employees and your market that you are committed to doing things the right way. It’s good business, on both levels. 

The Benefits of Spending More Time on Compliance

It’s also vital that you invest an appropriate amount of time and resources into your company’s compliance program. Think about how much time per week you invest in compliance – what resources are committed to managing compliance policies and procedures?

The most effective way to manage your organization’s compliance is to have staff who are dedicated solely to this area. Chief Compliance Officers (CCO) and Chief Risk Officers (CRO) have become essential resources for many organizations, rather than tasking various staff with these roles on top of their ordinary position descriptions.

Having staff committed to developing, implementing and assessing compliance policies and procedures will ensure your organization stays up-to-date, relevant and on top of compliance issues.

In a compliance report by Deloitte, the question is asked – “if you don’t have a lot of people whose only job is compliance, how can you ensure that the people responsible within the business units give compliance the same attention as everything else they are responsible for?” 

Make Compliance Part of Your Workplace Culture

As you can see, compliance is a combination of time and money – it doesn’t work without an appropriate investment of both of these factors. 

It’s important for organizations to recognize the benefits of investing in compliance programs to build a better culture of compliance. You can make compliance a part of your workplace culture, through strong policies and training in areas such as sexual harassment and workplace bullying and discrimination.

Compliance training for employees is a vital part of this step. By taking the time to teach staff about company regulations and standards, you can make sure their knowledge on organizational policies is always up-to-date and accurate, while also minimizing the risk of legal problems. 

Using e-Learning for Compliance Training 

E-Learning can be a great investment and training solution for your company, allowing your staff to complete training online, at their convenience, without interrupting their regular workflow.

Using a Learning Management System such as the Go1's online training platform, to provide staff with compliance training is a very popular choice for organizations because of the convenience and ease of use. With online compliance training, you can also keep track of individual progress and results, which is beneficial for employees, their team leaders or managers, and employer.

It’s also a more cost-effective solution, allowing you to save money on in-class trainers, as well as any facilities hire and travel expenses. Using a good Learning Management System for online training can reduce training expenses by more than 50%, saving you both time and money – which you can then invest in your new compliance program.

Why you need to spend time and money on compliance

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To develop better and more relevant learning solutions for the sector, Go1 conducted a survey in the first quarter of 2016 with local government agencies. Questions included whether agencies are using an online learning solution, how they are using it, and which features and courses they want to access.

A total of 55 local government agencies participated in the survey.

The findings presented in this document provide great insight into the state of training within local government and the direction it is heading over the coming years.

The Go1 Local Government Study 2016 uncovered a range of obstacles to more efficient training program delivery.

You can download your copy of the survey findings here:

The survey provides detailed information on how local governments are using online learning, the mobile impact, time spent on training and the associated management, what features they want access too, and the most popular compliance and professional development courses amongst their organisations.

With concerns about climate change and the Earth’s natural resources rising, many people are making more eco-friendly choices in their everyday lives.

In living a greener lifestyle, there’s a focus on opting for ethical, environmentally aware decisions that work to lessen your negative impact on the environment, rather than contribute to it. While individually, these choices may only make a small difference to the environment, they can have a huge impact on the planet collectively.

Considering we spend a significant percentage of our time at work, it’s important to make these positive changes in our work environment, as well as at home. Thankfully, many organizations are looking for ways to make their workplaces greener and are seeing the benefits of these changes for both their employees and the business itself.

Making a commitment to more ethical and eco-friendly choices, no matter how small, shows clients and customers that your organization cares about people, and the planet. And in financial terms, implementing green strategies that reduce, reuse and recycle can also be good news for a company’s bottom line.

Taking the time to make your workplace greener is also good for your employees, with a healthier, more productive work environment and a positive organizational culture. Companies that promote a healthier workplace report a 20 percent decrease in the number of sick days used by employees. In addition, focusing more on your environmental impacts can also help to attract and retain employees to your company, with a more attractive brand to potential staff.

So let’s take a look at 5 ways to create a more eco-friendly workplace and make your office greener.

Lower Your Company’s Energy Consumption

Computers, printers and other office electronics use up huge amounts of energy. Organizations that focus on reducing this energy consumption not only help the environment, but also reduce their costs in the form of lower energy bills.

Encourage staff to turn off all lights, air conditioners and heaters when they leave meeting rooms or at the end of the day. You could put up energy-awareness stickers and posters reminding employees to switch off lights and equipment when not needed.

Set company computers to energy-saving settings and encourage a practice of shutting down computers when team members leave for the day – using ‘standby’ settings will continue to draw power even when not in use.

Make recycling a priority in the office, as it is at home. Some of us are perfectly diligent recyclers at our own house, then let our good habits slip when we’re at work.

To promote and encourage recycling, make sure that there are enough paper recycling bins throughout the office for all staff to easily recycle their waste paper. In open plan offices, have at least one paper recycling bin for every ten desks, with extra paper recycling bins next to each photocopier and printer.

Speaking of printers, be sure to recycle all of your used printer and toner cartridges as well as e-waste in the form of computers, printers and other electronic equipment.

As much as possible, use recycled paper and envelopes that have been processed and coloured using eco-friendly methods.

As well as recycling, reducing the amount of waste from your workplace will work to lessen your carbon footprint and lower business costs.

Reduce waste by reusing materials as much as possible – stationery items, folders, boxes, paper, everything you can. Use items for as long as possible before throwing them out.

The average American office worker uses 10,000 sheets of copy paper each year. Reduce the amount of paper waste by promoting double-sided copying and printing, posted within readable distance of each photocopier and printer.

Be aware of the waste generated by food packaging, particularly those take-away coffee cups you get from your local coffee shop. Take your own reusable travel mug or keep cup with you on your coffee runs.

Take a look at the cleaning products that are used in your workplace.

Many cleaning products, particularly heavy duty workplace cleaners, are full of chemicals that pollute our air, oceans and rivers and contaminate food sources for animals as well as the natural environment. They’re also likely to be packaged in non-biodegradable materials, which take a very long time to break down, further damaging the planet.

By switching to environmentally-friendly products, you’ll reduce the amount of chemicals and toxins employees are exposed to in the office, which benefits staff health while lowering environmental impact.

What’s better than recycled paper? No paper.

Cut the amount of paper used in your workplace by keeping things digital as much as possible. Incorporate minimizing paper use into your workplace culture and be sure to lead by example.

Email important documents to colleagues and clients. Use presentations rather than handouts at meetings. Store manuals and policy documents online, so employees can access PDF copies instead. Make use of online training courses, rather than in-class sessions requiring employee handbooks and printed course materials.

There’s so many things you can do to make your office space greener. Hopefully this has got you thinking about some positive changes you can make in your workplace, to start creating an organizational culture that values responsible, ethical and sustainable choices.

5 steps to creating a more eco-friendly workplace

The world of workplace learning has undergone some dramatic changes in recent years and with improving technologies and shifts in the way we understand learning, the statistics are showing a very different playing field than what was seen just 10 years ago.

Traditional corporate training in the past consisted of a mandatory day spent with your coworkers as you were taught by an expert in a classroom setting. You typically weren’t going to be engaged in the process enough to apply the knowledge to your daily work. As we are now seeing the long-term results of these failed attempts at training, we’re also seeing a hugely positive response to the online learning and interactive technologies that are replacing them.

If you’re considering online learning for your employees or you’re a staff member who wants to prove just how effective these new methods are for your workplace, there are some interesting statistics out there to help bring your point home. 

High-performing companies spend more on training

Trends indicate that when a company is performing better, they tend to spend more on training. When they’re struggling financially this is usually one of the first areas to receive cuts, often to the detriment of employees and the organization overall. Research published by Forbes shows that companies in their “high-impact” category spend more per person on L&D than lesser performing companies, indicating the effectiveness of this spending on their results.

Recent research into L&D initiatives in the workplace has shown a huge trend towards using technology rather than traditional learning methods. Everything from online communication channels to mobile devices are now important study tools that can get a more effective outcome from employees than previous teaching styles.

Offering these forms of training also means that employees are able to reach 2-3 times the audience than they previously were, due to issues such as scheduling and travel which can make in-house corporate training difficult to achieve. So not only is eLearning more effective, but it’s also more cost-effective for the organization as well.

Online training is offered by 77% of US companies

These figures show that most workplaces are seeing the value of online training, with at least 77% of American companies now offering some form to their employees. The current rate of growth for online learning sits at 13% per year and it’s expected to continue at this level until at least 2017. It’s clear as more and more companies make the switch from traditional corporate training to a more flexible and effective online environment, this growth is only going to get higher.

65% of the population are visual learners

When you think about traditional corporate training, you’re often reminded of being seated in a room for hours and listening to someone speak about skills and practices. Although the advice may be sound, it’s extremely difficult to retain. Studies have shown that over half of the population are visual learners and respond far better to visual aids such as videos, images, and graphs, all of which are commonplace in eLearning modules.

Over 18% of training is delivered via mobile learning today

As more and more workplace learning gears towards an online approach, there’s an even smaller but expanding pocket of companies that deliver their training through mobile devices. Although it may not be a possibility for all workplaces currently, the 18% of training delivered with this method signals a huge shift in how employees learn. With mobile learning, they’re able to schedule the lessons around their own needs for a flexible approach to study.

Traditional corporate training is ineffective 

Despite these rising figures indicating companies spending more on corporate training, those who fail to move into the future with its delivery aren’t seeing the same results. McKinsey and Co found during a study in 2010, that only 25% of managers found positive results from their employees and workplaces after corporate training. Considering how much money and time is spent on these events, the results should be better than that.

When you talk about corporate training, many people are reminded of gruelling day or week long sessions they were forced to participate in. At the end of these training sessions, almost everything you learned had left your head already. According to Peter Brown, the author of Make It Stick, learning should be divided into small doses and then followed up with a quiz. This allows the brain to develop circuits and help the student to recall information more effectively.

Learning management systems (LMS) are the way of the future

The market for LMS is now over $2 billion, and it’s signaled to be one of the fastest growing areas of HR software. These systems comprise of software applications that can deliver and assess online training for employees so that they can learn at their own pace and schedule and the market is expected to grow to $7.8 billion by 2018, as more and more companies are utilizing these modern forms of training for their employees.

In just 5 years, the landscape of workplace learning will likely be very different from what it is today. Future trends indicated in corporate training show that there will be a lot more interactive and online learning methods used and far less of the traditional boardroom training.

The mobile learning market in particular is set for huge growth, with an expected $37.6 billion to be spent in 2020 alone. This is among the other forms of elearning which are all set to grow exponentially and change the way that corporate training is delivered forever.

Whether you’re a skeptic about corporate training or just looking for some facts to back up your ideas on the effectiveness of online learning possibilities, these stats just don’t lie. At the end of the day, the workplaces that harness the power of eLearning are sure to put themselves ahead of their competitors in producing the most educated employees within their field and offering their staff an education that is far superior to what most companies can give.

Workplace learning statistics you should know

Compliance is a very important part of any organization, regardless of whether you’re running a small business or managing a large global company.

Being compliant is essential for many aspects of your business, from local legislation, tax regulations, employee rights, intellectual property, data management and more. 'In its simplest form, you can think of compliance as playing by the rules. Failing to play by the rules can put your business at risk, resulting in significant fines for your company, as well as damage to your brand and reputation.

Unfortunately, company scandals involving ethics and corruption continue to demonstrate that many organizations are failing when it comes to building a culture of compliance. In the interest of your company’s reputation and long-term success, you must understand the importance of compliance and build an ethical work culture that respects and follows it.

So how do you achieve this? Read on for more information on how to create a culture of compliance in your organization. 

Foster an awareness of compliance in the workplace

To build a better culture of compliance you need to lead by example and start from the top, with CEOs, directors and managers showing their commitment to compliance. Without the active support of senior management in this area, your organization’s compliance policies will be little more than a token gesture, existing purely on paper rather than practice.

Managers and team leaders need to be aware of employee conduct (and misconduct) to help create a more visible culture of compliance. Make this a fixed part of your corporate culture, as you continue to build a strong and positive attitude towards compliance.

Fostering an awareness of compliance and instilling this value in your employees will go a long way in making your company more ethically sound.

Provide ongoing compliance training for all staff

One of the best things you can do to strengthen your corporate culture is to invest in ongoing active training for staff.

Through training, you can effectively teach employees how to recognize and respond to compliance issues. Involve all staff in compliance training, with the opportunity to revisit topics regularly to make sure their knowledge on organizational policies is always up-to-date and accurate.

You may also like to incorporate the topic into staff performance reviews to ensure employees are understanding and retaining this important knowledge, as well as being rewarded for demonstrating ethical behaviour.

Keep up-to-date with compliance regulations

In 2016, there has been a steady increase in regulatory initiatives worldwide. The compliance landscape is ever-changing, meaning businesses need to keep up-to-date with regulatory changes across the globe. 

To make sure your organization stays ahead, develop and implement a communication strategy to create awareness of compliance in the workplace, targeted at all staff, and consistently incorporate new regulations into your existing compliance program. 

If you’ve been neglecting setting up a compliance program, or updating your policies in this area due to financial reasons, think about the cost of potential fines and damage to your brand’s reputation. With fines of up to US $20M and imprisonment for up to 30 years for OFAC violations, you’ll soon see that it’s worth the cost.

There are significant benefits for companies who choose to invest in a better culture of compliance, including:

Organizations with high levels of integrity and ethics can be seen to have higher productivity, profitability, employee engagement and overall risk reduction, and compliance plays a big part in that.

Find out more about creating a culture of compliance

With so many tools and resources online, it’s easy to learn more about building a better culture of compliance.

Get a short introduction to this topic with the practical online course Promoting an Ethical Culture in Your Organization, which considers the important role of ethics and culture in organizations.

For more in-depth learning, L.E.A.D. with Integrity: Promoting a Culture of Ethical Conduct & Compliance looks at how you can turn a Code of Conduct into a living, breathing part of your organization.

This e-learning course helps managers and team leaders step up to the daily task of promoting ethical conduct and ensuring compliance in the workplace, through demonstrating personal commitment to their organization's culture of integrity. At the end of the course you’ll have a better understanding of the function of your organization's ethics and compliance program, as well as how to communicate standards of conduct to employees.

With so many new technologies becoming available all the time, it can be difficult for companies to determine which products and solutions are worth the investment. For business owners faced with such a large number of options, in a market that’s continually growing, choosing and adopting new technology can be quite challenging.

Regardless of your industry or the size of your organization, it’s imperative to have up-to-date equipment that does what you want, when you want it to. Whether you’re choosing a new learning management system or content development platform for your business, you’ll want to make sure it can deliver the results you want and expect. So how should you go about making the right decision for your business needs?

To help you make smart choices for your organization, and make this process less overwhelming, we’ve put together some factors you might like to consider when choosing the right technology for your business.

Finding the best solution for your workplace

Within an organization, learning leaders are entrusted with the task of building employee skill sets, making them perform better, faster and with higher productivity and engagement.

In response to this, vendors present organizations with an overwhelming amount of options for learning tools and technologies to assist them in this challenge. In fact, last year, in 2015 alone, more than $6.54 billion in investments were made in new learning technologies, which is up dramatically from previous records of $2.42 billion in 2014 and $1.64 billion in 2013.

 As a recent online article in Chief Learning Officer stated, “learning leaders are often eager to embrace innovative new technologies, but if these tools don’t drive business results they are probably not worth the investment.” So can all this technology really help your business?

Before committing to a new technology, it’s vital that you consider how this new technology will ultimately have a positive effect on your company’s bottom line. Taking the plunge and investing in a new technology solution can feel like a bit of a risk, but it’s one that can dramatically help your business’ growth and pay off for you and your employees in the long run. 

Choosing technology-enabled learning solutions

Investing in smart and effective technology solutions is vital for today’s businesses and the technology sector launches a seemingly endless array of new tools and platforms in response to that. Smartphones, tablets, cloud connectivity, CRMs, LMS… these days, there’s a wide range of technology-based learning systems to help improve and grow your business, while promising to make learning easier, more engaging and more accessible to users. 

Before making a technology purchase, consider this helpful advice from Dani Johnson, Vice President of learning and development research for Deloitte: “Don’t start with the system, start with where you want to go… you need to know what your goals are before you can choose technology that will get you get there.” 

Ask yourself how this technology can create positive change for your business, before deciding if it’s the best tool for your company’s needs. Adopting new technology should help your organization increase productivity and reach your goals more efficiently – not create more problems that will need to be fixed or slow things down for employees.

When choosing a learning management system, be real with yourself about whether or not your employees will really use it. There’s no point spending money on technologies that individuals will struggle to use or simply not be interested in.

When weighing up your decision, make sure the technology is:

Flexible and mobile, to adapt to different learning styles

Relevant and up-to-date for your audience

If you believe it will help make staff more productive and improve their skills, while offering a flexible and engaging approach to learning, it should be a safe bet.

Looking for an award-winning learning management system?

Consider Go1’s training and learning portal, unlocking positive potential in people and organizations through technology.

As a technology-enabled learning solution, the Go1 platform offers an online staff training system, where your employees can easily and conveniently complete customized courses online. Your staff can learn anywhere, anytime, with over 100,000 courses available online in the Go1 marketplace.

How to choose the right technology for your business

In this brave new digital age, we’re often left vulnerable to new and emerging threats to our safety from the “cyber” world. Although this is something that traditional workplaces never had to deal with, it seems to be the price we pay for the modern and convenient technology that we have today.

Even if you don’t think your company is especially vulnerable to cyber security threats, you should never underestimate the value of the sensitive information you’re privy too. Whether it relates to your customers and clients, employees, or your own personal information, there’s far more valuable data stored at your workplace than you might think.

Keeping your workplace protected from cyber threats is just as important as your own personal data, so you need to stay vigilant in order to stay ahead of evolving issues. No matter the size of your workplace or the backgrounds of your employees, there are a few simple ways you can ensure cyber safety so that your company and employee’s sensitive data can be kept private and secure.

In 2014, over 47% of Americans had their personal information stolen. That’s nearly half of the population. The main culprit? Workplaces with inadequate security measures that allowed the hackers into their systems to reach all of their customer’s files. Not only is cyber safety important for the sake of your workers, but also the clients who make your business run.

Although the actual figure is quite hard to determine, antivirus professionals Mcafee have estimated that cybercrimes cost us over $400 billion a year. Individual businesses in America felt the sting too, with just under 20% of them losing at least $50,000 due to cybercrimes. These figures indicate that it’s never been more important to keep yourself and your employees schooled on cyber safety in the workplace.

If you can get into the mind frame that your computer is like a child to be cared for, you’re going to find it easier to protect it. Computers are sensitive pieces of technology, and they react just as well as we treat them.

Try not to store too many unwanted files on your desktop, be cautious about the software that you download, and always use up to date programs. You should have an antivirus, antispam, and antispyware program running at all times to catch any potential risks, and always keep your software updated with the latest versions.

This one might sound like a no-brainer, but you’d be surprised at how many people gloss over it. For some people, passwords are really the only protection level they have for their personal data.

While you might assume all hackers are lurking in the shadows in some faraway place, there are plenty of people within close distance who would love the chance to access your computer. You should never share your password with anyone, don’t write it down in the vicinity of your workstation, and change it every couple of months or as recommended by your IT department.