Despite compliance training being a mandatory requirement, research finds that over a quarter of workers have not received any mandatory training at their firm.
Research collated by DeltaNet International, a compliance training site, found that over a quarter of workers did not receive any mandatory training each month. In this case, mandatory training was defined as training that is department or company-wide and is not optional to attend.
Even when employees did receive mandatory training, over one in 10 workers (14 per cent) stated that this training was “not effective at all”, with workers gaining no further knowledge or awareness on a particular topic.
In specific, staff were frustrated with their company’s mandatory learning policy as a quarter (25 per cent) felt it was too repetitive whilst a fifth (19 per cent) found it boring. 13 per cent of respondents claimed the information they were provided with was either long-winded or completely irrelevant.
When analysing what parts of mandatory training were overlooked, just over half of employees questioned (57 per cent) responded that they had been trained in data protection.
Along with this, less than four in 10 workers (39 per cent) reported being trained in General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
Under half of workers had received training regarding equality and diversity from their employer (45 per cent) whilst just over a third (35 per cent) were given cybersecurity training.
This problem was seen to extend back to when employees first joined as around one in seven (14 per cent) said they never received training on or a copy of their company’s health and safety policies when they first joined, which is a legal requirement under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974.
Darren Hockley, Managing Director of DeltaNet International, said:
The statistics are shocking to say the least. Compliance and health and safety training is crucial, giving both employers and employees peace of mind about their safety and security – as well as knowledge about their own rights and performance goals.
Having said that, finding the right balance between mandatory training and everyday work requirements is key if we are to ensure the long-term efficacy of learning content.
Compliance training needn’t elicit eye-rolls and groans from your employees and – with the rise of AI-driven adaptive learning inside the training industry – it’s no longer a matter of ‘one size fits all’.
*To obtain these results, DeltaNet International surveyed 1,000 employees in the UK.
Monica Sharma is an English Literature graduate from the University of Warwick. As Editor for HRreview, her particular interests in HR include issues concerning diversity, employment law and wellbeing in the workplace. Alongside this, she has written for student publications in both England and Canada. Monica has also presented her academic work concerning the relationship between legal systems, sexual harassment and racism at a university conference at the University of Western Ontario, Canada.
