Trends and Innovations in Effective Ethics Training

Tags: Communication & Engagement, Training

This good practice guide explores what ‘effective’ training looks like in a number of different contexts, and highlights a range of ideas that E&C practitioners can draw on.

About the guide

Ethics and compliance (E&C) training is difficult. It is trying to inform, guide and enable the right human behaviours in complex organisations, operating across multiple cultural and legal spheres, in a world that is ever more scrutinised, uncertain, overloaded and quick to judge.

However, based on survey responses and extensive in-depth interviews with IBE Supporters and CampbellBarr clients, this Good Practice Guide leans toward optimism about the opportunities for E&C training. It explores what ‘effective’ training looks like in a number of different contexts, and endeavours to highlight a range of strategies and tactical actions that E&C practitioners can draw on.

The observations and examples are built on detailed survey responses from 44 companies, across a wide variety of sizes, industries and geographies, as well as the participation of a further 21 senior E&C practitioners in in-depth interviews.

Drawing on the key themes which consistently arose, the content of this guide is broken down as follows:

• Chapter 1 explores the importance of clarity of purpose, alignment with stakeholders and how training is marketed internally.
• Chapter 2 focuses on respect for the learner and how to assess better the needs and segmentation of learners.
• Together, Chapters 3 and 4 help understanding of some of the different emerging options for delivering the right content, to the right groups, at the right time, including: adaptive learning, testing out, forum theatre, leader-led discussions, use of dilemmas and even artificial intelligence (AI) and virtual reality.
• Chapter 5 completes the guide by sharing evolving strategies and thinking for how to evaluate the success of training programmes.

None of the chapters offer ‘the one’ best practice approach, recognising that every E&C training programme has a unique context influenced by a myriad of factors. For some, the observations and examples in any chapter will be well developed current practices; for some, they will be relevant as immediate opportunities; and for others, they will be stages ahead. Each chapter closes with a set of reflection questions to help you assess where you may want to explore further and where you may have opportunities for immediate application.

The guide is certainly not exhaustive. Equally we recognise that new ideas and approaches impacting E&C training will continue to evolve at pace. Therefore, it is our great hope that this will not be a static guide, but rather the kick-off for further discussions and additional sharing of innovations and challenges.

Who is this Good Practice Guide for?

This Good Practice Guide is aimed primarily at those with responsibility for implementing and increasing the effectiveness of E&C training in their organisation.

The focus is deliberately on organisational E&C leaders, while noting that many of the activities will be delivered by practitioners – whether in an explicitly named ‘ethics’ or ‘compliance’ function or not. Where there is no dedicated ethics leader in an organisation, the case studies and ideas shared will be just as relevant to those who hold the same responsibilities. This could be those in HR, learning and development (L&D), risk functions or corporate affairs – to name but a few.

 

 

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