In this episode of Excellence in Training, Shawn Rogers provides some thoughts on how training frequency and the amount of training can positively or negatively impact an overall training strategy.
It be fantastic if we viewed compliance training in the same way instead of giving an hour-long course on a topic they have heard before, what if instead employees received a 10-minute “refresher” training just to maintain their awareness and get the message that they should constantly be vigilant?
There are some compliance topics that are so important to a company that training needs to be required fairly regularly, maybe even annually. For instance, at GM, we have decided that it is important to provide reminder training annually on a few topics:

• The importance of our Code of Conduct
• The importance of speaking up when a concern is observed, and how to report the concern
• An understanding of the company’s non-retaliation policy
• The importance of workplace and vehicle safety
• The requirement to disclose conflicts of interest.

At GM, we are moving towards a less frequent repetition of lengthy training courses for our current employees, and more frequent “refresher” or “reminder” training modules that keep the risk top-of-mind without assuming that lengthy courses need to be repeated every year. It is a very common sense and defensible approach to compliance training.
New GM employees are required to take more detailed courses during their first year so that they are exposed to the key risks in detail. After that, full-length courses are staggered in a three-year interval so we can keep the courses updated and to avoid over-training.
Disclaimer-As a company, GM uses many training vendors. GM’s compliance function primarily uses two vendors. Rogers has worked with other good vendors that currently do not work with GM. Rogers is not promoting any specific vendors, nor is he disparaging any specific vendors in this podcast. And, of course, these opinions are Roger’s alone and opinions that  developed over almost 15 years. He is not speaking on behalf of GM in any way.