Compliance training cost comparison: In-person vs. digital

It should not be news to you that your company is legally obliged to regularly train its employees on various compliance topics. And it can be expensive! However: An employee breaching the law because they were not informed and made aware of the rules is certainly more costly. So prevention is not such a bad thing. But this raises the question of how these training courses can be designed efficiently, attractively, and cost-effectively. Tried and tested face-to-face training courses are not really appealing either for you as a company or for your employees. They cost a lot of time, a lot of money, and often a lot of patience.

The calculation speaks for itself. Now, some might say: “Yes, but you’ve got to factor in the initial set-up costs!” And yes, that’s true. It’s the same as with any new software launch. You need to implement it and feed it with the necessary data. In this case, this means that all relevant employee data must be entered into the system. The minimum would be their names and email addresses. But with this, you have enough to roll out data protection training. Of course, it’s also advisable to include their departmental affiliation in order to be able to offer department-specific training down the line. But that could simply be a step for the future. After all, it’s all about reducing the costs of mandatory training courses and making the content more attractive. So, what else is missing? Perhaps the certificate after completion, so that the employees have something physical in their hands. This function (issuing certificates) should be provided in the learning management system and the certificate simply needs to be customized (if you want to). After successfully completing the training, each employee receives a certificate with their name and the type of training. So you have audit-ready proof in the system that you have fulfilled your legal obligation.

Now you may be wondering how much it costs to set up a learning management system. We recommend the following: Simply book a workshop that introduces the system, how it works, and the configuration options. You’ll then know everything you need to be able to get started straight away. Basically, it’s about figuring out how you want to map your employee information in the learning management system. This will tell you the fields you need, such as title, salutation, first name, surname, location, language, department, etc. All of these could later become the criteria on the basis of which you roll out your courses. If we think of our employees from Austria and Belgium, different legal requirements for course content may apply here than in Germany. This can be easily identified in the system. Assuming a 4-hour workshop and an hourly rate of €120, that would be €480. All other costs then depend on your further requirements and which tasks you choose to take on yourself. It is best to plan 2 full days to be absolutely on the safe side. And we’ve factored in a lot of buffer time there! If you don’t want to take on the initial setup yourself, simply commission a service provider (like us) and focus on your core tasks. 

Ok, those were just disadvantages. That is a very one-sided view of the issue. Face-to-face training does indeed have its advantages. The question that needs to be asked, however: Are these benefits you really want to take advantage of in your compliance training? I’d say no, but for the sake of completeness I’ll mention them anyway:

• In-person training allows questions to be addressed in real-time.
• Participants can interact directly with each other. But that depends on the trainer.
• In-person training provides opportunities to put theory into practice. 
• It strengthens the sense of community.

But let’s think about times we’ve been to a training center for occupational safety training in the past: Sure, for me, it was nice to ride the train with my colleagues, chat, and have a coffee before training. Even if we didn’t have to travel and the training took place in the office, it was nice to see all our colleagues together, and get some small talk in. But then there was the not-so-inspiring trainer standing there, throwing his 15-year-old PowerPoint slides at the wall for what felt like the 2,000th time. 60% of the content was irrelevant because it was for a different professional group. I’m a desk jockey, why would I be interested in the fact that helmets have to be worn on the construction site? So, let’s be honest: Maybe in-person training is not a bad thing to bring employees together again, but honestly: There is no relation between cost and benefit. I think there are better ways to support and promote corporate culture and a sense of community than a trip to an occupational health and safety training course.   

Great, now there are only advantages! Another one-sided picture. Of course, digital training products also have disadvantages, but we’re only talking about those that would be relevant when it comes to compliance training. Such as:

• Some employees may not have the necessary access to the digital learning platform or be familiar with new technologies.  
• Digital learning requires a certain degree of self-discipline and self-motivation.
• It can be easier to get distracted at home or in other places.

These potential disadvantages naturally vary from company to company, from sector to sector, and from employee to employee.