NAVEX Global's 2014 Ethics and Compliance Training Benchmark Report Shows Leaders Aiming for Cultural Change beyond Legal Compliance

PORTLAND, Ore., July 23, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Ethics and compliance solution provider NAVEX Global™ today announced the release of its 2014 Ethics and Compliance Training Benchmark Report, highlighting a shift in compliance training program objectives. The survey of 763 senior compliance professionals shows a change in focus from chiefly complying with laws and regulations, to creating a greater culture of ethics and respect.

Training has reached an elevated level of importance in compliance programs, according to the survey results. While the legal and regulatory drivers for mandatory compliance training continue to escalate, ninety percent of survey respondents cite their top objective for ethics and compliance training as creating a culture of ethics and respect. This is followed by complying with laws and regulations at 89 percent and preventing future issues or misconduct at 82 percent.

"This first-of-its-kind survey gives us a better understanding of how compliance training is being deployed by organizations, and how success is measured," said Shanti Atkins, founder and executive chairman of NAVEX Global. "The fact that creating a culture of ethics and respect has emerged as the top objective for compliance training signals a broader awareness that desired behaviors and effective risk mitigation flow from a culture of ethics and integrity. The two are inextricably linked."

Providing data largely unavailable to-date, the survey also reveals important benchmarks for organizations of all sizes, including most frequently trained topics, the average number of hours trained and which audiences are underserved by training efforts (including managers, third parties and the board of directors). The survey also reveals key trends and program objectives for 2014, including establishing metrics for measuring training effectiveness.

"The prominence of culture as an objective also points to a major challenge for ethics and compliance professionals," said Ingrid Fredeen, vice president of Advisory Services for NAVEX Global. "Culture change and maintenance is not easy. Check-the-box training will not help organizations achieve this top goal—and can backfire by increasing employee cynicism. High-quality, engaging training formats must become the norm and organizations need to become savvier about adopting emerging training trends, such as rapid mobile training, to ensure effectiveness of their training programs."

Nearly 24 percent of organizations are covering more risk areas by using short-form training, or burst learning. Among training formats, high-quality video training was ranked as the most effective, over both animation-based and slideshows with audio formats.

The survey showed that, while 75 percent report their employees are getting the training they need, a significant number have serious concerns about training effectiveness. Fifty-four percent of respondents said supervisors are at risk of receiving inadequate training to avoid missteps. Forty-six percent said undertrained supervisors are at risk of mishandling or downplaying complaints or reports from employees. Thirty-eight percent said they risk demonstrating attitudes or conduct not reflective of a commitment to ethics and compliance.

"Managers are the day-to-day interface with employees and the carriers of culture," said Fredeen. "Unless they are effectively and properly trained, organizations will struggle to meet their top training objective of building an ethical culture."

To download the 2014 Ethics and Compliance Training Benchmark Report, please visit us online.

About NAVEX Global
NAVEX Global helps protect your people, reputation and bottom line through a comprehensive suite of ethics and compliance software, content and services. The trusted global expert for more than 8,000 clients in 200+ countries, our solutions are informed by the largest ethics and compliance community in the world. More information can be found at www.NAVEXGlobal.com.

Learn more about NAVEX Global by following us online: @NAVEXGlobal, LinkedIn, Facebook, SlideShare and Google+.

Contact:
Simmi Singh Corcoran
503-924-1643
mediarelations(at)NAVEXGlobal(dot)com

SOURCE NAVEX Global